The difference is legs per segment. A centipede has one pair on each body segment; a millipede has two. Everything else — diet, speed, defence, how you house them — follows from that one structural split, and the two groups are not closely related despite the resemblance.
Quick answer
Centipedes are fast predators with venomous forcipules and one pair of legs per segment. Millipedes are slow detritivores that eat decaying plant matter, defend themselves chemically rather than by biting, and carry two pairs of legs per segment. Both are myriapods; neither is an insect.
Side by side
| Centipede | Millipede | |
|---|---|---|
| Legs per segment | One pair | Two pairs |
| Body shape | Flattened | Cylindrical, mostly |
| Diet | Predator – live prey | Detritivore – decaying wood and leaf litter |
| Speed | Fast | Slow, deliberate |
| Defence | Venomous bite | Curls up, secretes defensive chemicals |
| Antennae | Long, prominent | Short |
| Legs relative to body | Long, splayed outward | Short, tucked under |
| Handling | Not handled | Generally tolerant |
Why the legs differ
A millipede burrows head-first through compacted substrate. Two pairs of short legs per segment, tucked beneath the body, generate the thrust that requires. What looks like a single segment is actually two fused into a diplosegment — the detail behind how many legs a millipede has.
A centipede hunts on the surface. Its legs are long, angled outward and one pair per segment, giving stride length and speed. The rearmost pair is often elongated and used to confuse an attacker about which end is the head.
Diet, and why it changes everything
Millipedes eat their substrate. Decaying hardwood, hardwood leaf litter and coco fibre are not bedding for them, they are food, which is why substrate depth and quality are the whole of millipede husbandry rather than one part of it. They also need constant access to calcium to harden the exoskeleton after each moult. That is covered in full in our millipede care guide and the enclosure guide.
Centipedes eat live prey — insects, other invertebrates, and in the larger species the occasional small vertebrate. They need a secure enclosure with a substrate they can burrow into, a hide, and a keeper who accepts that the animal is never going to be handled. Our centipede care guide covers the specifics.
Venom and defensive chemistry
Centipedes inject venom through forcipules — modified front legs, not mouthparts. Every species in the order Scolopendromorpha can deliver a painful bite, and that is the honest reason they are kept by experienced keepers rather than beginners.
Millipedes have no bite at all. They coil into a spiral to protect the underside and secrete defensive compounds from pores along the body. In many species these include benzoquinones, which stain skin, and in some tropical species hydrogen cyanide compounds. It is not dangerous in normal handling, but wash your hands afterwards and keep the animal away from your face and eyes.
Which one should you keep?
If you want an animal you can hold, that works visibly through a bioactive setup and forgives a beginner mistake, keep a millipede. Our millipedes range from the Alienostreptus bicoloripes leg morphs to Treptogonostreptus intricatus and the flat-backed Pink Dragon Millipede.
If you want a predator and you are prepared for an animal that is fast, defensive and genuinely capable of hurting you, keep a centipede. Our centipedes are Scolopendridae, and we say plainly what is known and unknown about each animal’s identification.
Both groups share one husbandry constant: deep moist substrate that never dries out completely, and never becomes waterlogged.
Provenance, and why we label it
Captive breeding data for predatory myriapods is close to absent in the published literature, and a large share of the millipedes in the trade are undescribed or traded under regional names. We record origin, generation and lineage for every animal in the SpeciesVault registry and give a binomial only where one genuinely exists. Our millipedes are field-collected founder stock and we say so; you can read the reasoning on our about page. Everything ships under our live arrival guarantee.
Common questions
What is the main difference between a centipede and a millipede?
Legs per body segment. Centipedes have one pair per segment, millipedes have two. Centipedes are also flattened, fast and predatory, while millipedes are cylindrical, slow and eat decaying plant matter.
Are centipedes or millipedes dangerous?
Centipedes are venomous and every scolopendrid can deliver a painful bite, so they are not handled. Millipedes cannot bite and are generally safe to hold, though their defensive secretions can stain and irritate skin, so wash your hands afterwards.
Do centipedes and millipedes eat the same thing?
No, and this is the largest practical difference. Centipedes are predators that need live prey. Millipedes are detritivores that eat decaying hardwood and leaf litter, which means their substrate is also their food supply.
Are centipedes and millipedes related?
Only distantly. Both are myriapods, but centipedes are in the class Chilopoda and millipedes in the class Diplopoda. The resemblance is superficial and the two groups diverged very early.
Can a centipede and a millipede live together?
No. A centipede is a predator and will treat any other invertebrate in the enclosure as food. House them separately, always.