Hawaiian Glow Millipede (Spirobolellus sp. 'Maui')

A millipede from Hawaii is an unusual thing to keep, and that improbable island origin is the first reason I find the Hawaiian Glow Millipede, Spirobolellus sp. "Maui", so hard to put down. Hobby stock comes from the island of Maui in the middle of the Pacific, about as far from a British living room as an invertebrate can start out. It stays small too, reaching only around 20 to 25mm as an adult, an inch or so of cylindrical, black-and-white banded millipede that sits among the most compact species we offer.

Under normal light it is a tidy, handsome little animal, clean pale bands crossing a dark segmented body. The party trick arrives with a cheap UV torch: shine one across the enclosure at night and the millipede fluoresces a bright blue-green, the glow strongest along the legs and body segments. It is worth being clear that this is fluorescence, not bioluminescence. The animal does not glow on its own in the dark, it simply lights up while the UV light is on it, so a small torch is part of the fun rather than an optional extra.

These are wild-collected imports, not captive-bred stock, and I would rather say so plainly. The "Maui" tag records where they were gathered rather than any confirmed endemism; Hawaii has a tangled millipede fauna with many long-established introductions, and the species is still listed only as Spirobolellus sp. because the taxonomy has never been pinned down. None of that changes how you keep them, but it is honest context for an animal sold under such an evocative name.

Like all millipedes, this one eats its home. The substrate is the diet, so it needs to be deep and rich with decaying hardwood and leaf litter rather than plain soil. I build the base from a well-rotted wood mix such as our flake soil, then layer magnolia leaf litter over the top for both food and cover, keeping 8 to 10cm of depth so the animals can burrow and lay. Calcium is essential for every moult, so I leave a piece of cuttlebone or a little crushed limestone in the enclosure at all times.

Warm and humid conditions suit it best. Ordinary UK room temperature in the 21 to 29°C range is fine for most homes, and humidity wants to sit high, around 70 to 85%, with the substrate kept consistently moist and ventilation kept low so it does not dry out. Two warnings matter more than the rest. Never heat a burrowing millipede from underneath, as a mat beneath the tub cooks animals resting in the substrate and is fatal; warm from the side if you need extra heat. And never put softwood or pine in the setup, which is toxic to millipedes, only ever rotted hardwood.

In character it is a gentle, slow decomposer that coils rather than rolling into a tight ball the way a pill woodlouse does. Handle it sparingly and with a soft touch, because when alarmed it can weep a yellow-orange defensive fluid that stains skin briefly and smells sharp, so wash your hands afterwards. If you fancy building a millipede shelf, it sits nicely beside the pale, surface-active Ivory Millipede, the warm-toned African Giant Chocolate, and the impressive African Giant Black, each one bringing a different size and presence.

When your order ships, each millipede travels in a double-walled box packed around damp sphagnum moss to hold warmth and humidity steady in transit. I post Monday to Thursday by tracked next-day Royal Mail, and every parcel is covered by our live-arrival guarantee.