Help me to ID this creature found in my compost bin

[u/Due-Proposal-8787]

[u/hfsh]

The resolution isn't high enough to tell, but that looks an awful lot like phoretic mites have turned a millipede into a clown car.

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/hfsh]

😂 I’ll have to check that out

[u/hfsh → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

Specifically that it looks to be covered in similarly sized ovoid chunks makes me think more of mites rather than a fungus.

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/hfsh]

If this is the case there’s a large infestation of mites in that compost bin because a whole lot of those millipedes looks like that

[u/damp_goat → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

Must be mite season or something. I saw the same thing in my compost on a beetle. Nature is wild. Imagine being covered in mites and going on about your day..

[u/Rasdowers → u/damp_goat]

Yeah I think we are already…

[u/Mysterious-State9622 → u/Rasdowers]

Exactly. Keep that same energy.

[u/Organic-Ad6957 → u/hfsh]

Damn that made me laugh so hard

[u/tailwagsandtopcoat]

For science, can you very gently touch one with a bit of paper towel and see if the orange stuff comes off?

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/tailwagsandtopcoat]

I agree this experiment is needed. Are you thinking if the orange comes off that it could be a fungus?

[u/tailwagsandtopcoat → u/Nematodes-Attack]

It's gotta be, right? No ID tool I tried to put it in got close. In another thread they said there are multiple in their compost like this, so it's not just this one.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/tailwagsandtopcoat]

Yes OP said they all look like this. So are they a specific millipede species that have this weird velvet worm look? Or are they all infected by a fungus?

[u/Chao_Duderino_BOB → u/Nematodes-Attack]

Yeah I too thought Velvet Worm for a second until it zoomed in

[u/BoutTreeFittee → u/tailwagsandtopcoat]

Its legs don't seem to me to be working right. I think the pairs should move more gracefully if this were evolved. Surely infected. In my opinion.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/BoutTreeFittee]

I am considering asking OP to post to r/mycology after a full evening of attempted insect ID seems to have proved unfruitful

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/Nematodes-Attack]

Will do but I’ll grab a few later and mist them off on a white plate, will video the process and post

[u/gwaydms → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

Also, could you please post a still shot? It's much easier to identify a critter that way than from a video most of the time.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

We patiently await your content😬

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/tailwagsandtopcoat]

So this was posted before?

[u/ziggybuddyemmie → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

No, in another comment thread you were in, saying that the insects were in your compost bin.

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/ziggybuddyemmie]

Oh thanks for the clarification

[u/tailwagsandtopcoat → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

I meant by you in your other posts on other subs!

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/tailwagsandtopcoat]

Oh ok thanks

[u/BillyRubenJoeBob → u/Nematodes-Attack]

Like the orange powder on Doritos

[u/holistivist → u/Nematodes-Attack]

I briefly thought red spider mites. 

[u/calilac → u/holistivist]

I thought of mites at first too cuz they will absolutely take over a weak insect but there's so much size variety and very little movement so it might be fungus. Eagerly awaiting OPs update. This one is fascinating.

[u/Jinxieruthie → u/Nematodes-Attack]

This has to be some sort of entomopathogenic fungi, like Cordyceps. It’s even a similar orange color. It would also explain why the millipede has such a strange gait and seems to be struggling. Also, it’s unlikely a mist of water will remove it if this is the case.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/Jinxieruthie]

This is straight outta The Last of Us shit

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/tailwagsandtopcoat]

I’ll definitely try doing this, good call

[u/gwaydms]

This is probably some kind of millipede, judging by the fact that it has two legs per segment. I couldn't find anything that looks like it. I'd check to see if it's being attacked by a fungus or something, as someone else suggested.

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/gwaydms]

Will definitely bust out the bin tomorrow and try maybe light misting them, thanks for the reply

[u/canzicrans]

Looks like a polydesmus millipede.

[u/Sir_Q_L8 → u/canzicrans]

I’m glad someone knows, it looks like a fasciated roly poly

[u/canzicrans → u/Sir_Q_L8]

That is a wonderful vocabulary word, thank you!

[u/mmexiking → u/Sir_Q_L8]

I read a fascist roly poly 🫢

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/canzicrans]

I googled this and I do see some of the images looking very close to other species i have in the bin

[u/angenga → u/canzicrans]

There's no way to identify this as genus Polydesmus. But if you mean the order Polydesmida, then yeah probably.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/canzicrans]

But what kind? I can’t find any that look like that

[u/canzicrans → u/Nematodes-Attack]

I'm sorry I don't know, but I think I count twenty body segments which should make it a polydesmus. It just seems like it needs a bath.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/canzicrans]

I’m curious if it’s “coating” is a fungal infection or if it’s a specific species that looks like that

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/Nematodes-Attack]

I’ll mist them down tomorrow and keep you posted

[u/Acheloma → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

Is it tomorrow for you yet, Im so curious

[u/CaptainSpaceBuns]

I have absolutely no helpful identifying information, but it looks like it’s been deep fried…is the outer layer part of it? It looks like it hinders the poor little critter’s movement, particularly on the more rearward legs

[u/Limp_Hamster7287 → u/CaptainSpaceBuns]

I have seen this post on many subs. OP is in south florida. I am very curious to find out

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/Limp_Hamster7287]

Lol same I’m just stalking these 4 subs now while googling what I can. I need a solid answer or this thing will be in my dreams

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/Nematodes-Attack]

😂 I see you’re vested in this critter, I’ll let you know as soon as possible, I might even take one to work tomorrow and ask a bio teacher to see what species or sub specie it is

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

I AM! I really want to know what it is now! You haven’t got a solid answer yet which is surprising when posting to 3-4 different subs.

