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A
millipede is not an insect.
It is
a diplopoda.
My
Home: I am found through North
America and in other parts of the world that have moist environments. I
live outdoors in moist, dark, protected areas like under bark, logs,
leaves or rocks. I am most active at night.
What I
eat: I lack the venomous front
jaws of centipedes and primarily eat decaying plants.
What I
look like: I am long, slow
moving, and resemble a worm. I have two pairs of legs on each body
segment. A centipede has only one pair of legs on each segment. My
length can be from 1 to 12 inches.
How I am
born: I go through two stages of
development: egg and adult. My egg is laid in the ground during the
springtime. After I hatch, I resemble a small adult. To grow, I molt
and shed my skin, adding a segment and a set of legs each time my skin
is shed.
Fun
Facts: They are often called
‘thousand leggers’, but they actually only have from 40 to 200 pair of
legs. They can coil in a ball for protection and some produce a
poisonous gas.
There are around 10,000 species of Millipedes worldwide.
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