#they're millipedes!

[crow0king]

A bit ago I was on Pinterest and I saw these two 'western-like' outfits and they immediately screamed Bill and Steve to me; so I HAD to draw them in these outfits.... I also tweaked the outfits a bit to help better fit each character :}

This 'I guess' is also the first showings of my 'human' Bill and Steve (although that's still work in progress, you can have these for now)

And a little sprinkle of Avian Falls being silly :v

[getvalentined]

We're back into absolutely ancient OC territory; I think the last time I drew K'moh was like 2006? Might have been later, though. Unfortunately, the gallery where I had all the original artwork of the character no longer exists, so I can't go check. Tragic, really.

K'moh is a male black widow spider (referred to as a "widower" in his society) and he has a lot of fingers, so flipping someone off does not look as emphatic as it does when a member of his mostly-mammalian staff does it. The mandible-bearing is an arachnid analogue, but non-arthropods don't really understand it very well so he just does both for clarity's sake.

[blazeball]

i had a demolipede named bobcat but he kind of sucked and everyone on my team was rivalswith him. like everyone. they hated his ass

[copiawife]

i'm doing a randomizer run of pokemon x and i found a scolipede on route 6 yippee!!

[littlewigglers]

NEW FRIENDS SOON

I found a listening for some captive bred red legged millipedes and oh I just had to get them <3

The seller was super nice and gave me 6 for a real good price, even says they'll send me pairs, I'll hopefully have them Thursday weather premitting.

[spiffyspidr]

Everyone, what's your favourite bug?

[unhingedlesbear]

So after the Isopod incident I think I'll take it as a sign. My initial idea of "Yeah I'll only keep large bugs" was probably correct. I think I just do better with bigger bugs like Kolchek or my stick insects. So yeahhh going forward I think I'll stick to that. I LOVE keeping bugs so much but I may have to become a "Big bug person" rather than a bug person in general. (Works for me, I always liked big bugs more anyway tbh)

[changelingeyes]

i've been wanting to practice drawing animals more lately bc i've never really done it much so i've been wondering what Augustus and the Changeling's fursonas would be as further incentive. my gut says that Augustus is a big dopey golden retriever and the Changeling is a hare, but i saw someone drawing a praying mantis fursona earlier and feel like Augustus could very well be a beetle... maybe a rhinocerous beetle bc they're her favorite? but in that case i feel like the Changeling would be a millipede.... maybe they have separate fursonas and bugsonas... ?

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Giant Emerald Pill-Millipede: when these enormous millipedes are all rolled up, their bodies can be as big as a baseball, a tennis ball, or a small orange

This species (Zoosphaerium neptunus) is commonly known as a giant emerald pill-millipede. The females can measure up to 90mm long (roughly 3.5 inches), making this the largest species of pill-millipede in the world.

There is a significant degree of sexual dimorphism in this species, with the males measuring only about 45mm (1.8 inches) long -- roughly half the size of the females.

Giant emerald pill-millipedes are found only in Madagascar, which is home to several endemic species of giant pill-millipedes (order Sphaerotheriida). The Malagasy name for giant pill-millipedes is "Tainkintana," which means "shooting-star."

Pill-millipedes use conglobation as a defense mechanism, which means that they can curl their bodies up into a spherical shape so that their dorsal plates form a protective shield around the softer, more vulnerable parts of their bodies, just like an actual pill-bug or a "roly-poly."

When they roll themselves up completely, they look almost like gently polished chunks of malachite, emerald, or jade.

Giant emerald pill-millipedes will sometimes form large swarms that travel together as a group. This is the only species of giant pill-millipede that engages in any sort of swarming behavior, and the purpose of that behavior is still unclear. The swarms often contain thousands of individuals, with almost all of them moving in the same direction, even when there is no physical contact that might allow the millipedes to "herd" one another along.

Their swarming behavior also has some very peculiar features, as this article explains:

During swarming, Zoosphaerium neptunus individuals pay little attention to their surroundings; many specimens were observed walking straight into and drowning in small puddles. Some swarms even display ‘cliché lemming behaviour:' in Marojejy, a large part of a swarm walked into and drowned in a small river.

No single specimen was observed walking ‘against the current,' all specimens were moving in the same direction (southeast), even when not in contact with one another.

