Illacme plenipes is a siphonorhinid millipede found in the central region of the U.S. state of California. It has up to 750 legs. One of three known species in the genus Illacme, it was first seen in 1926, but was not rediscovered until 2005, almost 80 years after its discovery, by Paul Marek, then a Ph.D. student at East Carolina University.
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DetritivoreDetritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming detri...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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FossorialA fossorial animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, ...
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starts withOn average, I. plenipes have over 600 legs, twice the average for millipede species, with one recorded specimen having 750 legs. It had the most legs of any species known until Eumillipes persephone was described in 2021, which had 1306 legs. It is relatively small-bodied among millipedes. Females grow to just over 3 cm; males are slightly smaller and have fewer legs.
