GLOW UP

Bioluminescent millipedes were accidentally discovered for the first time in Australia by a bushwalker.

Around 18 years ago, Scott Kemp was bushwalking along a trail in the Illawarra when he came across glow-in-the-dark millipedes.

At the time he was unaware they had never been documented in Australia before. But that all changed almost two decades later, when he took his findings to amateur astronomer David Finlay, and together they walked back out to the area to capture these unique creatures on camera.

La Trobe University entomologist Dennis Black is one of Australia’s leading millipede experts, and was confident classifying Scott’s find as an undocumented species of millipede. According to Dennis, Australian millipedes have been known to glow fluorescently under UV light, but never on their own. While millipedes of the genus Motyxia (found in California) have been captured glowing independently, the phenomenon is considered rare across the world. In fact, until Scott’s discovery, millipedes that were capable of bioluminescence were not thought to exist in Australia at all.

“There’s very little chance they’re an introduced species,” says Dennis who classified this millipede in the order Spirobolida

In Australia, there are about 50 known species of Spirobolida, mostly named by overseas scientists. However, the creature is unlikely to have a definite identification for a while. There is no one currently working in Australia with expertise in this area, making it difficult to conduct research even as simple as taxonomy.

“We’ve probably only described 20 per cent of the millipede species in Australia and given them scientific names,” Dennis says, revealing the long journey ahead in learning more about this fascinating creature.

For Scott, however, there’s plenty more excitement to go around, including choosing a name for the millipede he discovered all those years ago.

“I’ve joked about it with my wife and kids,” Scott says. “The only one that really sounds cool to me is the Scotty luminus .”

Currently, the exact location of the millipedes is a close-kept secret, with scientists hoping to protect the potentially native species from any disturbances. With research continuing, we can only hope that new information on this special animal will come to light in the next few months.