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Sticker of Long-flange millipede
Bug card No. 0858 of 1,500

Long-flange millipede

Asiomorpha coarctata
Eats: Leftovers and dead thingsCentipedes and millipedesRainforests and junglesNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The long-flange millipede is a slim millipede with long, pointy flaps sticking out from the sides of its body segments. It probably comes from South-east Asia. But it has hitched rides with people and now lives in warm places all around the world.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect. Insects have six legs, and this cousin has many, many more.
Lives in
Warm places around the world, from South-east Asia to Hawaii, the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast of America and the Galápagos Islands
Length
1.4 to 2.8 cm (0.57 to 1.1 in)
girls are bigger than boys
Top speed
about 0.17 km/h (0.11 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Millipedes do not bite or sting. If you touch one, wash your hands afterwards.
What does it eat?
Like most millipedes, it eats rotting leaves and other dead plant bits.
For real!Photo of Long-flange millipede
Picture by Kembangraps. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Long-flange millipede about 2.8 cm long (1.1 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
as long as 5 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 21 seconds

How big is Long-flange millipede compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The pointy side flaps that give it its name are longer than on its look-alike cousins.

2

The girls are bigger than the boys and can be almost 3 centimetres long.

3

It is so different from its relatives that some scientists give it a group all of its own.

4

It has travelled the world by accident, carried along by people.

you asked

Most asked questions about Long-flange millipede

?Is the long-flange millipede dangerous?

No. It is harmless, but wash your hands after touching any millipede.

?What does a millipede eat?

Like most millipedes, it eats rotting leaves and dead plant bits.

?Where does the long-flange millipede come from?

It probably comes from South-east Asia, but people have spread it to warm places worldwide.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Asiomorpha coarctata
Group
Centipedes and millipedes
Family
Paradoxosomatidae
Classification
Diplopoda > Polydesmida > Paradoxosomatidae
Lives on
Asia, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania

Where the facts come from

  1. Orthomorpha coarctata (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 Kembangraps. 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 [email protected] and we will fix it.

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