An Investigation into headless millipedes on Tuckernuck Island, MA

Report submitted in fulfillment of a 2009 Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative grant.

The American millipede N. americanus/annularis complex is common on Tuckernuck Island, Massachusetts. Each summer numerous headless millipede bodies are found partly alive on the trails and roads of Tuckernuck; the cause of these decapitations remains unknown. We traveled to the island three times between June and October 2009 to measure headless millipedes and attempt to catch a decapitation on digital video We did not see any evidence of millipede predation In 97 minutes of video but we did record birds foraging on the roads for 6.7% of the video time. We present measurement data for injured and headless millipedes found during 2009 and note the occurrence of parasitic Myriophora flies harassing millipedes. Our data do not explain how or why millipedes are found headless on the island but present several possibilities for future work as well as important baseline observations to aid future investigators.