📸 PhotoPhoto: JCoelho · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Greenhouse millipede
Oxidus gracilis (Greenhouse millipede · Greenhouse millipede)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A body length of 2 cm is shorter than the diameter of a Korean 500-won coin (26.5 mm) (Comparison).
- 💡 During long rainy spells, hundreds or thousands may gather around homes and garages and bother people, though they neither bite nor harm plants.
- 💡 Carried along in flowerpots and plant mulch, it has spread around the world with gardening supplies.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The greenhouse millipede is a flat-backed millipede from Asia that has spread to many parts of the world in flowerpots and mulch.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its body is flat and dark brown to black when full-grown, and its lateral projections do not extend past the rear margin of each segment. The male's gonopods are on the 7th segment and are short and broad.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds on decaying plant matter such as fallen leaves, mulch, and thatch in lawns. Vulnerable to drying out, it leaves its habitat to wander on warm, rainy days and sometimes enters houses or garages, where it dries up and dies.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • catalogueoflife.org — VL5S5
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000046934 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000046934
- • wikidata.org — Q3887780
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Oxidusgracilis.png
- • data.bishopmuseum.org — species.asp
- • extension.msstate.edu — greenhouse-millipede-vol-3-no-14
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.