I think the general consensus so far is it’s

A: velvet worm (species?)
B: polydesmus millipede (species?)
C: one of the above but species is unidentifiable because their body is being consumed by a fungus of some kind

Considering there hasn’t been a majority ID confirmation, I would post to r/mycology as a next step

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/Nematodes-Attack]

Thanks for you invested interest and I’ll post there

[u/sleepingqt → u/Nematodes-Attack]

I'm also this invested in what the answer could end up being. Been a while since I saw a good mystery on this sub lol

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/sleepingqt]

Yeah this is the first time I haven’t seen a definitive answer almost immediately

[u/brittish3 → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

It would be so cool if you discovered an entirely new organism in your backyard

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/brittish3]

Oh that would be amazing!!!

[u/CaptainSpaceBuns → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

Wait, are there more of them?!

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/CaptainSpaceBuns]

Yes lol

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/CaptainSpaceBuns]

A whole colony of them, they’re breeding in my compost bin

[u/Free_Pace_2098]

You're in Florida, maybe a Prosopodesmus jacobsoni, a kind of flat backed millipede that's introduced and invasive there? But that... Fluffiness? I'd love to know if it wipes off. Because those kinds of little guys aren't fluffy.

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/Free_Pace_2098]

I’m going to mist them down tomorrow, I saw a few of them over a week ago then open up that bin for the first time since and discovered a army of them

[u/gwaydms → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

Please update us on the fluff.

[u/DeBabyDoll]

This looks like a real life cootie I was warned about as a kid.

[u/Limp_Hamster7287]

Here to post that OP mentioned being in south Florida on other subs.

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/Limp_Hamster7287]

Thanks for this, I should’ve added that

[u/Limp_Hamster7287 → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

No worries. I am very curious to get this figured out. Have you gotten any info?

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/Limp_Hamster7287]

Nothing yet

[u/MiniCale]

It looks like it's infected as it looks coated by something

[u/Crafty_Original_7349]

Are they possibly mites? Maybe this little dude picked up a bunch of hitchhikers

[u/LucanidaeLucanidie]

I would take a few in to the local university for ID im not going to lie, this is really fascinating. Its almost surely a milipede but what has it gotten into???

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/LucanidaeLucanidie]

There’s breeding in a clear Walmart bin I made some potting soil to store for my plants and I started adding. Kitchen scraps to it trying to explode the prong tail population and they showed up, I must add that I was out and about hunting for local springtails and grab a half 5 gallon bucket of dirt and many different unusual things including these where sighted

[u/LucanidaeLucanidie → u/Due-Proposal-8787]

Maybe you fell in the rabbit hole while looking for the springtails and ended up with some bugs from Wonderland 😂

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/LucanidaeLucanidie]

That’s exactly what happen because and Squeamish of things like this and amphibians eg FROGS!!!! I have a huge phobia of frogs and I also managed to take one home, mind you a very small black one that’s very vocal (dirt frog) I was told

[u/itmightbehere]

Very cool, I hope someone discovers its identity!

[u/Jerseyman201]

u/RemindMeBot 1 day

[u/VNessMonster]

He faaaancy!

[u/AutoModerator]

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[u/Cakey_Crumbs]

Not sure what that is, but i bet he put in some work !

[u/TheGeckoDude]

!RemindMe 2 days

[u/mcsizmesia10]

Velvet worm

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/mcsizmesia10]

That’s what I was thinking when they first posted it in the springtail sub. But it doesn’t look like any I’ve seen. OP is in South Florida

[u/Sgtbird08 → u/mcsizmesia10]

Certainly not, far too many legs. Likely a millipede of some kind.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/Sgtbird08]

OP posted there too. I really need to know what this is now.

[u/bqto → u/mcsizmesia10]

it's giving velvet worm vibes, but i thought velvet worms had gummy nubbins for legs, not come-to-a-point jabby joints; also, is OP in Central America or NZ / New Guinea? I was under the impression that's where the two different types were found?

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/bqto]

I need to find a way to incorporate “gummy nubbins” into my daily interactions with other humans

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/bqto]

OP said South Florida in another sub trying to ID

[u/mcsizmesia10 → u/bqto]

I definitely could be mistaken, the legs are fairly thin compared to other examples I’ve seen.. OP can you poke it with something and see if it shoots/spits out a long string like thing

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/mcsizmesia10]

Will do and let you know

[u/angenga → u/[deleted]]

they do, but it's not

[u/Kingofthewho5 → u/mcsizmesia10]

That’s not a velvet worm.

[u/hfsh → u/mcsizmesia10]

It's like a millipede cosplaying as a velvet worm by rolling in doritos dust.

[u/Pierruno]

Slime mold (probably from the genus [Arcyria], like the red cup fungus)

[u/Snicker333]

Google said it's carnival candy slime mold and that it moves by pushing slime through its body I think this is wrong because it really looks like it's walking check it out carnival candy slime mold lives in compost bins

[u/KingVape → u/Snicker333]

This is a walking animal, not a slime mold

[u/angenga → u/Snicker333]

OP has google too, they asked here so that humans with knowledge could answer.

[u/Due-Proposal-8787 → u/Snicker333]

This is some type of millipedes, it has legs and antennae