Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Photo#42612
Not a derm*estid larva! - Polyxenus lagurus

Not a derm*estid larva! - Polyxenus lagurus
Hollis, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USA
February 10, 2006
Size: 2 mm approx.
When I first spotted this small thing crawling around among some apparent rodent nest remains with movements much like a derm*estid beetle larva's, I was certain I knew what it was. When I viewed it with my loupe and saw the hair pattern, I knew it was a derm*estid larva I'd never seen before. But it turns out I was wrong on both counts: It was not a derm*estid larva (not larva, not a beetle, not even an insect!) and I had seen one before. It took awhile to dicover that though.

I noticed that he could climb the walls of a plastic cup a lot better than another small derm*estid I have. Nevertheless I clicked off a load of photos of the little guy, made a derm*estid beetle container up for him, plopped him into it, and settled down to pick through the photos I'd taken.

I was so pleased at having found one with such a different pattern of bristles and a double tail tuft, although one tuft seemed to disintegrate in the container during the photo shoot. Then I looked at the underside views. There were the six tiny legs, and six more, and six more ...

Suddenly I realized what I had found and photographed, a tufted millipede! It has a predecessor in the guide, one I photographed and submitted last year.

Images of this individual: tag all
Not a derm*estid larva! - Polyxenus lagurus Not a derm*estid larva! - Polyxenus lagurus Not a derm*estid larva! - Polyxenus lagurus

Thanks, Rowland.
It's the Great Millipede Roundup :-)

Moved from Polyxenidae.

This "pin-cushion" millipede
This "pin-cushion" millipede is Polyxenus ?lagurus (L., 1758), a Holarctic species occurring in northern North America and in Europe.

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.