280 days of Urbpandemonium #19

[urbpan]

I was pretty excited when I overturned a log and found these millipedes--are millipedes one of those creatures that care for their young? Apparently not. The literature on the subject only describes a couple obscure species guarding eggs. Centipedes can be doting mothers, but millipedes mostly lay eggs and leave. These tiny subadults and their larger companion are together by coincidence; although it is possible that the larger one is their mother, they remain together because they prefer the same habitat.


The habitat millipedes prefer is dark, moist, and full of decay. They are detritivores feeding on rotten organic material and vegetation. Cylindrical millipedes like these can chew their way directly into a food source and neatly enter it. Identification of small millipedes is done by specialists with microscopes looking at the most private of millipede parts.