Q 01/05

Which pop star had a new twisted-claw millipede from Tennessee named after her by a scientist fan?

A) Dolly Parton

B) Miley Cyrus

C) Taylor Swift

D) Beyoncé

Answer · why

C) Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift got the honour because her music carried lead author Derek Hennen through graduate school, and the species lives only in a state where sh...

Q 02/05

In which country was the first millipede with over 1,000 legs found, deep inside a mining drill hole?

A) Indonesia

B) Australia

C) Brazil

D) Canada

Answer · why

B) Australia

Australia yielded the record-breaker in 2020, when a female with 1,306 legs came up from 60 metres underground, more legs than any other animal on Ear...

Q 03/05

The word millipede comes from Latin words with which meaning, a promise almost no species keeps?

A) Forty feet

B) Hundred feet

C) Million feet

D) Thousand feet

Answer · why

D) Thousand feet

Thousand feet is the literal meaning of mille and pes, yet common species have between 34 and 400 legs.

Q 04/05

Which animals of Madagascar bite toxic millipedes, rub them through their fur and seem to enjoy a buzz?

A) Black lemurs

B) Fossas

C) Tenrecs

D) Ring-tailed mongooses

Answer · why

A) Black lemurs

Black lemurs nip a millipede until it oozes its defensive chemicals, smear them over their bodies and appear to enjoy the psychoactive effect.

Q 05/05

Which notorious poison do many flat-backed millipedes release as a gas when attacked?

A) Arsenic

B) Strychnine

C) Cyanide

D) Ricin

Answer · why

C) Cyanide

Cyanide, with its bitter-almond smell, is made by millipedes of the order Polydesmida, the largest order with more than 5,000 species, many of them br...