What is the Difference Between a Centipede and a Millipede?

Millipedes are the same as centipedes, but they are different in many ways. Some of these differences are that millipedes have two pairs of legs per segment and, they only have one pair of legs on each segment.

Centipedes are arthropods with long, flat bodies and usually between 15 and 200 pairs of legs. Millipedes are similar, but they have shorter legs that are more rounded than centipedes. Below are similar differences between the two.

• Millipedes are rounded, slow-moving creatures with two pairs of legs per segment. Centipedes are long, flat creatures with one pair of legs per segment.

• Centipedes almost always have just one pair of legs per segment. Millipedes can have more than one pair of legs on each body segment. Millipedes’ bodies are made up of two to eight segments, while centipedes’ bodies are made up of 20 to 350 segments.

• Centipede families (like the Scolopendridae family) contain groups like the Scolopendra genus (Scolopendra subspecies). Millipedes are in the class Diplopoda. Millipedes are much more common in the world than centipedes. The scariest thing about centipedes is not what they do in labs, but what they do when, it’s dark outside.

• Centipede always has one pair of legs for each segment, except when they are growing or molting. When they are growing, their body segments lengthen and the legs gradually disappear until the end of their body segment, where a little head-like structure is called a collar.

• On each segment, between their body segments, there is one pair of legs that look like tiny feet. These legs are called thoracic legs. The centipede’s body segment is called its head, and the little legs that it has between its body segments are called abdominal legs. Millipedes do not have preanal segments. Millipedes grow molting by growing their new skin on their belly with two pairs of new abdominal legs between each pair of body segments.

• Millipedes are rounder than centipedes. They are also less hairy. Centipedes can bite when they are disturbed, but they don’t have venom glands like snakes do.

• Centipedes have poison glands in their feet that give them the ability to sting or kill other insects, but centipedes don’t have poison glands in their legs as millipedes do.

• Millipedes are more sensitive to light than centipedes. Millipede’s eyes can be on the top and bottom of their body, and they usually only need about 15 minutes of daylight to see well.

• The most poisonous centipede in the world is the largest one, the Scolopendra gigantea. The largest millipede is called an elephant millipede (Archispirostreptus) and it is only about an inch long. The biggest millipede (if you don’t count Spirometra gigantean) is Megalograptus. They can grow up to 4.25 meters (14 ft) long, but most are only about 1.5 meters (5 ft). Millipedes are the oldest land animals that have lived on Earth for 400 million years.

• Millipedes eat vegetation and other dead things because their mouthparts aren’t strong enough to break down the skin of living organisms. Centipedes eat almost anything.

• Millipedes can be as big as a pencil, or as small as a grain of rice. Centipedes usually range from 0.25 to 8 inches long, some can grow up to 18 inches long. Centipedes never have more than two pairs of legs on each body segment, unless they are growing or molting. Millipedes have more than two pairs of legs on each segment – sometimes even five – but never more than four pairs of legs per segment.

• The millipede’s body is made up of many segments, the number ranging from two to eight. The centipede is made up of 20 to 350 segments.

• Millipedes are mostly harmless to humans unless they are disturbed or provoked. But people can be very scared of centipedes because they are called the “scary crawlers” by many people. Millipedes have poison glands in their feet that give them the ability to sting or kill other insects, but millipedes don’t have poison glands in their legs as centipedes do.

• A poisonous centipede has venom that can cause mild to severe pain and even death depending upon how much it is injected into the body of its prey. Centipedes are very dangerous animals. After a centipede has bitten you, you have to get medical attention right away because the bite can be deadly. Centipede’s poison glands are in their feet, but centipedes don’t have poison glands in their legs as millipedes do.

• Millipedes have poison glands that use a defensive mechanism called envenomation. The venom that is found in millipedes’ poison glands is a neurotoxin that paralyzes the prey so the millipede can get to it for its next meal. When a millipede envenoms a human, it does so by injecting its toxic venom into its victim’s skin or mouth through its fangs, it will cause mild to severe pain and even death depending upon how much it is injected into the body of its prey. Antivenom for millipede bites can be applied 30 to 40 minutes after the bite.

• A poisonous millipede has venom that can cause mild to severe pain and even death depending upon how much it is injected into the body of its prey. Also, millipedes eat anything including seeds, nuts, fungi, fruits, and vegetables. However, the centipede does not eat anything except for spiders and insects.

• Millipedes tend to eat more minor things than centipedes do. Centipedes are the most venomous animals in the world. A centipede can cause death or paralysis within minutes of being bitten. The most poisonous millipede in the world is the largest one, the Scolopendra gigantea. The largest centipede is called an elephant centipede (Archispirostreptus), and it is only about an inch long.

• Millipedes are the oldest land animals that have lived on Earth for 400 million years. There are more than 10,000 different species of centipedes and 15,000 different species of millipedes. Millipedes live in almost every continent except Antarctica. Centipedes live on every continent except Antarctica and Australia. They both live in Australia too.