Millipedes (Diplopoda)

Arthropoda -> Myriapoda -> Diplopoda

Millipedes are mostly detritivores and herbivores (eating fresh or decaying plant and fungal material), and help with the important task of preparing organic matter for micro-organisms to fully break down. They’re in the sister Class to centipedes, but differ in many ways - such as having two pairs of legs per segment (rather than one pair in centipedes), and lacking the poisonous modified pincers of their predatory relatives. Millipedes come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, including the cylindrical ‘snake’ millipedes (Family Julida), the ‘flat-back’ millipedes (Polydesmida), and the ‘pill’ millipedes (Glomerida) which look A LOT like pill woodlice (it’s true: the first time I saw a pill millipede, it took me an embarrassingly a long time to realise why I couldn’t identify what species it was using my woodlouse key!). They are a timid and charming group of animals, with an attractive spiral shape to photograph when they’re curled up. Lots more info on millipedes is available at the British Myriapod and Isopod Group’s page here, and the Soil Biodiversity Atlas entry here.