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Millipedes

Millipedes

Millipedes

Best for ages 5 and up We have both desert and giant tropical millipedes. There are 10,000 species of millipedes, but the giant tropical millipede is the largest.   Although they are called milli (meaning 1000) pedes (meaning feet), they actually only have about 400 legs in all. Unlike their cousin, the centipede, they have no venom. The millipede is actually very good for the environment, due to the fact that they are good decomposers, recycling debris on the forest floor. The desert millipedes, unlike their tropical relatives, love the hot and dry climates of the southern US and Mexico. *Fun fact: lemurs will actually bite millipedes and will rub its excretions all over their fur in order to act as a pesticide to protect against malaria-carrying mosquitos.