More tales from the compost bin: millipedes

Another player from the cast of thousands whose daily dramas are played out in our compost heap - in this case ....

.... a flat-backed millipede Polydesmus angustus, going head-to-head with a springtail. Flat-backed millipedes feed on rotting plant material so the springtail isn't under serious threat...... unless it's about to be trampled by a large number of feet.

Flat-backed millipedes are very good climbers - this one climbed the near-vertical outer wall of the plastic compost bin with no difficulty.

Millipedes

Habits developed in our formative years often stay with us for life and as a kid I could never resist turning over logs and stones to see what lurked underneath - and now, over half a century later, I still can't. I found these two millipedes under a rotting beech log yesterday. The first is the flat-backed millipede Polydesmus complanatus, which superficially looks like a centipede but if you look closely you can convince yourself that it has the millipede's trademark two-pairs-of-legs-per-segment. Flat-backed millipedes have a reputation for being fond of strawberries, which doesn't endear them to gardeners.

The second is the aptly-named snake millipede Cylindroiulus punctatus, coiled up like a serpent.

There is a wondertful YouTube sequence of rather more spectacular species of millipede featured in David Attenborough's Life in the Undergrowth series here.