Despite their name, no millipede has been discovered with more than 750 legs – until now.
Today’s paper reports that scientists have discovered the first millipede to possess more than 1,000 legs. They were found in deep underground Australian mines.
In fact, it has a whopping 1,306 legs – more than any other animal – and belongs to a new species that has been named Eumillipes persephone.
Researchers measured four members of this new species, found underground in the mining area of the Eastern Goldfields Province of Australia.
This eyeless species is 3.76 inches tall and 0.03 inches wide. The body of the thread-like, long-stemmed creature has up to 332 segments. Short legs, a conical head with antennae on the top and a beak.
Female Eumillipes Persephone has 330 segments, and 1 306 legs. Eumillipes Persephone was the first true millipede. Before now, no millipede had ever been found with more than 750 legs
The animal is composed of 330 segments and has an enormous cone-shaped head. It also features a large antennae.
Paul Marek from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and his colleagues discovered the millipede approximately 200 feet (60m) deep underground in a drilling hole that was created to explore mineral resources in the Eastern Goldfields Province of Australia.
Millipedes are not 100- and 1000-legged, despite their prefixes.
‘The name “millipede” translates to a thousand feet (from mille “thousand” and pes “foot”),’ the authors say in their new paper, published today in Scientific Reports.
However, it is not known of any millipede that has more than 750 legs.
“We found a new species of millipede, Eumillipes Persephone (with 1,306 legs), from Western Australia.
“This tiny animal is composed of 330 segments and has an enormous cone-shaped head, with huge antennae and a feeding beak.
Its two antennae are used for navigating, to make up for its lack of eyesight.
A dorsal view of head and ventral view of gonopods of a male Eumillipes persephone millipede
Researchers found four new members underground, in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields Province.
The millipede’s name, Eumillipes persephone, derives from the Greek word eu- (true), the Latin words mille (thousand) and pes (foot), and references the Greek goddess of the underworld, Persephone.
In 2012, Illacme penipes from California was the previous record holder in millipedes with most legs.
Research revealed that females are able to have up to 775 legs, compared with males who have only 562, which was the maximum allowed by law.
Analyzing the relationships between species shows E. persephone to be distantly related.
Marek and his colleagues suggested that both species have a large amount of legs and segments that allow them to create pushing forces to help them move through the narrow spaces in their soil habitats.
Illacme Penipes (pictured), was discovered in 2012. The females can have as many as 750 legs while the males only have 562.
Super-elongation in millipedes – defined as more than 180 segments – is well known from the order Siphonophorida, including Illacme plenipes with 192 segments and 750 legs.In this graphic from the paper, Eumillipes persephone is compared with other species
The researchers believe that their findings highlight the diversity found in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields Province.
It is important to preserve the underground habitat of E. Persephone in order for mining there to have a minimal impact on it.
‘A large quantity of Australia’s gold, nickel, and other minerals are extracted from the Goldfelds, and intensive surface mining has occurred in the area for more than a century,’ they say.
“Mineral exploration involves surveying underground through millions of drilling holes, which produced cores that were used for analysis.