Absence of Antimicrobial Substances in the Egg Capsules of Millipedes

MILLIPEDES lay their eggs in hollow capsules of their own construction, within which the emerged young spend the early part of their existence. The capsules are moulded primarily of soil and vegetable debris, and are built with the apparent addition of maternal enteric constituents, both oral and aboral in origin 1,2 , which suggests that they might be impregnated chemically for defence against microorganisms. Here we present evidence indicating that for at least two species of millipede this hypothesis does not apply, because neither antibacterial nor antifungal substances could be detected in the walls of their capsules.