Train spotting is now far from boring; especially if
you happen to be on holiday in Africa.
Take a couple of bottles of your favourite beverage along with your foldable-chair
into the tropical grasslands or forests then sit back and wait for this most
spectacular of trains to arrive. If it fails to arrive on time do not worry,
your chances of seeing this well waxed, sturdy-bodied beast can be improved by
placing a small piece of fruit on the ground in front of you.
This is a train that runs not on wood, coal or electricity, but on dead and
rotting vegetable material; it goes by the name of the Mombassan train
millipede (Epibolus pulcripes). Newly
formed models are said to be coprophagus, meaning they feed on the faeces of
their parents. Sounds like a load of crap? Well this diet is actually
highly beneficial for the young as their food has already be broken down
for them and it now contains important bacteria from their parent's
gut to aid in their own digestion.
But if more than one of these diplopods turns up at once then count yourself lucky. They tend to live solitary lives, only congregating at large succulent pieces of fruit or veg to feed or to mate. With two pairs of legs on each segment and increasing numbers of segments following moulting of their cuticular exoskeleton (yes, they are 'anamorphic'), mating may sound like tricky business. The reality is quite wonderful - sensual, passionate sex with no strings attached for the male following his climax. He is free to spread his seed to all those kinky females desperate to be rhythmically tickled by his countless legs and to those romantics in need of a cheeky bit of intimate coiling.
For the worn out female, her burden has only just begun as she now has to carry
and raise her young all alone. Laying hundreds of eggs into small depressions
in the ground she may then guard them until they
hatch, before feeding them with her poo. After a period of quick
growth, the young reach sexual maturity between the age of three and six
years and by the end of their life may have grown up to 30cm in length.
Such
big, cumbersome herbivores may seem highly vulnerable to predation, but the
millipedes have a secret weapon. On the underside of their bodies they possess repugnatorial glands
which secrete toxic chemicals, including cyanide
derivatives, to deter any unfortunate fool who thought he/she was
going to get an easy meal.
Throughout their life they play an important role in
the ecosystem as recyclers of nutrients from detritus back into the soil for
the trees to use once again. Thankfully they are not threatened at present, but
if this and other mini-beast recyclers were to be lost then, well you guessed it, passenger waiting times at Waterloo would be the least of our concerns!
