7/2/2022: Big and buxom Appalachian ladies

At some point in academic bug circles Narceus americanus gained the common name “American giant millipede”. While the species (as it’s currently described) is quite large among the many introduced julide of the eastern United States, many localities are not colossal by many metrics when compared to other familiar millipedes such as Orthoporus sp. or Narceus gordanus. There is at least one locality deserving of this label, though.

Narceus americanus has been described as a species complex and future work may split several localities into species. In parts of the Appalachians, the largest of these entities lurks and grows to admirable sizes compared to its further southern counterparts.

I had worked with this locality in my bug youth and recall crossing it with another, though the two may have just reproduced independently in the enclosure and the progeny thus separate. The next time I acquired a good group, they ended up all males but persisted several years. Finally, I have acquired another group with a good sex ratio. Perhaps offspring are on the horizon , though information about how long eggs take to hatch and subsequent growth to adulthood is scarce.

Truly, these Appalachian giant millipedes are exemplary of their group’s common name.

-Kyle