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• Movement
• Burrowing
• Making it in the record books

Movement

Millipedes are actually arthropods, meaning their bodies are jointed and they have no backbone.

Although their name means a thousand legs, most types of millipedes average around 100 to 300 legs. But even with all of those legs, millipedes do not scurry at lightning speed. Every pair of millipede legs has individual muscles for that pair. The left and right leg in each pair move together, but they are not in sync with the pair in front and behind.

The body segments also do not move in the same direction. This causes millipedes to walk in a slower, wave-like motion. Each body segment has 2 or 4 pairs of legs.

Burrowing

Millipedes feed on decaying organic matter and often have to burrow into soil. Millipede legs are especially useful for this activity.

There are three burrowing mechanisms used by different types millipedes. These mechanisms are:

• Bulldozing
• Wedging
• Boring

Bulldozing

With this mechanism, millipedes use their legs and body like a bulldozer to charge through the ground. A millipede lowers its head and rams straight into the surface with the first body segment. Millipedes are powered forward by their legs and the many muscles in each pair.

This type of burrowing is used by the rounded or cylindrical looking millipedes from the Julida, Spirobolida, and Spriostreptida orders of millipedes.

Wedging

For wedging, a millipede starts by putting its head into a crevice. Then, the millipede’s legs push upwards and straighten out. Because of its powerful legs, a millipede is able to widen the area and enter even deeper into the opening.

Flat-backed millipedes use wedging, most of which are from the Polydesmida order.

Boring

Boring is a technique used by millipedes with an interesting, but asymmetrical, body shape. These millipedes have heads that are narrower than the other segments of the body. From head to end, each body segment gets progressively wider, making the body ideal for boring. The millipedes use their legs to drag their bodies through an opening. As the larger end of the millipede is pulled forward, the space widens.

Millipedes shaped like this are of the Polyzoniida order.

No matter which burrowing technique a millipede uses, bulldozing, wedging and boring would not be possible without millipede legs.

Making it in the record books

With all those millipede legs crawling around, the truly special millipedes have earned a place in the record books.

A few of these prize-winning arthropods are:

• Millipede with the most legs: 750 legs
• Millipede with the least legs: 24 legs
• Longest known living millipede (current): 11 inches
• Longest known Millipede (in history): 6 feet long and 1.6 feet wide (although there is disagreement whether these Arthropleura were actually millipedes)
• Shortest known living Millipede: 2-3 mm long

Luckily, 6-foot long millipedes no longer exist. And while hundreds of millipedes legs are kind of cool, you still do not want them creeping around your house.

You can easily avoid this with organic home pest control to keep millipedes outside where they belong. That way, when you see one outside of your window, you’ll feel free to exclaim, “Wow, that bug has great legs.”