Millipedes belong to the class Diplopoda and are generally elongate arthropods with two pairs of legs on each body segment. They are relatively slow moving animals and feeding on living and dead plant matter. The body segments are essentially circular in cross-section, but some of the flat backed millipedes appear flat because some of the segments have flat extensions on the upper surface. Of the 8000 or so species known to science, less than 50 live in the British Isles.

With the exception of the Pill Millipede, these animals are long and slender. The head is short and rounded and it carries a pair of antennae which are somewhat clubbed. These are sharply angled in the middle and they are constantly tapping the ground for scent signals while the animal is moving about. There may or may not be a number of simple eyes, depending upon the habits of the animal: those species that live permanently under the ground generally have no eyes. There are some simple jaws on the underside of the head but, being vegetarians, the millipedes have no poison claws such as we see in the Centipede. Behind the head there is a fairly broad shield-like segment without any legs and this is followed by three segments with only one pair of legs on each. Most of the other body segments have two pairs of legs, but there are a few leg-less segments at the hind end. The hindmost region of the body is called the Telson.

Click here to continue