Yellow-and-black flat millipede
The yellow-and-black flat millipede is a big, flat-backed millipede with bright yellow edges and spots on its black body. Those bright colours are a warning. When it is bothered, it makes a strong chemical to protect itself.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It protects itself with a liquid that contains cyanide, a strong poison for small attackers.
It has a yellow spot on its first body ring and yellow spots on its last few rings.
Scientists now think it is really the same species as another millipede called Apheloria virginiensis.
Most asked questions about Yellow-and-black flat millipede
?Is the yellow-and-black flat millipede poisonous?
It makes a juice that can irritate your eyes. It is safe to look at, but wash your hands if you touch it.
?What does the yellow-and-black flat millipede eat?
Dead leaves and rotting plant bits on the forest floor.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Apheloria tigana
- Named by
- Chamberlin, 1939
- Group
- Centipedes and millipedes
- Family
- Xystodesmidae
- Classification
- Diplopoda > Polydesmida > Xystodesmidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Apheloria tigana (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 Matt Reinbold. CC BY-SA 2.0, 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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