- I'm Coyote Peterson, welcome to the desert millipede
versus the desert centipede.
(upbeat adventure music)
Venturing into the nighttime desert
is not for the faint of heart,
as this cactus strewn ecosystem
is laced with a plethora of nocturnal predators.
Whether it be scorpions, spiders,
that right there is a black widow,
solpugids, or vinegaroons,
these arachnids are certain to be on the prowl,
as they use the cover of darkness
to silently hunt for their prey.
Look at that.
Does that thing not look like an alien?
All arachnids come equipped with eight legs,
and most are also armed with a set of fangs
or a venom injecting stinger.
That is the most venomous species of scorpion
in the United States.
And he's on my hand.
All right, this makes me a little bit nervous.
I wanna see if I can get him to just sit still.
However, if eight legs, fangs,
and stingers aren't enough to scare you,
Arizona's Sonoran Desert is also home
to a subphylum of creatures
with even more legs, the myriapods,
which consists of centipedes and millipedes.
At the end of the day,
both of these animals do their best to avoid humans,
however, today we are going to capture one of each
so we can get them in front of the cameras
for an up close comparison.
First, let's talk about the desert millipede.
Now, millipede means thousand feet.
And each one of these little body segments
has two pairs of legs on it.
Now there's no way that I'm going to get
underneath this creature and count its legs,
but I can tell you from it crawling across my arm,
that there are a ton of them tickling me right now.
It feels like a bunch of little tiny pieces of Velcro
grabbing onto your arm hairs.
Despite the name, there isn't actually
a species of millipede on the planet
that has a thousand feet.
On average they have around 400,
with the record being 750,
more than any other animal in the world.
These myriapods have very poor eyesight.
They have very simple eyes up front,
so they're really using these antenna to help them navigate
through the environment.
And you'll see as he dances up in the air like that,
he's basically looking for what his next move
is going to be.
If he can't feel anything with those antenna,
he's kinda like, woah, woah,
I've run out of road here.
And until he bumps into something
that he can walk on,
he's just gonna stay put until he can get
those front legs planted.
Now, the millipede doesn't have many predators,
and that's because these little myriapods
are actually poisonous.
They do have glands that run along the side of their body,
and if they are really, really threatened,
they will secrete a nasty orange fluid.
And it absolutely stinks.
I actually got it all over my hands the other night.
Now, if you get this poison on your skin,
all you need to do is wash you hands
with soap and water,
and you'll be just fine.
Now I'm completely comfortable with millipedes.
They don't bite.
If it doesn't bite, it can crawl all over me
all that it wants.
But the centipede is a whole different ball game.
And we're gonna get that guy out in a second,
and get a close look at that venomous little desert dweller.
The desert millipede is virtually harmless to humans.
And if you encounter one in the wild,
just admire it from a safe distance.
(breathes out) OK, now we're on to the part of the episode
that I have been dreading.
There is no good way to do this.
You just have to plop him out and go for it.
All right, here we go, ready?
Oh boy.
Now he's kinda like, oh, I'm on the ground,
and I'm on the move.
Desert centipedes can inflict a very painful
and venomous bite,
so I stress, never attempt what I am doing.
OK, there we go.
Now that I have his head under control,
and more importantly, those fangs,
I feel a lot better about this situation.
Oh, look at how creepy that little desert creature is.
Now, what's really interesting is that the centipede
means hundred feet.
Each species of centipede varies.
There's no way that this one has a hundred feet,
but as they continue to grow,
and their body segments elongate,
they grow more legs.
Now one major difference between
the centipede and the millipede
is that the centipede has a very flattened body.
This allows them to fit into crevices between rocks,
and allows them to glide very quickly
over the surface of the desert.
Now, these are voracious predators.
They are out here right now walking the washes
and searching through the rocks for other animals.
They will eat bugs, they will eat scorpions,
they will eat lizards,
and the ones that grow to the size
of the giant desert centipede,
they will even take rodents.
But the bite from a centipede of even this size
is gonna put you into some incredible pain.
That's why I wanna be as careful as possible
while handling this myriapod.
One really interesting feature about all centipedes
is that you see the back end here?
This rump?
You have these two modified legs
on the back end here
which have little hooks in them.
And this back end is pretty much a false head.
It's the same color as the head is.
And these two little modified feet on the back end here
have hooks on them.
So, let's say you're a predator,
and you're coming, and you're like, all right,
I'm gonna get him, I'm gonna bite his head right off.
These little modified feet go up in the air,
boom, and you get pricked with those little spikes,
throws you off guard, the centipede spins around,
and that's when you get a bite from those venomous fangs.
This is not a creature that is very easy to consume.
Centipede venom is not considered deadly to humans,
however, the pain has been said to keep a full grown man
on the ground and in pain for several hours.
Moral of the story, steer clear of centipedes.
I hope everybody enjoyed this comparison.
The desert centipede versus the desert millipede.
Both species are native to the Sonoran Desert.
And I'd suggest avoiding both
because the centipede is venomous
and the millipede is poisonous.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave, stay wild,
we'll see you on the next adventure.
Both of these myriapods play an important role
in the ecosystem.
And while they may be creepy
and have a gazillion legs as compared to you and me,
always try to remember
that they're going to use each and every one
to run in the opposite direction.
If you thought that comparison was cool,
check out the alligator snapping turtle
versus the common snapping turtle.
And don't forget subscribe to join me and the crew
on this season of Breaking Trail.