Sierra luminous millipede
The Sierra luminous millipede can glow in the dark. Its whole body, even its legs and feelers, shines with a soft blue-green light. It is flat, tan to orange-pink, and it has no eyes at all. It lives only in the mountains of California.
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Fun facts
Of about 12,000 kinds of millipedes, only a very few can glow, and this is one of them.
It glows even brighter when it is picked up.
Its glow is a warning to hungry animals. In one test, glowing millipedes were attacked less than half as often as dark ones.
It is blind, so it cannot see its own light.
Under a black light it glows even more, like a highlighter pen.
Most asked questions about Sierra luminous millipede
?Why does the Sierra luminous millipede glow?
Its glow warns hungry animals that it is poisonous. It may first have helped it cope with heat.
?Is the Sierra luminous millipede dangerous?
It can make a poison to defend itself, so do not handle it. It does not bite.
?Where does the Sierra luminous millipede live?
Only in a few mountain ranges of California, in the United States.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Motyxia
- Group
- Centipedes and millipedes
- Family
- Xystodesmidae
- Classification
- Diplopoda > Polydesmida > Xystodesmidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Motyxia
Where the facts come from
- Motyxia (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 Aggyrolemnoixytes. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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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