Exploring Pigeon Valley: The Giant Pill-Millipede

This is the 49th in an ongoing series that highlights the riches of Pigeon Valley, the urban nature reserve in the heart of Glenwood. The focus of this article will be the Giant Pill-Millipede.

At this time of year the gound near the centre of Pigeon Valley is covered with the round and extremely sticky fruit of the Fluted Milkwood, usually yellow in colour but occasionally brown. If you were to see a Giant Pill-Millipede in its pill state you could mistake it for the fruit – it is easily missed.

However, this is an intriguing creature that is impressively prehistoric in appearance, with fewer and much larger segments than those of the ever-present shongololo. Generally this stout animal ambles through the leaf litter, but, when disturbed, it rolls up in a highly effective ball with a hard and shiny outer skeleton that protects it effectively against predators.

ALSO READ: Exploring Pigeon Valley: The Natal Forest Loquat

The soft underside and multiple legs (typically 42) are then not at all visible. Left undisturbed, after a short time it uncoils itself and resumes its steady plod. The rear end is slightly bell-shaped, to enable the body to be fully enclosed when it is rolled up.

While this animal is found widely across the more humid parts of South Africa, it is particularly common in the coastal forests of KwaZulu-Natal. It may not seem particularly romantic, but the male attracts a mate by creating vibrations, through rubbing a couple of modified rear legs against knobs along the base of the exoskeleton, a process known as stridulation. Experts in the life of the forest have been known to say that, if you listen carefully to the female, you just might hear it murmuring, ‘I’m pickin’ up good vibrations, you’re giving me stridulation…’

Crispin Hemson chairs the Friends of Pigeon Valley, a group that undertakes clearing of alien plants, keeps records of bird and mammal sightings and alerts management to any problems.

The Friends have a monthly walk at 7.30am on the second Saturday of each month. Email: friendsofpigeonvalley1@gmail.com.

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