How to Completely Eradicate Millipedes (Thousand-Leggers)? Diet, Toxicity and Natural Enemies Explained

Millipedes, also called thousand-leggers, hundred-leggers, or "scale-pole bugs," like to move about in groups and generally live in dark, damp places, such as piles of dead branches and fallen leaves or under rubble and stones. They feed exclusively on fallen leaves and humus, though a few species eat the young buds and tender roots of plants, making them agricultural pests. So how do you completely eradicate millipedes? Are they toxic? What are their natural enemies?

Introduction to Millipedes

Millipedes are broadly divided into striped millipedes, giant millipedes (about Ann), wide-tarsus Longqu millipedes, mountain millipedes, bristly millipedes, and giant millipedes.

Millipedes belong to the phylum Arthropoda, subphylum Myriapoda, class Diplopoda, and are made up of body segments. They are about 20-35 mm long, dark brown, with reddish-yellow sides on the back and on the walking legs. Millipedes can spray a liquid with an irritating odor; the liquid sprayed by the Madagascar scarlet millipede in tropical rainforests can temporarily blind a person's eyes. There are about 10,000 species of millipedes in the world. The largest millipede in the world is the African giant millipede, which can reach 38 cm in length with a body diameter of 4 cm. Its body is glossy black, and when touched, it twists its body into a spiral. Millipede population numbers vary noticeably with time; on sunny days adult millipedes hide by day and come out at night, with occasionally a few individuals active on the ground during the day. In rainy weather the group can be active on the ground all day, showing an obvious surface aggregation phenomenon. From June to October each year, they are most abundant on rainy nights from summer to early autumn.

Are Millipedes Toxic?

Although millipedes are not venomous, they have stink glands on their body segments that can secrete a toxic, foul-smelling liquid, which deters poultry and birds from pecking at them. Moreover, if humans accidentally eat millipedes, it can cause allergic swelling of the lips and other symptoms. At the same time, although millipedes do not bite, touching or handling them can cause them to secrete toxins that trigger local irritation, and in severe cases can cause obvious erythema, herpes, and necrosis.

If you accidentally touch a millipede and it causes skin allergy, never ever wipe it with alcohol; wash it with soapy water instead. If the skin reacts, a topical corticosteroid can be applied locally; if the eyes are affected, they must be rinsed immediately, and corticosteroid eye drops or ointment should be used.

What Do Millipedes Eat?

Millipedes are a common group among soil animals, feeding mainly on plant remains such as litter and rotten wood, and are one of the primary processors in the decomposition of matter in ecosystems. They live on and feed on decaying plants; some also harm plants, and a few are predatory or feed on carrion.

They mostly eat humus and sometimes also damage crops. They generally harm the young roots of plants as well as young seedlings and tender stems and leaves. Besides lawns, affected plants also include some ornamental flowers such as cyclamen, cineraria, cymbidium orchids, maidenhair ferns, begonias, fuchsias, and asparagus ferns.

In some households, millipedes are also kept as pets; typically, captive millipedes are fed fallen leaves and rotten wood. Sometimes various melons, fruits, and vegetables can also be given as treats. Millipede population numbers and horizontal distribution are greatest in broadleaf forests, followed by mixed coniferous-broadleaf forests and coniferous forests, while vertical distribution drops sharply from the surface downward. Annual variation peaks in late summer.

How to Completely Eradicate Millipedes?

1. Manual control

Indoors, sweep frequently, keep the interior clean, and often open windows for ventilation; outdoors, clear away tiles, bricks, and material piles around the house to reduce hiding places for millipedes.

(1) Timing of control

Because millipedes prefer damp, shaded places and hide during the day, crawling and moving about in the early morning and evening, indoor control is not limited by pest activity times and can be carried out all day. The best outdoor control times are from 5 a.m. to before 10 a.m., and from after 5 p.m. until dark.

(2) Control methods

1. Create isolation belts. Adopt an encircling approach starting from indoors and expanding outward in turn to outdoors, farmland, and forests, using quicklime powder to form isolation belts and strictly prevent millipedes from spreading.

2. Manual removal. For millipedes that enter courtyards or indoors, use methods such as sweeping, stepping on, swatting, and scalding with boiling water to clear them away completely, then sprinkle some lime to disinfect and remove odors; you can also spray “realgar water” to repel the insects.

2. Chemical control

1. Spread quicklime powder around the residence to prevent millipedes from crawling into the house.

2. For concentrated, contiguous areas with large populations of migrating “millipedes,” quicklime can be spread.

For concentrated, contiguous areas with large millipede populations, indoors use 80% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate at 300 times dilution for spraying; outdoors use 2.5% deltamethrin at 2500 times dilution, 4.5% beta-cypermethrin emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution, or 50% phoxim emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution for spraying. Repeat 2-3 times on the same plot, spraying continuously for 3 days, and ensure the pesticide and spray solution evenly penetrate the surface soil layer to achieve the desired effect.

Natural Enemies of Millipedes

1. Ants: Ants are the greatest enemy of millipedes during molting and hatching.

2. Flour mites: If the humidity in the millipede rearing tank is too high and the temperature is high, millipedes are prone to harm from flour mites. After being parasitized by flour mites, not only is movement difficult, but the millipedes are agitated by the toxins produced by the flour mites. More seriously, flour mites absorb large amounts of nutrients from the centipede's body, causing the centipede to become thin and weak and die.

What Is the Difference Between Millipedes and Centipedes?

A centipede's body is flat, with a pair of antennae on the head, one pair of large mandibles and two pairs of small maxillae; the trunk has 15 to 180 segments, each with a pair of appendages, and the first pair of appendages forms the forcipules. A millipede's body is long and cylindrical; except for the front and rear ends, each body segment is formed by two segments fused together, so it appears that each segment has two pairs of legs. The mouthparts are relatively simple, with one pair of large mandibles and a pair of plate-like gnathochilaria, and the lower lip has degenerated.