Flat Backed Millipede

lovely creature!!

or it could be Harpaphe haydeniana - a big one :)

http://bugguide.net/node/view/276471/bgpage

this looks like it, though it is blue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QELUe6IkPj4&feature=player_embedded

wait there is more: maybe it is Apheloria tigana http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/naturephotos/millipedes.htm ... though those guys don´t seem flat enough, but it´s a start

is that helpful?

wow, scary looking fella. U mentioned the millipede from Costa Rica - it does kind of look familiar, like a little brother or so. I found an article about a costumer finding one of this specimen in his newly bought Yucca pot. It was about 10 cm long. Then another article about a photographer finding 2 similar millipedes in Tambopata, Peru. Dez 09. (http://www.raywilsonbirdphotography.co.uk/Galleries/Invertebrates/Myriapoda/Myriapoda.html) Not satisfying though, that I only found out the groups name: Myriapoda Another article: Taxonomic contact group for millipedes: Arachnida, Myriapoda Gonzalo Giribet Museum of Comparative Zoology Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, USA [email protected]

I ran into a short blurb on millipedes today and there's an order called Polydesmida, the flat-backed millipedes. You might start your search there, but I can't promise that I'm anywhere near correct.

I've been trying to pop in a bit more after a lull in activity. I returned from Costa Rica about a month ago and I'm still getting adjusted. I also started a project with a grant I received from my college, so I've been devoting a lot of time to that. I'm hoping to get a lot more pictures uploaded soon, I've found some neat stuff this summer, including my first luna moth.

what an amazing specimen! Nick

Alas, my knowledge on millipedes and centipedes is limited to being able to tell them apart haha. In a few weeks I'll be attending a workshop about millipedes and centipedes, however, so hopefully I can be more useful after that! Interestingly enough though, I have a picture of a millipede from Costa Rica that has similar spikes on its body here: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/5949990

Great shot Dan. This looks more like a millipede, however. It has two pairs of legs per segment, which is characteristic of millipedes. Centipedes have one pair of legs per segment, and they're usually out to the side more, while millipedes have their legs positioned under the bodies more, such as this one.