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Bulldozer millipede with blue-green legs from the Eastern Ghats.
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A giant pill millipede of the order Sphaerotheriida from southern Western Ghats.
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Giant pill millipede beginning to open.
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Giant millipede of the family Zephroniidae from north-eastern India. Pill millipedes roll into a ball when a threat is preceived.
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Plate millipede, Anoplodesmus species, from Suchindrum, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. They are the most diverse Indian species.
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A millipede of the order Spirostreptida from the family. Harpagophoridae.
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Millipedes belong to the class Diplopoda. The term describes them accurately as they have two (diplo) pairs of legs (poda) in each segment of their body.
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A giant pill millipede belonging to the Arthrosphaera species rolled into a ball.
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Arthrosphaera species beginning its roll to close. A locking mechanism ensures that they cannot be prised open unless you harm them. This is also a protective mechanism to reduce water loss by reducing the surface area exposed to air.
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Pink-legged millipede belonging to the Aulacobolus species from southern Western Ghats.
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Millipedes prefer environments with constant to high moisture levels and moderate temperatures. They are therefore abundantly distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions.
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Red and black giant pill millipede from southern Western Ghats.
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Eumillipes persephone, a female with 1,306 legs, from Australia. Image by Dr Paul Marek (Wikipedia).
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Flat-backed millipede of the Paradoxosomatidae species.
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Trigoniulus corallinus from the Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary.
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Centipede. Centipedes belong to the order Chilopoda. Unlike millipedes, they have only one pair of legs in a segment.
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Centipedes are carnivorous, and their bite carries a venom that can harm humans.
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Spirostreptids range in size from the largest millipedes to the smallest. They are adapted to live in various types of biomes—rain forests, grasslands, deserts and caves.
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Trigoniulus corallinus, a pantropical Spirobolid millipede common across India.
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A black bulldozer, Aulacobolus species, from Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary.
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Litter splitters or plate millipedes from Suchindram.
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While most millipedes are predominantly forest-floor/soil dwellers, some of them climb trees to reside in crevices to feed and escape the heat.
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Wedge or litter splitter, Chondromorpha species, Suchindrum.
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