Millipedes: Friend or Foe?
Sometimes insecs that seem destructive are actually beneficial.
Generally, millipedes and centipedes are beneficial garden insects. Centipedes are carnivores and attack pests in the garden. Millipedes eat mostly detritus (decomposting plant matter) and help break down leaves and other decaying material in our landscapes. In this unusual situation, decay had set in on this Bradford pear in between two co-domniant trunks.
As material decayed in the center of the tree, millipedes moved in to break down the material. Eventually the trunk split away from the tree. While it might look like the millipedes are the cause of the problem, they are actually only there to clean up the mess!
