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[All pictures of garden wildlife on this page are thumbnails. Click on any thumbnail for a large format to be displayed.]

Ground Lover Centipede (Haplophilus subterraneus)

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The Ground Lover Centipede is an exceptional centipede. It is very long, resembling a millipede. The animal can grow up to almost 7 centimeters. It has 77 to 83 pair of legs (though I must admit I have not counted them myself). Haplophilus subterraneus moves rather swiftly, but is not as fast as the Stone Centipedes are. The Ground Lover Centipede hunts for insects, snails and worms, but it is the only centipede in Western Europe that eats plants as well. It is particularily interested in plant roots therefore, when occurring in great numbers, it may cause substantial damage to plants. Alas, this insect is hard to destroy because it sits deep under ground nibbling on roots at a depth of no less than 35 centimeters. Unfortunately, the photo here is of rather poor quality and I hope to get a chance to take a better one some time.



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