Millipedes and Centipedes are easy to tell apart. Millipedes tend to coil into a tight curl when disturbed. Centipedes are orange, light brown or gray, from 1 to 4 inches long, with flattened segments, and fewer but prominent legs.
Centipedes also have a pair of easily seen antennae.
Centipedes tend to scurry for cover when disturbed. Life Cycle Adult millipedes spend the winter in soil, debris and leaf litter. In the spring, males and females mate, in a courtship ritual in which the male walks along the female's back. When the female raises her front segments, the two entwine and the deed is done. The female millipede prepares an underground nest, excreting soil that she has eaten and shaping it with her anal fold.