Black and Yellow-Spot Flatback Millipede

Millipedes

MOQ 100 head

Partners Only

2.1 – 3.3 cm body length

Non-venomous. A flat-backed millipede; defends with hydrogen cyanide and benzaldehyde (almond smell) from ozopores — can stain and irritate skin/eyes. The yellow spotting is aposematic.

Native to southern India and Sri Lanka (introduced widely via plants and soil). Lives in humid leaf litter, compost and decaying wood, often in large aggregations.

Detritivore — decaying leaf litter, rotting wood, compost and fungi. Gregarious recycler.

23 – 28 °C ambient — 22 °C cool end

75 – 85 %. Evenly moist substrate with good ventilation.

None required (nocturnal).

Decaying hardwood leaf litter and rotten wood; supplement with cuttlebone calcium, vegetables and a little fish-flake protein.

Terrestrial; 8 – 10 cm of moist leaf-and-wood substrate with bark. Gregarious and prolific — keep communally. Min 25 × 25 cm.

Docile, slow and aggregating; coils and secretes when alarmed. Handle minimally.