The sheer diversity of our planet’s ecosystem is one to marvel over. Earth is home to innumerable organisms, many species still being unknown to mankind. Every now and then, we do get news of the scientific community coming across a new species of organism. Although most of the time these discoveries take place in the wilderness or in the vicinity of the natural habitat of these creatures, a new species of centipede was recently discovered in a very busy and crowded area.
Naturalists discovered the small insect just below ground along a hiking trail in southern California, next to a motorway, a Starbucks and an Oakley sunglasses store. It is translucent and sinuous like a jellyfish tentacle and is about the length of a paperclip but as thin as pencil lead. The creature has horn-like antennae that protrude from its head to navigate and dig four inches beneath the surface. It also secretes strange chemicals and is blind. After DNA sequencing, it was established that it was a species not encountered before and has been named the Los Angeles Thread Millipede.
The most striking feature of this millipede is the close to 500 legs it has, making it look like a Hollywood monster under a microscope. Scientists counted 486 legs and deduced a helmet-like head.
According to the AP, entomologist Paul Marek of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute remarked, “It’s amazing to think these millipedes are crawling in the inner cracks and crevices between little pieces of rock below our feet in Los Angeles." He was a member of the research team that also comprised experts from the University of California, Berkeley and West Virginia University. They reported their findings in the journal ZooKeys on June 21 on the species, whose scientific name is Illacme socal. “It goes to show that there’s this undiscovered planet underground,” Marek added.
