Scientists Seek Help Tracking Migrating Millipede

Researchers at the American Museum of Natural History are asking for citizen scientists to search for a species of millipede that, until recently, had never been observed north of Virginia.

In 2010, the southern Appalachian millipede Boraria stricta was discovered in the Mianus River Gorge Preserve in Bedford, NY, and it is now well established in Westchester County.

Scientists suspect that humans transported the millipedes into their new northern habitat, but they don’t know when that introduction took place. To estimate how long the millipedes have been calling New York home, two high school students in the Museum’s Science Research Mentorship Program are examining the molecular diversity of the millipede.

But to do so, they are asking residents in Westchester County and neighboring Fairfield County, CT, to help in the search for the insects.

The students running the project are: Henry Filosa from Stuyvesant High School and Kevin Lin of Staten Island Technical High School. Their supervisor is Anthony Caragiulo, a post-doctoral research fellow at the American Museum of Natural History.

Residents who spot the millipedes are asked to take photos and email them, along with location information, to boraria.blitz@gmail.com.