Bug Wiki
Bug Wiki / All bugs / Centipedes and millipedes
Sticker of Aromatic cherry millipede
Bug card No. 0152 of 4,939

Aromatic cherry millipede

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

The aromatic cherry millipede is a big, flat millipede in bright colours. Most are black with yellow stripes, pink or red spots and yellow legs. When it is bothered, it gives off a smell like cherries or almonds.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect. Insects have six legs, and this cousin has many, many more.
Lives in
Northeastern North America, under leaves, logs and stones in leafy forests
Length
4 to 6 cm (1.6 to 2.4 in)
Top speed
about 0.24 km/h (0.15 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Not dangerous to people, but its smelly defence juice is poisonous to small animals. Wash your hands with soap after touching any millipede.
What does it eat?
Like other millipedes, it eats rotting leaves and wood on the forest floor.
For real!Photo of Aromatic cherry millipede
Picture by Bob Walker (uploaded by en:User:Paphrag ). CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Aromatic cherry millipede about 6 cm long (2.4 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 2 toy building bricks in a rowit has about 62 legscould run across a dinner table in 15 seconds

How big is Aromatic cherry millipede compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its cherry smell comes from a poison that keeps hungry animals away.

2

One millipede can make enough poison to kill six mice, but the tiny amount it lets out cannot hurt people.

3

Its bright colours are a warning that tells birds and other animals not to eat it.

4

Grown-up females have 31 pairs of legs, while males have 30 pairs.

5

Some grown-ups reach 7 centimetres long.

you asked

Most asked questions about Aromatic cherry millipede

?Is the cherry millipede poisonous?

Its smelly juice is poisonous to small animals. It cannot hurt people, but wash your hands after touching it.

?Why does the millipede smell like cherries?

It gives off a defence chemical that smells like cherries or almonds to scare away animals that want to eat it.

?How many legs does the cherry millipede have?

Grown-up females have 62 legs and males have 60.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Apheloria corrugata
Named by
Wood, 1864
Group
Centipedes and millipedes
Family
Xystodesmidae
Classification
Diplopoda > Polydesmida > Xystodesmidae
Lives on
North America
Also known as
Pink and yellow cherry millipede

Where the facts come from

  1. Apheloria corrugata (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 Bob Walker (uploaded by en:User:Paphrag ). CC BY-SA 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.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: Centipedes and millipedes

Giant African millipedeCentipedes and millipedesHouse centipedeCentipedes and millipedesAmazonian giant centipedeCentipedes and millipedesVietnamese centipedeCentipedes and millipedesGiant desert centipedeCentipedes and millipedesGreenhouse millipedeCentipedes and millipedes

Also at home here: Forests and woods

Florida woods cockroachCockroaches and termitesEastern eyed click beetleBeetlesRoman snailSnails, slugs and wormsPeacock tarantulaSpidersJack jumper antAntsSpongy mothMoths
Honey jarfor grown-ups