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Sticker of White-legged snake millipede
Bug card No. 1459 of 1,500

White-legged snake millipede

Tachypodoiulus niger
Eats: Leftovers and dead thingsCentipedes and millipedesForests and woodsLots of legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The white-legged snake millipede has a shiny black body, long and round like a little snake. Underneath it has about 200 bright white legs. When it is scared, it rolls up into a tight spiral with its head in the middle.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect. Insects have six legs, and this cousin has many, many more.
Lives in
Western Europe, from Ireland and Britain to Spain, Germany and Austria, in leaf litter and moss
Top speed
about 0.2 km/h (0.12 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting. Hold it gently and put it back where you found it.
What does it eat?
It eats dead leaves and other rotting bits, green algae on bark, and sometimes fruit like raspberries.
For real!Photo of White-legged snake millipede
Picture by Stemonitis. CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It has around 100 pairs of legs on 41 to 56 body rings.

2

It comes out at night, from about an hour after sunset until an hour before sunrise.

3

If it does not want to roll up, it can escape by wriggling sideways like a snake.

4

Hedgehogs and centipedes like to eat it.

5

It likes chalky and limestone ground best.

you asked

Most asked questions about White-legged snake millipede

?How many legs does the white-legged snake millipede have?

About 200, which is around 100 pairs of white legs.

?Do millipedes bite?

No. This millipede is harmless and does not bite or sting.

?What does a millipede eat?

It eats dead leaves, green algae and sometimes fruit like raspberries.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Tachypodoiulus niger
Group
Centipedes and millipedes
Family
Julidae
Classification
Diplopoda > Julida > Julidae
Lives on
Europe
Also known as
Black millipede

Where the facts come from

  1. Tachypodoiulus niger (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 Stemonitis. CC BY 2.5, 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.

More from the same group: Centipedes and millipedes

Also at home here: Forests and woods