# Round-Backed Millipedes (*juliformia*)

Round-Backed Millipedes are fascinating creatures with lots of tiny legs that help them move around! They curl up into a ball when they feel scared, making them look like little round shapes in the leaf litter.

- **Category:** [Invertebrate](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/invertebrate)
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Danger:** 1/5 · Very low
- **Habitat:** They usually live in damp, dark places like under logs, rocks, or leaf litter in forests.
- **Also known as:** Cylindrical Millipede

![Round-Backed Millipedes](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Redirect/file/Sagmatostreptus_strongylopygus_Tanzania_crop.jpg&width=800)

Photo: N. Ioannou, CC BY 4.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sagmatostreptus_strongylopygus_Tanzania_crop.jpg)

## Appearance

The Round-Backed Millipedes has a distinctive, elongated cylindrical body, often dark brown or black, sometimes with lighter stripes. Its smooth, hard exoskeleton gives it a shiny appearance, differentiating it from flatter centipedes. It moves slowly, with pairs of tiny legs under each segment.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Arthropoda
- **Class:** Diplopoda
- **Order:** Spirostreptida
- **Family:** Harpagophoridae
- **Genus:** Ktenostreptus

## Interesting facts

- Millipedes were among the very first animals to walk on land, over 400 million years ago!
- Some millipedes, found in places like California, can actually glow in the dark!
- The fastest millipede still only crawls at about 1.6 meters per minute, taking its time!
- Unlike insects, millipedes continuously add new body segments and pairs of legs as they grow!

## Special abilities

- **Coil Defense:** Round-Backed Millipedes can coil into a tight spiral because it protects their soft underside from predators like birds and shrews.
- **Chemical Shield:** Round-Backed Millipedes has special glands that release foul-smelling or irritating chemicals to deter attackers.
- **Burrowing Power:** Round-Backed Millipedes can burrow into soil and leaf litter using their many legs to escape danger and find moist hiding spots.

## Measurements & details

- **Length:** 2.5 cm
- **Leg Count:** 200
- **Segment Count:** 50

## Diet & Feeding

These creatures are decomposers, helping clean up by munching on dead plant material.

- **Primary Foods:** decaying leaves, rotting wood, fungi, moist plant debris, microscopic algae
- **Foraging Method:** Foraging

## Ecological connections

- **Eaten by:** [American Robin](https://www.snappit.app/explore/american-robin) (*Turdus migratorius*) — Robins commonly feed on millipedes found in gardens and leaf litter.
- **Eaten by:** Masked Shrew (*Sorex cinereus*) — Shrews often hunt and consume millipedes among their invertebrate prey.
- **Eaten by:** [Violet Ground Beetle](https://www.snappit.app/explore/violet-ground-beetle) (*Carabus violaceus*) — Some ground beetles are predatory and will include millipedes in their diet.

## Traits

- [Solitary](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/solitary): Solitary animals live alone for most of their lives, only interacting with others for mating or parental care.
- [Burrowing](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/burrowing): Burrowing animals dig tunnels and chambers in the ground, using these subterranean structures for shelter, hunting, or breeding.
- [Herbivorous](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/herbivorous): This trait characterizes organisms whose diet consists entirely or primarily of plant material.
- [Decomposer](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/decomposer): Describes organisms that break down dead organic material, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem.
- [Forest](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/forest): Forest habitats are terrestrial environments dominated by dense tree cover, supporting a high diversity of plant and animal life.

## Collections

- [Invertebrates](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/invertebrates)

## Safety

**Danger:** 1/5 · Very low

Always wash your hands after handling any bugs.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify Round-Backed Millipedes?

Compare body symmetry, shells, segments, legs, tentacles and how the animal moves. Invertebrates span many unrelated groups, so start with body structure. Invertebrate Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How long is Round-Backed Millipedes?

2.5 cm

### What does Round-Backed Millipedes eat?

These creatures are decomposers, helping clean up by munching on dead plant material.

### Where is Round-Backed Millipedes usually found?

They usually live in damp, dark places like under logs, rocks, or leaf litter in forests.

### How does Round-Backed Millipedes hunt?

Foraging

### How many legs does Round-Backed Millipedes have?

200

### How many body segments does Round-Backed Millipedes have?

50

## Where to spot

- [Burgundy Park](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/burgundy-park) — Virginia, US · Park

## More Invertebrate

- [Coral](https://www.snappit.app/explore/coral)
- [Crab Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/crab-spider) (*Mecaphesa asperata*)
- [Garden Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/garden-spider) (*Araneus diadematus*)
- [Brown Recluse Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/brown-recluse-spider) (*Loxosceles reclusa*)

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Source: [Round-Backed Millipedes: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/round-backed-millipedes)