Caitlin Stier, video intern
(Image: Paul Marek)
The ghoulish glow of this millipede warns nocturnal predators to beware, according to new work resolving the function of the Motyxi millipede's bioluminescence. Pictured here in a prolonged darkroom exposure, the group is the only known variety of the multi-legged creature that glows.
Millipedes secrete an unsavoury cocktail of chemicals when disturbed. Some varieties fend off potential predators during the day with bright warning colours. Nocturnal Motyxi lurk below ground, crawling to the surface at night to feed and mate. Given their lifestyle, entomologist Paul Marek of the University of Arizona, Tuscon, and colleagues hypothesised the millipede's bioluminescence might serve as a warning signal in the dark.
To test this theory, the group used 300 clay millipede decoys, half of which were coated with glow-in-the-dark paint. His team also collected live millipedes and painted half of them to hide their protective glow. They then dispersed the decoys and live millipedes at night and checked on them the next morning. Non-glowing millipedes were four times as likely as glowing millipedes to show evidence of an attack, while non-glowing decoys were attacked twice as often as the glowing decoys.
Journal reference: Current Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.08.012
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