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Sticker of Yosemite millipede
Bug card No. 4927 of 4,939

Yosemite millipede

Californiulus yosemitensis
Eats: Leftovers and dead thingsCentipedes and millipedesForests and woodsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The Yosemite millipede is a long, black millipede with a bright yellow or orange stripe down its back. A thin black line runs down the middle of the stripe. It hides under logs in the mountains of California.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect. Insects have six legs, and this cousin has many, many more.
Lives in
California, southern Oregon and Nevada, mostly in the Sierra Nevada mountains
Length
11 cm (4.3 in)
Top speed
about 0.33 km/h (0.21 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Like many millipedes it may leak a smelly juice if bothered, so wash your hands after touching it.
What does it eat?
Like other millipedes, it eats dead leaves and rotting plant bits.
For real!Photo of Yosemite millipede
Picture by Ken-ichi Ueda. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Yosemite millipede about 11 cm long (4.3 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 3 toy building bricks in a rowabout as long as your handcould run across a dinner table in 11 seconds

How big is Yosemite millipede compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

A grown-up can be up to 11 centimetres long and have up to 80 body rings.

2

Its tiny eyes sit in patches on each side of its head, four rows in each patch.

3

The first one was collected in Yosemite in 1931 and is kept in a big museum in Washington.

4

It is the most widespread millipede in its genus and is common where it lives.

you asked

Most asked questions about Yosemite millipede

?How long is the Yosemite millipede?

Up to about 11 centimetres long.

?Where does the Yosemite millipede live?

In the mountains of California, southern Oregon and Nevada, under logs.

?Is the Yosemite millipede dangerous?

No. It is harmless, but wash your hands if you touch it.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Californiulus yosemitensis
Named by
Chamberlin, 1941
Group
Centipedes and millipedes
Family
Paeromopodidae
Classification
Diplopoda > Julida > Paeromopodidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Californiulus yosemitensis (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 Ken-ichi Ueda. CC BY 4.0, 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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