Meet Little Millie
Role of Millipedes on Soil
Have you seen this little guy creeping around your backyard, under your flower pots, or even crawling on your window sill?
This little guy is a millipede. We'll name him Little Millie.
You might have freaked out when you saw Little Millie on your premises.
There was a time that hundreds of them took shelter to houses around summer.
What are these? You might have asked frantically.
Yeah, they can be scary. Or creepy. Literally, they are creepy.
But please don't kill them.
Although millipedes are known for secreting cyanide for defense in stressful situations, they are harmless in most cases.
Let me introduce them to you.
These little millies are macro detritivores. They feed on decaying organic matter.
Millipedes (Diplopoda) are a key group of soil macro detritivores that significantly influence soil quality, mainly through their essential role in nutrient cycling (Hornung and Toth, 2019).
Little Millies are important members of the soil and litter fauna in temperate and tropical parts of the world, where they and other invertebrates aid in the breakdown of plant organic matter (Alagesan P and Karthigeyan M., 2011).
According to Hornung and Toth (2019), soil macro detritivores significantly contribute to litter breakdown through their feeding and burrowing activities, thereby affecting organic matter level in soils.
These little guys who freak you out are only doing their role. They are important to the soil, to plants, and the whole ecosystem. Let them be.
References
Alagesan, P., and Karthigeyan M. (2011). A Novel Method for Organic Waste
Recycling. RRSTZoology Millipede Composting.
Hornung, E., and Toth, Z. (2019). Taxonomic and Functional ResponseMillipedes (Diplopoda) to Urban Soil Disturbance in a Metropolitan Area.Department of Ecology, Institute for Biology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Rottenbiller str. 50, H-1077 Budapest, Hungary
Thank you for reading.♡
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