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#5709
American Giant Millipede (Narceus americanus) - Narceus americanus-annularis-complex - male

American Giant Millipede (Narceus americanus) - Narceus americanus-annularis-complex - Male
Tallahassee, Florida, USA
August 8, 2004

Narceus americanus (Beauvois,
Narceus americanus (Beauvois, 1817) (Spirobolida: Spirobolidae) again, the most common millipede species in eastern North America.

Do they shed?
I found a American Giant Millipede (Narceus americanus)in my bedroom the other day & I thought it was a spring! I picked it up & realized it was dead. As I was holding it, it broke apart in my hand & it was hollow inside.
My question is: was it just dead & decomposed or, as my wife asked, was it a shedding?

 
They have incomplete metamorphosis,
so the nymph sheds several times on its way to adulthood, each time gaining more segments (and legs). What you found was probably a cast-off skin. I've found them occasionally too.

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