Friday, April 30, 2010

Monster Millipede

While I've been working outside doing yardwork recently I've found several HUGE millipedes.  The one in the below picture was found today, and it was almost as big as my palm.  I would estimate that it was approximately 4 inches or longer if I unrolled it, which I did not, as it was squirming.  I fed it to my chickens, as I do with all bugs I find.  After doing some research, I determined it was a "narceus americanus".

From Wikipedia:
A narceus americanus is a large North American millipede. It inhabits the eastern seaboard of the United States through southeastern Canada and west to central Texas. It is one of the largest North American millipede species, reaching a length of four inches. When threatened, they sometimes curl up or release a noxious liquid that contains large amounts of benzoquinones which can cause dermatological burns. This fluid may irritate eyes or skin.

Maybe I shouldn't feed these to my chickens...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

One commment - EWwwwwwwwwwww, oh yucky! Guess you shouldn't feed them to the gals.

Carla said...

You could sell them. I found them online for anywhere from $4-$20. Some folks keep bugs for pets. Go figure?

Razzberry Corner said...

CeeCee - Ok, the next one I find, I'm going to advertise for sale on Craigslist! Why not earn $4 or $5 for doing nothing? I'll give it a try!!! Thanks for the suggestion!
~Lynn

Anonymous said...

If I remember correctly, these are the critters, that when you shake them (just cup it in your hands and give it a good shake!) it releases gas that smells like cherries, or almonds, or something good-smelling! Haha! I had a crazy friend that would pick them up on backpacking trips and shake them! They smell good, but I wouldn't recommend inhaling a lot of it!

Robin said...

Yucky, I hate millipedes. Did you name him? I vote for Mr Creepy Pants. lol

Razzberry Corner said...

W of a FR - Wow! I'll have to give the shaking thing a try! How crazy! I love it!

Robin - you know, I didn't name them! Lol! I found a George in the house the other day, I went to get a papertowel to pick him up, and the cat gobbled him, leaving his spiky legs on the floor. lol

~Lynn