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Sticker of Balkan pill millipede
Bug card No. 0250 of 4,939

Balkan pill millipede

Glomeris balcanica
Eats: Leftovers and dead thingsCentipedes and millipedesForests and woodsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The Balkan pill millipede is a short, round millipede from south-eastern Europe. When it is scared, it rolls up into a tight little ball, like a pill. It lives in the dead leaves on the forest floor.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect. Insects have six legs, and this cousin has many, many more.
Lives in
South-eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Italy, North Macedonia and European Turkey, in oak forests
Top speed
about 0.2 km/h (0.12 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting, it just rolls into a ball.
What does it eat?
Like other millipedes, it munches dead leaves on the forest floor and helps turn them into soil.
For real!Photo of Balkan pill millipede
Picture by tikitu. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Rolling into a ball protects its soft belly and legs, because its back is covered in hard plates.

2

It lives only in a small part of Europe with warm, dry summers.

3

Its favourite home is the leaf litter under kermes oaks, small oaks with prickly leaves.

you asked

Most asked questions about Balkan pill millipede

?Why does the Balkan pill millipede roll into a ball?

To protect itself. Its hard back covers its soft legs and belly like armour.

?Where does the Balkan pill millipede live?

In south-eastern Europe, in the fallen leaves of oak forests.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Glomeris balcanica
Group
Centipedes and millipedes
Family
Glomeridae
Classification
Diplopoda > Glomerida > Glomeridae
Lives on
Europe

Where the facts come from

  1. Glomeris balcanica (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by tikitu. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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