one of the most impressive animals I met this year was a huge platyrhacid millipede, found chugging through some bamboo leaf litter in Malaysia.
he was a pleasant weight to hold in the hand, but spread out over so many gentle, graceful legs. the video offers a nice look at his eyeless face—all polydesmidan millipedes lack eyes.
I only hung onto this animated spinal cord for about thirty seconds before setting him back in the leaves, but I recall this encounter so vividly. a truly memorable creature
There were so many flatback millipedes out after dark this evening (like, hard to avoid stepping on them) and I'm slowly getting better at shooting fluorescent creatures 🖤🩵
a highlight of my Singapore trip was this fabulous siphonophorid millipede! this super-leggy animal is one of a relatively small group of millipedes to evolve sucking mouthparts. most siphonophoridans I’ve met are tiny but this one was pretty big at some 4cm long.
its face manages to be so cute with just two chubby antennae and a piercing beak! these probably feed on fungal hyphae or some sort of biofilms.
New Millipede!!! Sphaerobelum turcosa is a newly discovers species of pill millipede that was recently discovered in the Loei province of Thailand. A team of researchers were doing field work in the Phu Pha Lom Forest when they discovered fourteen of these brightly colored millipedes. Due to their stunning coloration these pill millipedes were nicknamed “The Jewel of The Forest”.
Pill millipedes have convergently evolved a body structure similar to that of isopods (aka roly polies) and have comparatively shorter bodies than other species of millipedes, and like roly polies they will roll themselves into a ball when they feel threatened.
The bright turquoise color of Sphaerobelum turcosa helps warn predators that they are poisonous and not to eat them. This millipede also has tan markings on its exoskeleton that form a mask-like marking that helps to scare off potential predators.