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Centipedes have one pair of legs per segment, while millipedes have two. Their heads differ in that millipedes have short, elbowed antennae , a pair of robust mandibles and a single pair of maxillae fused into a lip; centipedes have long, threadlike antennae, a pair of small mandibles, two pairs of maxillae and a pair of large venom claws.
Most millipedes are slow-moving detritivores, eating decaying leaves and other dead plant matter; however, some eat fungi or drink plant fluid. Millipedes are generally harmless to humans, although some can become household or garden pests .
Scutigera coleoptrata, also known as the house centipede, is a species of centipede that is typically yellowish-grey and has up to 15 pairs of long legs. Originating in the Mediterranean region , it has spread to other parts of the world, where it can live in human homes. [ 1 ]
Centipedes eat other household pests, so you may actually want them around.
What do centipedes eat? House centipedes are known for killing pests in your house that are completely unwelcome. They kill roaches, moths, flies, silverfish, and termites.
Centipedes, in addition to their mouthparts, possess a pair of "poison claws", or forcipules. These, like the maxillipeds of crustaceans, are modified legs and not true mouthparts. [ 2 ] The forcipules arise from the first body segment, curving forward and to the midline.
Among myriapods, centipedes have strong, bristly mandibles, which have a row of teeth in all centipedes except for members of the order Geophilomorpha. Millipedes have small mandibles, their only functioning mouthparts, as the maxillae are fused to the lower lip ( labium ).
The paired mandibles were small, composed of three segments, and fully internalized into the head, similar to centipedes rather than millipedes. The segmentation of antennae and mandibles identify it as a millipede, but the presence of a pair of legs underneath its collum, which is absent in present-day species, reveals it as the sister group ...