Talk:Millipede

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The systematical classifications of de:Doppelfüßer and en:Millipede contradict each other. Could a biologist please check the matter? -- Gauss 08:51, 30 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Contents 1 Waxy cuticle and spiracles 2 Millipedes 3 record length? 4 "Treatment"

[edit] Waxy cuticle and spiracles

Millipedes in general can't close their spiracles, and their cuticle don't have a waxy outer layer that protects against water loss. But some are said to be able to close their spiracles, and I knew a few have a waxy layer around their body. Is there any species that has both a water resistant cuticle and spiracles they are able to close?

[edit] Millipedes

Growing up in Tucson, Arizona millipedes only occasionally appeared. When they did, I seem to recall that rains had been recent. Do they occur every year or periodically, or are they come out when it rains?

[edit] record length?

One of my giant millipedes is looking pretty long. Probably not a contestor for the longest, but he's healthy and probably has a lot of time to grow. What's the record length? Citizen Premier 08:30, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Treatment"

The recently added section on treatment needs to be rewritten:

• There shouldn't be any instructions on how to deal with medical problems (see WP:NOT#Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information);
• It is unverified, with no sources. I strongly doubt that millipedes "secrete toxins". It is likely that a number of them contain toxins, which would explain the wounds resulting from having crushed one, but "secrete" suggests that they can use the secretions as a defence mechanism while they are alive... which I doubt is the case. What sort of toxin is it anyway? How is it used?
• There is no way of verifying that the stains on the photo were caused by a millipede (what sort of millipede anyway?); sticking up a photo without any reliable sources and describing the situation is a kind of original research. A medical description would be way more useful than that image anyway. Does it hurt? How long did it last? Did it spread? etc.

I think that the whole section should be removed, unless someone wants to expand it. It contains in fact very little information, and absolutely no verified information. I will remove the instructions as mentionned above, but just in case someone feels like providing some information and/or sources I'll leave the rest (with the "unverified" tag). IronChris | (talk) 21:40, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

• Yes, millipedes do secrete toxins as a form of defense [1] and they do not bite. They are not generally very harmful to humans, although they can be cause secret toxics.

I think that millipedes have hard shells, so that's why she has so many bruises. About the toxic gases, well, they probably caused the swelling.

how much are millipede —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.33.145.108 (talk) 19:55, 30 April 2008 (UTC)