# What are the survival benefits of social behavior in millipedes?



## Cavedweller (Jan 19, 2013)

Millipedes often keep in close proximity to each other, even when given space to spread out. 

Any theories on why they do this?

Food competition probably isn't an issue, and it would give easier access to mates. Perhaps it provides the benefit of safety in numbers? Maybe it provides better protection to the young? 

What I find most curious is that species doesn't seem to be a barrier. One of my male chicobolus spinigerus seems to prefer the company of my male Dendrostreptus maracanthus over the other Florida ivories. 

When I decided to keep multiple species in one tank, I was very curious how they would interact. The result is not quite what I expected. 





(No, this is not the first time they've slept like that together.)


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## JZC (Jan 19, 2013)

I didn't know you could keep different species together, I take care of two small florida scarlets and a juvie cali red stripe, but they are housed separately.


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## Cavedweller (Jan 19, 2013)

JZCtarantulafan said:


> I didn't know you could keep different species together, I take care of two small florida scarlets and a juvie cali red stripe, but they are housed separately.


People have different opinions on the matter. Some people worry it's not good for them, and others do it without any trouble (assuming they have similar care requirements, of course) I have heard that eating the other species' eggs can be an issue.


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## khil (Jan 20, 2013)

I can't imagine that "safety in numbers" would work for millipedes. A lot of behavior you see in captivity from animals-be it millipedes, fish, or tigers-don't mirror what would occur in the wild. Either way thats really cool, your pedes seem to love each other.


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## Cavedweller (Jan 20, 2013)

khil said:


> I can't imagine that "safety in numbers" would work for millipedes. A lot of behavior you see in captivity from animals-be it millipedes, fish, or tigers-don't mirror what would occur in the wild. Either way thats really cool, your pedes seem to love each other.


Why don't you think it would work for millipedes? Statistically, they're less likely to get eaten if theres a bunch of other pedes around. Also, it improves the odds that whatever predators are around have already learned that millipedes aren't good eatin'.

Once the weather warms up, I should observe the behavior of the wild millipedes around my house. 

Hahah I'm reluctant to assign words like "love" or "affection" to my pedes, but it is interesting just how much physically contact they make.


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## khil (Jan 22, 2013)

Cavedweller said:


> Why don't you think it would work for millipedes? *Statistically, they're less likely to get eaten if theres a bunch of other pedes around*. Also, it improves the odds that whatever predators are around have already learned that millipedes aren't good eatin'.
> 
> Once the weather warms up, I should observe the behavior of the wild millipedes around my house.
> 
> Hahah I'm reluctant to assign words like "love" or "affection" to my pedes, but it is interesting just how much physically contact they make.


What is your reasoning behind that?
If they are grouped together some it will be like a "jackpot" for animals like meerkats and will increase the transfer rate of parasites as well as disease. Millipedes (as far as I know) just don't have any social behaviors that would promote a highly social lifestyle-it's not like they can warn each other to run away or help fight off enemies.


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## Cavedweller (Jan 22, 2013)

I figure being in a group made any one individual less likely to be the unlucky sucker who gets "sampled" by a curious predator. Since millipedes are foul-tasting and poisonous, one millipede is probably all they'll wanna try. I could be totally off on this though.


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## satchellwk (Jan 23, 2013)

For the record, whenever I find millipedes in the wild, they're typically in small to to medium-sized groups, though I occasionally find lone individuals. 

I would agree with your theory of staying together to deter predators. Also, since millipedes don't seem like very adventurous critters (I could easily see one spending its entire life in one rotting log), staying together would make it easier to find mates, and, if those in captivity are any indication, they like to mate a lot.


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## Tenodera (Jan 23, 2013)

I would think it has to do with how so many of them have chemical defenses, like cavedweller said. Elaborating on that, a single millipede's defensive secretions may not be effective until the animal is injured or killed, but if a group of them release many more fumes or droplets they might all make it out alive. Predators which rely on manipulating the millipede to remove its toxicity have an extra inconvenience if they are coiled around each other.


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## zonbonzovi (Jan 23, 2013)

With so many possible examples I'm not sure we can define one set of behaviors for 

"Approximately 7,000 species have been described from a global fauna that is estimated, based on known degrees of endemism, to contain around 80,000 species"

from: http://nadiplochilo.com/milli.html

There are known mass congregations of millipedes, probably due to mating seasonability or weather cues or even, possibly, development: 

http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4133291.html

My guess on that last tidbit is a little bit of both mating & abundant foodstuffs.


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## Cavedweller (Jan 24, 2013)

80,000 estimated species?! I don't have enough room to keep that many! 

Oh man, thanks for that link. I had no idea about the different burrowing methods, and the bit about how larger millipedes aren't such efficient burrowers explains a lot of what I've observed. I'm nowhere near done reading that page, still got a lot more to go.

Oh man I'm sure collectors would have a good time with those millipede booms. Sounds like everyone else is less pleased though.


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## zonbonzovi (Jan 24, 2013)

No problem

If you can get through the professional jargon there is so much to read and explore starting with Dr. Shelley's page.  The list of current researchers is a great place to start if you're a little obsessed like me 

If you really want to put your nerd hat on you can keep abreast of recent developments via pages like: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/taxa/Myriapoda.html

And, of course, this book leaves virtually no detail out: http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Millipedes-Stephen-P-Hopkin/dp/0198576994


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## Cavedweller (Jan 24, 2013)

Much thanks for all the help and links!

Man that looks way beyond my comprehension (for now anyway)! I'm still bookmarking it for when I'm older and smarter though. At 21, I'm still practically a kid. Really 

Whoa that's quite a book (and way out of my price range atm). That looks like a textbook! A course on myriapods would be pretty freakin cool...

My copy of Orin's Millipedes in Captivity just arrived, and I'm finding it very informative.


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## McGuiverstein (Jan 25, 2013)

satchellwk said:


> For the record, whenever I find millipedes in the wild, they're typically in small to to medium-sized groups, though I occasionally find lone individuals.
> 
> I would agree with your theory of staying together to deter predators. Also, since millipedes don't seem like very adventurous critters (I could easily see one spending its entire life in one rotting log), staying together would make it easier to find mates, and, if those in captivity are any indication, they like to mate a lot.


Just about to say exactly this. Not verbatim of course X)


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