White-legged snake millipede
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.

How fast is it?
Fun facts
It has around 100 pairs of legs on 41 to 56 body rings.
It comes out at night, from about an hour after sunset until an hour before sunrise.
If it does not want to roll up, it can escape by wriggling sideways like a snake.
Hedgehogs and centipedes like to eat it.
It likes chalky and limestone ground best.
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
- 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.
- 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.