DIPLOPODA (millipedes) > POLYXENIDA (bristly millipedes) > Polyxenidae

Make no mistake, Polyxenus lagurus is tiny, just 2-3mm long and, understandably, easily overlooked - don't let the photos fool you into thinking they're larger. And, keep reminding yourself they're millipedes, not insect larvae.

The species is very distinctive once recognised, with a pale brown body that is covered in amber-coloured serrated bristles. These bristles are regularly placed as paired, forward and backward facing, transverse rows along the back, coupled with a series of whorls along the sides - the arrangement of which can only really be appreciated in photos. And, to finish off the elaborate, but functional styling, there are a pair of 'tail' brushes. Adults have thirteen pairs of legs. They are typically found in small groups hidden away during the day, but coming out at night to feed on lichens and algae.

Current records show that they are common and widely distributed across most of central and southern Britain, but with increasingly scattered, and mainly coastal records from Wales and the north. They occur in various habitats including woodland where they can be found under the bark of dead trees, logs or fallen branches, but with most records seeming to come from old stone walls where they can hide away in crevices or behind loose mortar. Their small size makes them much easier to find by torchlight on walls than trying to locate them in woodland, which is almost certainly why the recording scheme actually shows a negative relationship with woodland. I guess that the habitat data is also skewed a fair bit by the number of coastal records where the species is more likely to be encountered in different places, such as amongst lichen and moss cushions growing on boulders or, as I've read, the roots of halophile (salt-tolerant) plants.

The individuals featured below were found during the day under deadwood in coniferous woodland.