White-legged Millipede

With its shiny grey-black body and its white legs, the White-legged Millipede is one of our most beautiful millipedes.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Tachypodoiulus niger
Family: 
Millipedes
Family Latin name: 
JULIDAE
Category: 
Invertebrates

Species description

Species description

With its shiny grey-black body segments contrasting with its white legs this is one of our most beautiful millipedes.  When alarmed it coils its body tightly for defence, relying on its tough calcified exoskeleton for protection.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)

Details

Species family information

This is a large family characterised by their mouthparts and the presence of a cluster of many eyes. Their long, cylindrical bodies are often shiny and grey to black in colour.

Category information

Centipedes, millipedes, and their kin are collectively called myriapods. Centipedes are carnivores, and have one pair of jointed legs per body segment, which never have 100 segments, but vary from 30 to 354. Millipedes have two pairs of jointed legs per body segment, up to 333 in number, and mostly feed on decaying plant material. Myriapods are arthropods and share a common ancestor with the crustacea, that includes insects, which in turn share a common ancestor with the arachnids. Arthropods have an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired, jointed appendages. They have highly developed sense organs. 84% of all species on the Earth are arthropods. Crustacea generally have two pairs of appendages (antennules and antennae) in front of the mouth and paired appendages near the mouth that function as jaws. They occupy a wide range of habitats, and many are aquatic, although the largest group in terms of number of species, the insects, are mainly terrestrial. Woodlice are common crustaceans in gardens.

Earthworms are annelids, evolving on a separate lineage to the arthropods, but they share a common ancestor with the molluscs. The Annelida is a large group of segmented worms, also called ring worms. Molluscs are a large, diverse group of invertebrates, which have unsegmented bodies enclosed within calcareous shells, and are represented in gardens mainly by terrestrial gastropods such as snails and slugs. Other molluscs, particularly the bivalves and cephalopods, are aquatic. Representatives of all these groups are found in the cemetery.

Further information

Millipede Information

Millipedes have two pairs of jointed legs per body segment, up to 333 in number, and mostly feed on decaying plant material. Each ‘double segment’ in their cylindrical or flattened bodies, is the evolutionary result of two single segments fusing together. Pill millipedes are short and can roll their bodies into a ball. In defence, millipedes don’t bite, but secrete a pungent, toxic liquid or gas from lateral glands. They should not therefore be handled with unprotected hands or eyes. They are found in soil, leaf mould and litter, and under stones, logs, and bark, to maintain body moisture.