Apheloria virginiensis – Millipede – Photo: L. Weikel

Millipede

Yet again, Spartacus and I were ambling along one of our favorite routes (this time our full-on walkabout, our four mile trek) when we came upon a most fearsome creature. Holy cow. It was making its way along the berm of the road, when we both seemed to notice it at the same time. I felt a small wave of recognition lap at my feet, but couldn’t place it. My initial thought was, “What will this turn into? Surely something beautiful!?”

But something nagged at me. No, even though caterpillars that metamorphose into stunning butterflies generally have bazillions of little suction cup feet and often appear segmented and sometimes amazingly colorful, this was different. This didn’t have a caterpillar feel to it, even if at first glance it sort of resembles one.

Google Dating Myself

Sometimes, I swear, I date myself by revealing my utter amazement that you can basically type any question into Google and you’ll receive a response. It may not be the answer you’re looking for. You may have to sift through a bunch of whiffs as far as discovering the information or answer you’re looking for – but it’s likely you’ll find it.

I bring this up because I was internally lamenting that there’s nothing (to my knowledge) that resembles my touted PA Herp ID website for insects. How was I going to find out what this bug was?

Looking at this beast, I thought to myself, “Millipede.” But it’s soooo different from the little brown buttheads that play opossum by coiling up into a spiral when touched and are only about an inch long. Could this flamboyant gargantuan really be related to those crunchy little things? And even if I put ‘millipede’ into Google – how will I ever find the one that looks just like this one?

Yeah.

I shake my head at what a rube I am sometimes.

Not a Bug

Turns out when I Googled millipede, one of the top photos that appeared was of a millipede that was a dead ringer for the one I saw earlier in the day. Success! And I was fascinated to read that the millipede is not, in fact, a ‘bug’ or an insect! The very first thing I noticed about this creature, Apheloria virginiensis, was that it belongs to the Animalia Kingdom. And even more surprising was that it’s a member of the Arthropoda Phylum.

Huh.

The research squirrel in my head started scrambling. Arthropods, arhropods.  Wait. It belongs to the same phylum as lobsters?

Sure enough.

Two More Intriguing Facts

While I didn’t find an equivalent to PA Herp ID, I did find Wikipedia coming to the rescue. And now, given that this creature crossed my path, I had to wonder: was it bringing me a message?

Two intriguing facts might bring some clues. First of all, this giant millipede releases cyanide if touched. Wow  – that’s one heck of an antisocial creature. Cyanide?

Second of all – and this I found most peculiar and, well, not a little disturbing – this millipede is known to a host a creepy parasitic fungus Arthrophaga myriapodina. And the fungus’s claim to fame?  It causes those infected by the parasite to climb to an elevated spot before death.

Now…that’s odd. Must contemplate!

(T-175)