Yellow-spotted millipede

Harpaphe haydeniana · The yellow-spotted millipede is a black millipede with yellow-tipped sides that lives in moist Pacific coast forests from Alaska to California.

Also called Almond-scented millipede, Cyanide millipede.

Yellow-spotted millipede
Photo: (c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY), CC BY 4.0
Yellow-spotted millipede
Photo: Walter Siegmund (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
Yellow-spotted millipede
Photo: Athulvis, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassDiplopoda
OrderPolydesmida
FamilyXystodesmidae
GenusHarpaphe
SpeciesHarpaphe haydeniana

Where it lives

Moist forests along the Pacific coast from Alaska to California.

Fun facts

  • It can exude toxic hydrogen cyanide from its body to defend itself from predators.
  • In males, one pair of legs on the seventh body segment is modified into gonopods used to transfer sperm.
  • Individuals of this species can live for 2 to 3 years.
  • At least one predator, the ground beetle Promecognathus laevissimus, specializes in hunting this cyanide-defended millipede.

Play it

The Yellow-spotted millipede was the creature in a regional daily on October 25, 2026. Can you identify tomorrow's from its photos? Every day brings a new creature to place from kingdom to genus, map and name.

Play today's creature or replay a past daily

Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).