Archispirostreptus gigas, the giant African millipede, is one of the largest of the millipedes, growing up to 11 in (28 cm) in length. It lives in tropical and subtropical Africa, in rotting plant life or moist earth, and usually avoids light. It is black in colour, and is often kept as a pet (would you?).
Asia giant millipede with hundred of crawler legs
Close head shot of Asia giant millipede
Asia giant millipede curled
Archispirostreptus gigas, the giant African millipede, is one of the largest of the millipedes, growing up to 11 in (28 cm) in length. It lives in tropical and subtropical Africa, in rotting plant life or moist earth, and usually avoids light. It is black in colour, and is often kept as a pet (would you?).
Millipedes (Class Diplopoda, previously also known as Chilognatha) are arthropods that have two pairs of legs per segment (except for the first segment behind the head which does not have any appendages at all, and the next few which only have one pair of legs). Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one.
Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical bodies, although some are flattened dorso-ventrally, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a ball, like a pillbug. Millipedes are detritivores and slow moving. Most millipedes eat decaying leaves and other dead plant matter, moisturising the food with secretions and then scraping it in with the jaws.
Millipedes do not actually have a thousand legs - they usually have between 100-400 (2 sets of legs per body segment). Each time they molt, they add more segments and therefore more legs. Male millipedes have specialized legs used for fertilization on the seventh body segment called gonopods.
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