User:Pelidnoptera/sandbox

Life cycle: Reproductive females mature their eggs during late summer-early autumn and may be seen mating during the autumnal activity period after which the female lays 60-80 eggs in a chamber 1-2 cm deep in the soil. The egg hatches to a pupoid stage, then develops by a series of moults up to 16 stages over 3 years. Males can be differentiated by the 8th and 12th stages but most are mature by the 10th or 11th stages. Females probably mature at similar stages. One year old immatures (stages 7-9) are light brown with a darker medial stripe. After 2 years the 10-11 stage millipedes have turned black. Millipedes older than 1 year moult only in spring and summer. After the summer moult, males lose their reproductive appendages (gonopods) which re-develop during the following spring moult(5)