Aims of this website

Our intention with this website is to shine a brighter light on Centipedes, Millipedes, Pauropods, and Symphylans. We have two main aims in this regard:

• Provide information to people who are interested in learning more about Myriapods. This website aims to provide a compendium of all of the Myriapod species recorded in North Carolina, with pictures of each species, information on species identification, general information about their distribution in the state (by county), their relative abundance in the state, their seasonal occurrence in the state, their habitats, and their food preferences, as well as additional comments on the species (such as notable facts, taxonomic issues, or population trends). County maps of occurrence are provided for each species.

• Build a base of public support for the conservation of Myriapods and their habitats in North Carolina. We want to make clear the situation that faces Myriapods and other species in terms of their continued survival in our state and share this information to help guide conservation decisions made by individual land-owners, conservation organizations, governmental agencies, and particularly by the public. To accomplish these goals, especially where they involve Myriapods or other species not usually given much public attention, we need to make our case from the best evidence we can muster, placing the plight of Myriapods well within the context of the larger world of which both we and they are an important part.

How to navigate the website

To see a species account, start typing the scientific name in the Search Scientific Name field or, if a common name exists, the common name in the Search Common Name field. Names of species appear on the screen; click on the correct species that you want, so that the full name appears in the field box; then click Find (to the right). Once you are at a species account, you can navigate to the previous species in the checklist sequence by clicking on the House Centipede on the left, or to the next species in the checklist order by clicking on the House Centipede on the right. You can also get to additional species by entering text in either of the Search Common or Search Scientific boxes; click on the full species name; then click on the blue Find tab. A third way to get to another species (within the same Family) is to click the down arrow under the scientific name, where the box shows other members in the Family; click on the species of interest.

How to Identify a Millipede, Centipede, Pauropod, or Symphylan

While we will eventually have identification tips included in the Species Accounts for all species that occur in the state, there are a number of other identification guides that already exist and are specifically tailored for identifying an unknown Myriapod. Information on these resources is included in the Identification Guides tab on the main menu bar located at the top of the Home Page.

How to become a Citizen Scientist

One of our main aims is to involve the public in documenting the distribution and habitat associations of the state’s Myriapod fauna. We therefore welcome records from anyone wishes to submit for species observed in North Carolina. Information on how to submit records and the details we need to vet the records are included in the Citizen Science tab on the main menu bar located at the top of the Home Page.

Stats

Number of NC taxa: 198

Number of taxa with records: 189

Number of records: 2,268

Myriapods were among the first animals to set foot (or in this case many, many feet) on land.

Millipedes - class Diplopoda

Centipedes - class Chilopoda

Symphylans (Garden Centipedes or Pseudocentipedes) - class Symphyla

Pauropods - class Pauropoda

The Myriapods of North Carolina Website is being developed through a partnership between the North Carolina State Parks System (NC DPR) and the North Carolina Biodiversity Project (NCBP), a non-profit, education- and conservation-oriented association composed of field biologists specializing in taxonomy, ecology, and conservation of the state’s native species and ecosystems. This partnership serves NC DPR’s mission of providing "environmental education opportunities that promote stewardship of the state's natural heritage". It is also serves NCBP core interests in promoting awareness and interest in the general public concerning the state’s rich variety of native species, and in generating a wide base of support for the conservation of these resources.

The authors of the Myriapods of North Carolina Website are:

Carol Tingley (invertebrate zoologist)
Steve Hall (ecologist and conservation biologist)
Tom Howard (webmaster, NC Division of Parks and Recreation)