Rare millipede scuttles again
Christian Science Monitor
Biologists working in California have "rediscovered" what may be the bug world's equivalent of the Ivory-billed woodpecker: a type of millipede that comes the closest to sporting the insect's fabled 1,000 legs.
Until now, the first - and only - sighting of Illacme plenipes (with 750 legs) came in 1926. The Illacme scuttles again, according to two biologists from East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. They captured 12 specimens - a mix of males, females, and juveniles - within a 200-acre patch of land in California's San Benito County, east of Monterey. Among the adults, the thread-thick creatures sported from 318 to 666 legs, depending on gender. And they display remarkable physical traits when viewed under a scanning electron microscope. Their results appear in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
The duo, biologists Paul Marek and Jason Bond, note that equally rare relatives have been found in biodiversity hot spots in Southeast Asia. They note that because the millipede is rare and occupies a tiny patch of the planet (within another biodiversity hot spot), "its fragile habitat must be protected at all costs."
(Photograph)
662 LEGS: Biologists Paul Marek and Jason Bond found a millipede in California that hadn't been seen since 1926. Here, a female Illacme plenipes with centimeter ruler.
PAUL MAREK & JASON BOND
