Millepede Question

[pandm...@gmail.com]

Hello, Mid-valley Nature

I had a quick question about Yellow-spotted Millepedes (Harpaphe haydeniana).  Is there ever a point in their life when they do not have yellow spots?  I've seen a few completely black unmarked millepedes that look a lot like Harpaphes.  The Yellow-spotted Millepedes are all over, so I have lots for comparison.  I found one juvenile Yellow-spotted Millepede curled up under a piece of wood, and it had yellow spots. 

Thanks for any help,
Phil

[Nancy]

Ah.  My favorite millipede. I worked with  Harpaphe in my dissertation research. 

Harpaphe  haydeniana grow and molt 12 times before reaching the adult stage. The younger stages are unpigmented  (white). The black and yellow adults are what we typically see above ground.  The stage before adulthood (called a sub-adult)  is about half the size of an adult and they are pale grey brown with pale yellow dots. They are sometimes seen above ground. The younger stages are underground in the forest floor. 

I have seen orange and black color variants. I have never seen an entirely black Harpaphe. 

Are you familiar with the spirobolid millipede Tylobolus deses? They are dark grey to black. But they are round in cross section, unlike the polydesmid Harpaphe. 

Can you post pictures? 

Nancy

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[b_g...@comcast.net]

Hi Nancy and Phil,

If it has a similar body form, but no yellow spots, I'd suspect another species in the order Polydesmida. Here's an example....

http://bugguide.net/node/view/462413

Apparently there are 10 families in this order in North America, but I don't know how much of a challenge it might be to figure out what you saw.

Here's a  publication by Hoffman 1999  which is a checklist of millipedes of North and Central America at this website...

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/science/special-projects/milli-peet-class-diplopoda/milli-peet-publications

This may or may not help to narrow down the options.

Cheers,

Bill

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From: "Nancy" <bee....@gmail.com>
To: pandm...@gmail.com
Cc: "mid-valley-nature" <mid-vall...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 10:48:01 PM
Subject: Re: [MidValleyNature:3039] Millepede Question

[pandm...@gmail.com]

Hi, Nancy and Bill

Fascinating!  Perhaps the light-colored millipede I found was a sub-adult.  I attached a picture of it.  Tylobolus deses is a new millipede for me (which makes two that I know now!).  There might be a Tylobolus sp. mentioned in the checklist of Forest Park fauna.

The first two pictures are of the unknown millipede, and the third one is of the younger harpaphe.

Minus the red, the polydesmid picture looks right.  One of the polydesmids, Oxidus gracilis, looked close, but the head seemed a little different.  I had a little trouble following the link to the millepede checklist, but it definitely sounds worth pursuing.

Phil

[Nancy]

Phil, the pale curled millipede does look like a sub-adult to me. Btw they molt underground in an soil chamber that they build. The chamber for a sub adult is about the size of a marble. If you accidently open one you will find the millipede curled inside along with its cast skin. It takes a while for the new exoskelton to harden. Maybe a week or so before they emerge. Where you see sub adults, dig around in a moist humusy place and you may find earlier stadia as well. They will be smaller and have fewer leg pairs. Molting in polydesmid millipedes is deterministic. They are born with 3 leg pairs and add them in a set sequence with each molt. 

It sure is fun to talk about millipedes!

Nancy

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<Mystery Millipede.jpg>

<Mystery Millipede (2).jpg>

<Younger Harpaphe.jpg>

[Nancy]

Phil, was the dark millipede in the picture about the same size as an harpaphe?  Did you see more than one? Were there normal harpaphe around as well?

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[pandm...@gmail.com]

Nancy,

Yes, the black millipedes were the same size as the harpaphes.  I think I've seen one individual near a harpaphe before for comparison.  The only obvious difference I noticed was the lack of yellow spots.  I can recall three separate indivuduals; the one I took the picture of on a little hilltop trail, another by our porch about a third of a mile away, and a third in a little valley that has a seasonal creek (about a fifth of a mile from the porch).  They certainly aren't as common as the harpaphes, but both types are out and about at the same time.  I think the last time I saw a harpaphe was in late June, and the last black millipede I saw was probably the one in my picture (which was taken May 10th).

Phil

[pandm...@gmail.com]

Hi, Nancy

Here's a picture of one of our Harpaphe haydenianas if it's at all helpful.  Now that I look at these pictures, it appears that there is a difference in the color of each millipede's legs.  It looks like the harpaphe has black legs and the black millipede has white legs.

Phil