← All pests
Millipedes

Millipedes

Class Diplopoda

Millipedealso: Millipede, Thousand-legger

Slow, hard-bodied, many-legged soil crawlers that coil into a spiral when disturbed and spend their lives recycling decaying plant matter. Like pillbugs, millipedes are mostly beneficial decomposers, but in damp, debris-rich gardens large numbers can nibble sprouting seeds, seedlings, and soft ripening fruit touching the ground.

🔎 How to spot it

Millipedes are dark brown to black, rounded, worm-like, and hard-shelled, with two pairs of short legs on most body segments, giving the rippling, many-legged look, and they coil up tightly when disturbed. They differ from the faster, flatter, predatory centipedes, which have one pair of legs per segment. Find them by day in damp, dark spots under mulch, leaves, stones, and pots.

🥀 Damage it causes

Millipedes feed mostly on decaying leaves and organic matter and are helpful recyclers, so they usually do not harm healthy plants. When abundant in moist conditions, though, they can damage sprouting seeds and seedlings and gnaw on strawberries and other ripening fruit lying on the soil, often feeding at soft spots already started by something else.

🛡️ Prevent it

Make the garden less damp and debris-laden: clear rotting leaves, wood, and heavy mulch from around plant bases and foundations, water in the morning so the surface dries, and improve drainage. Keep ripening fruit off the soil with mulch or supports. Reducing the cool, moist hiding places is the most effective way to keep numbers down.

🧯 If it is already here

Treatment is seldom warranted, since millipedes are largely beneficial. Where they damage seedlings or fruit, remove their damp shelter and decaying debris, trap them under boards or damp newspaper and discard the catch, and let the soil surface dry between waterings. Drying out the habitat and keeping fruit off the ground resolves nearly all millipede problems without pesticides.

💡 Good to know

Millipedes are easy to tell from centipedes and worth distinguishing: millipedes are slow, round, coil up, and eat decaying plants, while centipedes are fast, flat, and prey on other insects. Both, plus pillbugs, are signs of a damp, organic-rich habitat, so a sudden abundance usually points to excess moisture rather than a true plant-pest problem.

🌱 Plants it attacks

714 plants in the library can be attacked by this pest

Acorn SquashAdirondack Blue PotatoAdzuki BeanAfrican Blue BasilAfrican MarigoldAgapanthusAgeratumAgrimonyAji Amarillo Pepper🍓Albion StrawberryAlice du Pont Mandevilla🥔All Blue PotatoAlmondAloe VeraAmbrosia CornAmerican BasswoodAmerican Beauty Dragon FruitAmerican BeechAmerican PersimmonAmethyst Falls WisteriaAmish Paste TomatoAnaheim PepperAnemoneAngelique TulipAngeloniaAniseAnise HyssopAnjou PearAnnabelle Smooth HydrangeaAnnual VincaApeldoorn TulipApple MintApril Tryst CamelliaArbequina OliveArizona Sun Blanket FlowerArkin CarambolaArmenian CucumberAroniaArp RosemaryArugulaAshwagandhaAsian PearAsian PersimmonAtemoyaAtlantic Giant Pumpkin🥕Atomic Red CarrotAucubaAugust Beauty GardeniaAunt Molly's Ground CherryAutumn Joy SedumAvocadoBachelor's ButtonBalsam FirBalsam PoplarBanana PepperBarbara Karst BougainvilleaBartlett PearBay LaurelBayberryBeach PlumBeauregard Sweet PotatoBecky Shasta DaisyBee Balm🍅Beefmaster TomatoBenarys Giant ZinniaBengal Tiger CannaBetter Boy Tomato🥬Bibb Lettuce🍅Big Beef TomatoBig Boy TomatoBilberryBing CherryBitter MelonBlack BeanBlack Beauty EggplantBlack Beauty ZucchiniBlack Beluga LentilBlack Cherry TomatoBlack CrowberryBlack Currant🍉Black Diamond WatermelonBlack Kabouli ChickpeaBlack Krim TomatoBlack RaspberryBlack Sapote🥬Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce🥕Black Spanish RadishBlack Tartarian CherryBlack WalnutBlack-Eyed PeaBlack-eyed Susan VineBlood OrangeBloomsdale SpinachBlue Bird DelphiniumBlue Bird Rose of SharonBlue FescueBlue Lake Green BeanBluecrop BlueberryBocking 14 ComfreyBok Choy

For educational and informational purposes only. Pest control advice is general guidance drawn from university cooperative extension sources; always identify a pest positively and read and follow the label on any product before use, especially around food crops, children, and pets.