Millipedes are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a result of two single segments fused together. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical or flattened bodies with more than 20 segments, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a tight ball. Although the name "millipede" derives from Latin for "thousand feet", no species was known to have 1,000 or more until the discovery in 2020 of Eumillipes persephone, which can have over 1,300 legs. There are approximately 12,000 named species classified into 16 orders and around 140 families, making Diplopoda the largest class of myriapods, an arthropod group which also includes centipedes and other multi-legged creatures.
Myriapods are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial.
Arthropleura is an extinct genus of massive millipedes that lived in what is now North America and Europe around 345 to 290 million years ago, from the Viséan stage of the lower Carboniferous Period to the Sakmarian stage of the lower Permian Period. The species of the genus are the largest known land invertebrates of all time, and would have had few, if any, predators.
Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter. A subject of widespread public interest, she has influenced the music industry and popular culture through her artistry, songwriting and entrepreneurship. She is an advocate of artists' rights and women's empowerment.
Glomerida is an order of pill-millipedes found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. Also known as northern pill millipedes, they superficially resemble pill-bugs or woodlice, and can enroll into a protective ball. They have twelve body segments, 17 to 19 pairs of legs, and males have enlarged rear legs involved in mating. The order includes about 30 genera and at least 280 species, including Glomeris marginata, the common European pill-millipede. The order contains members in Europe, South-east Asia and the Americas from California to Guatemala. Although historically considered closely related with the similar sphaerotheriidans that also enroll, some DNA evidence suggest they may be more closely related to glomeridesmidans, a poorly known order that does not enroll.
Polydesmida is the largest order of millipedes, containing approximately 3,500 species, including all the millipedes reported to produce hydrogen cyanide (HCN). Polydesmids grow and develop through a series of moults, adding segments until they reach a fixed number in the adult stage, which is usually the same for a given sex in a given species, at which point the moulting and the addition of segments and legs stop. This mode of development, known as teloanamorphosis, distinguishes this order from most other orders of millipedes, which usually continue to moult as adults, developing through either euanamorphosis or hemianamorphosis.
Sphaerotheriida is an order of millipedes in the infraclass Pentazonia, sometimes known as giant pill millipedes. They inhabit Southern Africa, Madagascar, South and Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Like the Northern Hemisphere pill millipedes of the order Glomerida, these millipedes can roll into a ball when disturbed. When they are rolled-up, most sphaerotheriidans reach a maximum size of a cherry or golf ball, but some species from Madagascar can even reach the size of an orange. When rolled-up, predators are unable to unravel giant pill millipedes since the margins of their second and last dorsal plates fit perfectly into one another, creating a sealed ball. A few giant pill millipede species are able to produce sound, the only millipedes known to do this. This order of millipedes is also unique in that some African species are used for medicinal purposes.
Xystodesmidae is a family of millipedes. Its members often have very small distributional areas, with many species only known from a single locality. They are found across the northern hemisphere, with peak diversity in the Appalachian Mountains, where one-third of the 300 or so species occur. They are particularly abundant in deciduous broadleaf forests in the Mediterranean Basin, Africa, Asia, Central and North America, and Russia. Information on basic taxonomy is scant for this family; for example, it is estimated that the genus Nannaria contains over 200 species, but only 25 were described as of 2006. By 2022, 78 species in Nannaria have been described.
Motyxia is a genus of cyanide-producing millipedes that are endemic to the southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, and Santa Monica mountain ranges of California. Motyxias are blind and produce the poison cyanide, like all members of the Polydesmida. All species have the ability to glow brightly: some of the few known instances of bioluminescence in millipedes.
"Safe & Sound" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, featuring the American musical duo the Civil Wars, from the soundtrack of The Hunger Games (2012). Swift and the Civil Wars wrote the track with its producer T Bone Burnett at his house within two hours. A sparse folk ballad, "Safe & Sound" has lyrics about the Hunger Games protagonist Katniss Everdeen's empathy and compassion for other characters, even as she fights to survive in the eponymous Games. Swift sings lead vocals with a high-pitched vibrato, and the Civil Wars provide vocal harmonies.
Richard Lawrence Hoffman was an American zoologist known as an international expert on millipedes, and a leading authority on the natural history of Virginia and the Appalachian Mountains. He was a biology professor at Virginia's Radford College for almost thirty years, and curator of invertebrates at the Virginia Museum of Natural History for another twenty years. He co-founded the Virginia Natural History Society, described over 400 species of millipedes, and produced more than 480 scientific publications. He is commemorated in the scientific and/or common names of over 30 animal species, including the valley and ridge salamander and Hoffman's dwarf centipede.
Brachycybe (Greek for "short head") is a genus of andrognathid millipedes with species in the United States and East Asia. In a rare example of paternal care in invertebrates, males of most species guard the eggs until they hatch.
Haplodesmidae is a family of millipedes in the order Polydesmida. Species occur in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania, although some species have been introduced to the New world tropics. Species are small bodied, often with elaborate sculpturing on the tergites, and some species are capable of rolling into a near-complete ball.
Griffin Andrew McElroy is an American podcaster, actor, writer, composer, and former video game journalist. He is known for his work on podcasts such as My Brother, My Brother and Me and The Adventure Zone, as well as for co-founding the video game journalism website Polygon.
Travis Patrick McElroy is an American podcaster, writer, and comedian. He is known for his work on podcasts such as My Brother, My Brother and Me, Shmanners, The Adventure Zone, and Can I Pet Your Dog?.
Clinton Emil "Clint" McElroy Jr. is an American podcaster, comic book writer and former radio personality. He is known for his work on the podcast The Adventure Zone, as well as for hosting several FM radio shows in West Virginia. Additionally, McElroy is an adjunct professor in the Department of Theatre at Marshall University.
Pleuroloma flavipes, commonly known as the traveling cherry millipede, is a species of flat-backed millipede in the family Xystodesmidae. It has the widest distribution of any species of xystodesmid millipede and is found in eastern North America from southeastern North Dakota, eastward to Connecticut, and southward to North Carolina, northern Louisiana, and southern Texas. Pleuroloma flavipes millipedes are occasionally observed in large aggregations of individuals where they appear to move en masse in a certain direction, hence the common name "wandering cherry millipede". In a report from 1950, an aggregation of about 6,000 individuals were encountered on a single bridge at McCormick's Creek State Park, Indiana. The species is extremely variable in coloration, and converges in appearance with several species of Apheloria and Brachoria as a result of mimicry.
The genus Nannaria, commonly known as twisted-claw millipedes, is a genus of millipedes in the family Xystodesmidae first described by Ralph Chamberlin in 1918. In 2022, entomologists Derek Hennen, Jackson Means and Paul Marek discovered and described 17 new species, which expanded the size of Nannaria to 78, making it the largest genus of Xystodesmidae.
Zoosphaerium darthvaderi, also known as the Darth Vader giant pill millipede, is a species of giant pill millipede endemic to the island state of Madagascar. It is named after the Star Wars character Darth Vader. The millipede is restricted to the Ambohitantely Reserve and is considered an extremely endangered species.
Castianeira swiftay is a species of sac spider in the family Corinnidae. It is found in Costa Rica, and named in honor of the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift.
