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1,306 legged millipede discovered by Virginia Tech research team

The critter was found in a Western Australia desert

Female specimen of Eumillipes persephone with 1,306 legs. Photo by Paul Marek for Virginia Tech (Virginia Tech)

A Virginia Tech research team made an exciting discovery - a millipede with 1,306 legs.

It was discovered 200 feet below the Goldfields-Esperance region in Western Australia.

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The millipede is called Eumillipes perspephone and was discovered while the team was doing a biodiversity survey and mineral exploration of the region.

Paul Marek, an associate professor in the Department of Entomology at Virginia Tech, described E. persephone as colorless, eyeless and less than half an inch wide.

While the word ‘millipede’ (mille “thousand” and pes “foot”) suggest the bugs have 1,000 legs, this is the first of the species to actually be found with that many.