Breeding Millipedes

Breeding Millipedes is a fairly simple task. The genetalia are located just behind the Millipedes head. The male sexual organs are very distinctive. They are called "gonopods", which are like small stumpy legs located three segments begind the head. When mating, the male will transfer a hard sperm package called a spermatorphore (as with most invertebrates), into the female. It will be inserted into the female spermathecae, where she will store it.

Some species of Millipede do not need to mate, as they are parthenogenetic. This means that they are able to produce offspring without mating; however all the young will be female. Two examples of parthenogenetic species, are Proteroiulus fuscus, and Polyxenus lagurus.

There can be two different ways the female will become fertilised. The first way, is by the male simply leaving a spermatophore on the ground of the enclosure. The female will then find it, and she will place it in her spermacthecae, and store it. The second way, is by the Millipedes actually mating. The male will coil around the female, and manually place the spermatophore in her spermathecae.

Once the female has been fertilised, it will then be time for her to lay her eggs. They will sometimes be laid in a burrow under the ground (filled with dung), or just in a ball of dung on the surface. The eggs will incubate, and upon hatching, you will notice lots of little white beetle grub type insects. These are actually they baby Millipedes. Care must be taken not to squash, or throw these away.

From there on, they will spend a lot of time burrowed under the soil, and shedding their skin for growth. It maybe be up to 3 years until these babies will be at a mature age to start breeding.