Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Centipedes and Millipedes
Centipedes and millipedes give us goose bumps when they creep out from dark, damp places at night. The word "centipede" literally means "one hundred legs." The word "millipede" means "one thousand legs." These are really just exaggerations. All centipedes have at least thirty legs. A handful of them have more than one hundred legs. We are certain that no millipede species owns more than four hundred legs.
Centipedes and millipedes are members of a big animal group - the arthropods. All insects (butterflies and beetles) are arthropods. Crustaceans (lobsters and crabs) and arachnids (scorpions and spiders) are arthropods, too. All arthropods have jointed legs. That is what "arthropod" means. They also have exoskeletons and bodies with segments.
There are over three thousand species of centipedes. There are more than ten thousand species of millipedes! Because centipedes and millipedes have so many legs, scientists set up a unique sub-class (the myriapod) for them in the arthropod group. Both centipedes and millipedes have no short supply of legs. But there are several differences between these two animals.
