Question

What is the difference between a millipede and a centipede?

Answer 1

Both millipede and centipede are members of subphylum Mandibulata, phylum Arthropoda.

Millipede (=Diplopoda) and centipede (=Chilopoda) are two different classes of organisms.

Their body is divided in head and torso/trunk. Latter is divided in body segments.

1. Antennae short in millipede, very long in centipede.
2. First pair of legs in centipede modified in poisonous fangs. No such venom injecting claw present in millipede. They defend themselves by coiling.
3. Each segment of trunk possesses a pair of legs in centipede, 15 pair minimum while 171 pair maximum. In millipede, each segment of trunk possesses two pair of legs: hence each segment is a diplosegment. There could be more than 350 pairs of legs in a millipede.
4. Centipede are predatory, carnivorous and nocturnal. Millipede are omnivorous as well as detrivorous, because they feed on organic materials and organisms present in soil, much like an earthworm.
5. Centipede face problem of dehydration, hence they stay in moist habitats and they are swift in locomotion. Millipede is covered by hard exoskeleton, hence no chance of dehydration. They crawl slowly.

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