A siphonorhinid millipede called Illacme plenipes can be found in California’s central region. Up to 750 legs are on it. One of the two species in the genus Illacme that have been identified was initially observed in 1926, but Paul Marek, an East Carolina University Ph.D. student at the time, did not rediscover it until 2005, nearly 80 years after the original discovery.
Description
- plenipes typically have more than 600 legs, which is twice as much as the norm for millipede species. One specimen was found to have 750 legs.
- Up until the description of Eumillipes persephone in 2021, which had 1306 legs, it possessed the most legs of any species that was known.
- Compared to other millipedes, it has a tiny body size.
- Males are slightly smaller and have fewer legs; females reach a height of just over 3 cm.
