Other Common Names
Texas striped millipede (2)
Identification
Cylindrical body is overall brown or black (dead individuals may bleach white in the sun). They have two pairs of legs per body segment (number of body segments, thus legs, depends on how many times they have shed because they add new segments each time they shed). (1)
Range
The common spirostreptid that occurs in southwestern deserts.
Habitat
They are nocturnal but may be seen in the morning following summer rains. They spend most of their time in burrows that they can dig themselves. (1)
Food
Desert Millipedes are slow-moving and feed on decaying organic material. (1)
Life Cycle
They can live for 10 or more years. (1)
It is known to mass aggregate, and there have been reports of "marching armies of millipedes" crossing roads near Big Bend Nat. Pk., Texas.
Remarks
When disturbed, the millipede may curl into a coil and even secrete a noxious substance (may irritate your skin and certainly your eyes) along the sides of its body. (1)
