Malu: The Mystery Solved
Malu, or in Chinese characters, 馬陸, are millipedes. I guess I've never seen one before. One time in Church (in New Norway, Alberta) a centipede dropped on my lap and freaked me out, though. Centipedes are scarier looking. They have long legs and move really fast (if the one from Church was indicative).
This quote from another website:
Millipedes differ from centipedes in that almost every segment bears 2 pairs of legs, the body is cylindrical instead of flattened, there are no venom-bearing claws, the antennae are short, and the reproductive organs open far forward on the body. Millipedes crawl slowly, whereas centipedes crawl rapidly. On the seventh segment of the male, one or both pairs of legs are modified as copulatory organs. A pair of scent glands on each segment, opening laterally, discharge a repugnant secretion. In some species, it can be discharged to a distance of nearly a meter and, in the case of some tropical species, has caused blindness in children (Hegner and Engemann, 1968).
So, I guess I should stop picking them up....
2 Comments:
Jon!
Thrilled to find your new home on the web, and will once again keep up with reading your escapades overseas. I hate all manner of milli/centipedes. My old house on Gladstone Crescent used to nfind some of these creatures because it was an old house and we lived in a wooded area. Just thinking abck to finding one on my bedroom floor making itself at home among my clothes, gives me the shivers.
I hope I can resume a place in your "friends and family" list now that I have re-established a personal blog.
Miss you loads, hope you come home for a visit soon.
xoxoxoxo
God advice son!
Post a Comment
<< Home