Greenhouse millipede

Oxidus gracilis

Eats: Leftovers and dead things Centipedes and millipedesGardens and meadowsLots of legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The greenhouse millipede is a small, flat, brown millipede with pale cream legs. It has no eyes at all and finds its way by feeling with its feelers. It loves cool, damp places and is often found in greenhouses, which is how it got its name.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect. Insects have six legs, and this cousin has many, many more.

Lives in

First from Asia, now in gardens and greenhouses in the Americas and Europe

Length

1.8 to 2.3 cm (0.71 to 0.91 in)

Top speed

about 0.15 km/h (0.09 mph)

On foot, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless to people, just a bit of a nuisance when lots of them come into a house. Wash your hands after touching one.

What does it eat?

It eats dead and rotting plant bits like fallen leaves, mulch and old grass, which helps turn them back into soil.

Photo of Greenhouse millipede — Picture by JCoelho. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

as long as 4 grains of rice in a rowit has about 60 legscould run across a dinner table in 24 seconds

How big is Greenhouse millipede compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)

Greenhouse millipede about 0.15 km/h (0.09 mph)

A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

A grown-up has 60 legs and about 15 body rings.

To protect itself, it can make a poison gas that keeps hungry enemies away.

A female lays about 40 to 50 eggs in cool, dark, damp soil.

It takes about 6 to 7 months to become fully grown.

Sometimes huge groups of them go on the move together and pile up in heaps.

you asked

Most asked questions about Greenhouse millipede

?How many legs does a greenhouse millipede have?

A grown-up has 60 legs.

?Is the greenhouse millipede dangerous?

No. It does not bite and is not a danger to people, though it can be annoying when it comes indoors.

?What does the greenhouse millipede eat?

Rotting plant bits like dead leaves, mulch and grass.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Oxidus gracilis
Group: Centipedes and millipedes
Family: Paradoxosomatidae
Classification: Diplopoda > Polydesmida > Paradoxosomatidae
Lives on: Asia, North America, Europe
Also known as: Hothouse millipede, Garden millipede, Short-flange millipede, Flat-back millipede

Where the facts come from

Greenhouse millipede (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
Picture by JCoelho. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.