Of 273 randomly collected individuals, 105 were males, while 168 were females. The males were 8.3 - 14.1 mm wide (average width 10.4 mm). According to the inner horns of the posterior telopods, all males were sexually mature. The females were 9.95 - 15.4 mm wide (average width 11.4 mm). All females displayed non sclerotized vulvae and were sexually immature.

Some researchers argue that the swarming serves as a defense mechanism, providing a layer of protection (or at least some cryptic cover) against local predators, but the swarming behavior is still poorly understood.

Important Note: I just want to remind everyone that these animals belong in their own natural habitat -- they should not be trapped, bought/sold, traded, shipped, collected, or kept as pets. This particular species does not survive well in captivity, either, and the demand for these "exotic" invertebrates is putting the wild populations in jeopardy. The previous article discusses those issues, too:

Another possible threat for Z. neptunus swarms are collections for the pet trade. There exists a large demand in Japan, Europe and North America for 'green -eyed monsters’ as pets. Giant pill -millipedes from Madagascar unfortunately have a very short survival time in terraria. The species is specialized on low-energy food (dead leaves), and adapted to the cool climates (<20°C) of the highlands. Specimens in terraria often starve to death quickly.

So I know that they're adorable and really, really fascinating...but let's just let them be their chunky, adorable little selves out in the wild where they belong.

Sources & More Info:

European Journal of Taxonomy: Seven New Giant Pill-Millipede Species and New Records of the Genus Zoosphaerium from Madagascar

Madagascar Conservation & Development: Swarming Behavior in the World's Largest Giant Pill-Millipede, Z. neptunus, and its Implication for Conservation Efforts

Bonn Zoological Bulletin Supplementum: The Giant Millipedes, Order Sphaerotheriida (an Annotated Species Catalogue) (PDF)

African Invertebrates: Madagascar's Living Giants: Discovery of Five New Species of Endemic Giant Pill-Millipedes from Madagascar (PDF)

[frosted-queerios]

ONE OF OUR MILLIPEDES DIED :(

[greiiliss]

@mthevlamister

one of the most impressive animals I met this year was a huge platyrhacid millipede, found chugging through some bamboo leaf litter in Malaysia.

he was a pleasant weight to hold in the hand, but spread out over so many gentle, graceful legs. the video offers a nice look at his eyeless face—all polydesmidan millipedes lack eyes.

I only hung onto this animated spinal cord for about thirty seconds before setting him back in the leaves, but I recall this encounter so vividly. a truly memorable creature

[uozlulu]

I try to kill bugs in one hit so they die quickly but this guy took four smacks and it was like "Well I guess it's a bad Friday the 13th for you little buddy"

[mithrvn]

just moved an adorable small millie .........

[onenicebugperday]

I am somewhat happy that jumping spiders are becoming popular as pets and even people who normally don't like spiders seem to find them cute, but people have GOT to stop acting like they are miniature mammals who want love and affection and pets and want to hang out with you.

I have seen countless posts in jumper groups from people asking why their jumper tries to escape when they're holding it or seems skittish or threat poses at them. It's because you are a giant predator and they want to get away from you. They don't get any happy chemicals from handling like mammals would.

I'm starting to see this in millipede groups as well. "Why is my millipede secreting this liquid on me?" Because it does not want to be handled. It's stressful for the animal, and stress can kill them.

Not only does it stress them, but often taking them out of their enclosure is dangerous for them - I have seen a lot of posts from people whose spider escaped and was injured or was crushed in the door of the enclosure because they were taking it in and out frequently. Drops can also be harmful, especially for larger invertebrates like tarantulas and bigger millipedes.

In general, invertebrate pets are not going to be a good option if you want to handle something frequently. There are definitely some species and individuals who tolerate it more, and if you're an experienced keeper, you can learn the signs of a stressed animal and only handle ones that are chill about it. But the majority of the time, they should be left alone and observed only.

[clericsandpaladins]

Mike and Will pictured together for Episode 4!!! Mike and Will being together in THE byler episode!!! You know, the one called "The Sorcerer" where they have a flashback to 8yo Mike and Will with 13yo Jonathan. Not to mention El being shown on her own because she's off being an independent BADASS. We stan El finally getting to be her own person after four seasons of build-up to independence and self-discovery!!!

yay the timeline in my mind is almost right from only the outfits 😚

[kelpiemomma]

Okay Google, what do I do when the wifi extender quits working on my phone I am going to lose my shit