Pill Millipede
The pill millipede (Glomeris marginata) is a small millipede of European woodland litter that rolls into a ball when disturbed. It looks like a pill bug but is not related, an example of convergent evolution.
The pill millipede (Glomeris marginata) is a small millipede of European woodland litter that rolls into a ball when disturbed. It looks like a pill bug but is not related, an example of convergent evolution.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Pill Millipede in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Ecdysozoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
A Millipede That Rolls
Its arched, hinged plates allow it to roll into a tight sphere that protects the soft underside. Unlike pill bugs, it has many more legs, two pairs on most segments, and is a millipede, not a crustacean.
Look-Alikes: Pill Bug or Pill Millipede?
Counting the legs, or noticing the shape of the antennae, tells them apart. The pill bug has seven pairs of legs and the pill millipede has more than a dozen pairs. See Common Pill Bug.
Chemical Defense and Sound
Pill millipedes release defensive secretions and, in some species, squeak by rubbing body parts. They eat decaying leaves. See American Giant Millipede.
Pill Millipede at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Glomeris marginata |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Myriapoda |
| Class | Diplopoda |
| Order | Glomerida |
| Family | Glomeridae |
| Field Guide group | Ecdysozoa: Mandibulata (Mandibulates) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Domed, glossy black-and-yellow leaf-litter detritivore with 12 dorsal body plates and 17–19 pairs of legs that rolls into a tight defensive sphere like a woodlouse when threatened. |
| Class | Diplopoda |
| Defense | Rolls into a ball |
See Also
- Common Pill Bug — a look-alike crustacean
- American Giant Millipede — a larger millipede