Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Some millipedes are herbivorous, feeding on living plants, and some species can become serious pests of crops. Millipedes in the order Polyxenida graze algae from bark, and Platydesmida feed on fungi. [9] A few species are omnivorous or in Callipodida and Chordeumatida occasionally carnivorous, [57] feeding on insects, centipedes, earthworms ...
The terms detritivore and decomposer are often used interchangeably, but they describe different organisms. Detritivores are usually arthropods and help in the process of remineralization. Detritivores perform the first stage of remineralization, by fragmenting the dead plant matter, allowing decomposers to perform the second stage of ...
The primary decomposer of litter in many ecosystems is fungi. [11] [12] Unlike bacteria, which are unicellular organisms and are decomposers as well, most saprotrophic fungi grow as a branching network of hyphae. Bacteria are restricted to growing and feeding on the exposed surfaces of organic matter, but fungi can use their hyphae to penetrate ...
Prime decomposers are bacteria or fungi, though larger scavengers also play an important role in decomposition if the body is accessible to insects, mites and other animals. Additionally, [ 3 ] soil animals are considered key regulators of decomposition at local scales but their role at larger scales is unresolved.
Millipedes in this subfamily are primarily distributed in North America, though their specific range and ecological niches vary. [ 4 ] The group is notable for its intricate gonopods , the male reproductive structures, which are used as key diagnostic features in identifying species.
The greenhouse millipede (Oxidus gracilis), also known as the hothouse millipede, short-flange millipede, or garden millipede, is a species of millipede in the family Paradoxosomatidae that has been widely introduced around the world, and is sometimes a pest in greenhouses.
Arthropleura's antennae are millipede-like, with seven segments. The shape of its feeding appendages and position of the jaws are centipede-like, though the shape of the jaws are millipede-like.
Although the name "millipede" is a compound word formed from the Latin roots millia ("thousand") and pes (gen. pedis) ("foot"), millipedes typically have between 36 and 400 legs. In 2021, however, was described Eumillipes persephone , the first species known to have 1,000 or more legs, possessing 1,306 of them. [ 28 ]