Abacion cf. tesselatum

Fun little millipedes with an almost waxy looking armored appearance. Adults get to around 2–2.5 inches long. They are fast moving by millipede standards making them a unique addition to any collection. Be warned: they do put out a strong defense odor when handled that permeates the skin and is not easily washed away with soap and water. I keep them on moderately moist substrate which consists of approximately 40% sphagnum peat moss, 40% white rot wood mulch, and 20% crushed up brown leaf litter. Bark slabs, rot wood chunks, and dried fall leaves provide a top dressing for additional food and shelter. Kept at around 75°F and occasionally fed fish flakes. Although I am fairly confident of the species ID, it has not been confirmed by an entomological taxonomist, so out of an abundance of caution I am including “cf.” in the binomial name to indicate as much.

Benoitolus sp. “Khao Sok”

These beauties are rather small and slender as far as millipedes go reaching only around 1.5 inches in length as adults, but what they lack in stature they sure make up for under a UV light! These things glow so bright under a black light it is actually unreal looking. They like it warm and very moist with plenty of high quality white rot wood and leaf litter being extremely important to their wellbeing. You won’t see these guys out and about too much, which actually makes them an excellent candidate for an inconspicuous cleanup crew member in a multi-species setup. I personally keep mine with Cubaris sp. Rubber Ducky isopods, Troglodillo sp. “Green Spot” isopods, Nocticola vagus “Malaysia” micro-roaches, Coecobrya sp. “Tropical Pink” springtails, Yuukianura aphoruroides orange springtails, and most prominently in the setup are Phortioeca peruana “Tena, Ecuador” flat bark roaches!

Fun fact: these are the millipedes featured prominently in the background images all over my website!

Centrobolus splendidus

Absolutely gorgeous, bright red millipedes that reach approximately 3 inches in length at full size. They appreciate a moist substrate rich in leaf mulch and rot wood with high ventilation and plenty of fresh air exchange. These millipedes can regularly be found not only in the moist regions of their setup but also up towards the top of their enclosures hanging out in the dry warm sections, which is somewhat unusual as far as millipedes go. Provide plenty of leaf litter and high quality rot wood for their main diet, and supplement occasionally with fish flakes. It also doesn’t hurt to toss a cuttlebone in with them. I really appreciate this species as a display millipede because you can usually see a good handful of them without having to go digging.