Flat-backed millipede
The flat-backed millipede is a brown millipede with a flat body. Each of its 20 body rings sticks out at the sides like a little shelf. This shape helps it dig and hide among fallen leaves.
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Fun facts
It usually grows to about 2.4 centimetres, but well-fed ones kept by people grew up to 5 centimetres.
Good food and damp air help it grow bigger.
It looks so much like its cousins that scientists can only tell them apart with a close look under a microscope.
You can find it in leaf litter in woods, but it likes peaty heaths and moors best.
It does not like heavy clay soil.
Most asked questions about Flat-backed millipede
?Is the flat-backed millipede dangerous?
No. It is harmless and does not bite.
?How big is a flat-backed millipede?
Usually about 2.4 centimetres long.
?What does a flat-backed millipede eat?
Dead leaves and rotting plants, which helps make new soil.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Polydesmus angustus
- Named by
- Latzel, 1884
- Group
- Centipedes and millipedes
- Family
- Polydesmidae
- Classification
- Diplopoda > Polydesmida > Polydesmidae
- Lives on
- Europe, North America
Where the facts come from
- Polydesmus angustus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Sarefo. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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