The logs that Mr C was moving on Sunday were rich with compost and leaf litter and I spotted two types of millipede. The flat-backed millipede is a stocky little fellow with a flat segmented body and many legs. It is orangey-brown in colour and measures around 2cm in length.
The difference between millipedes and centipedes is that millipedes have two pairs of legs per body segment, and centipedes have just one.
Most millipedes are herbivores, eating decaying vegetation that has fallen to the ground. The flat-backed millipede uses its flat body shape to move around the soil and leaf litter in search of food.