Thursday, September 03, 2009

walk with me wednesday millipedes on the march

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...the fall migration commences...did you know they live seven years on average? ....diplopoda

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They are so large, I can see them walking across the road. I drive around them. They are beneficial to the environment. They are detritivores...and a good help in the compost pile.

The word 'milli' is latin meaning thousand and 'pede' meaning foot. I don't think this one has a thousand feet...I suppose I could count them... if I were still a child I would, but there are grown up things that need doing today....

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thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine...

10 comments:

Jody said...

Your photography is amazing...the way you capture the animals. Are you a professional?

Manise said...

I know they are beneficial, but ick those are huge! We had the smaller black cousins when we lived in Greece. I have memories of living in a damp house and finding them in my gloves and shoes. The smell of a squished one is kind of awful.

Valerie said...

I have never seen one that large. And let me tell you, if I find one in the basement bathroom, its seven years is cut short!

Nice pictures.

pacalaga said...

I learned in an entomology class a million years ago that they expire cyanide gas. I held one in my hand and it tickled.

judy said...

That one is kind of pretty but they really give me the willies. Thanks to Manise, I now know that they smell badly squished. I always move them, so I didn't know.

The things I learn reading blogs!

Kate/Massachusetts said...

Ugh...sorry but that one gives me nightmares. I think I saw too many horror movies when I was a kid. lol

Sharon said...

Amazing, can't imagine millipedes so big you can see them when you drive!!

Funny thing is, we have been inundated by millipedes here too, only they are smaller!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

tee hee... I can hear those numbers still echoing through the internet. Great photos.

Judy said...

I have seen an inordinate amount of them this year. The chickens want no part of them...neither do I.

Anonymous said...

Guess I'm in a minority here. In the first picture it's stunningly beautiful - like a seashell. What artistry: the colors, the symmetry! I've never seen one so big. 78, 79... well, that's how many legs I count on the one side in the third picture. Yeah, I'd have stopped and counted. (blushing)

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