Millipedes are Madagascar’s Lemurs’ Secret Weapon for Stomach Problems

Humans have a plethora of medicine and chemical concoctions to help us when we’ve got an upset stomach, but what about all of the animals in the wild that can’t just run to the pharmacy for a quick fix? A recent study led by Louise Peckre of the German Primate Center at the Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Germany found that the red-fronted lemurs in Madagascar use millipedes to fix all of their tummy troubles.

While observing five different groups of red-fronted lemurs in the Kirindy Forest on Madagascar, Peckre and her colleagues noticed that some of the animals in the groups were munching on millipedes that had emerged after a large rainstorm. While they were chewing on them, large amounts of an gooey orange substance, which they assumed was a mixture of saliva and the guts coming out of the millipedes being chewed. After much chewing, the lemurs then spread this goo on their genitals, anuses, and tail. They also ate many of the millipedes. Peckre and her fellow researchers believe that this self-anointment put together with the eating of the millipedes is likely a method of self-medication.

The lemurs likely use these millipedes specifically because they secrete benzoquinone, which is known to repel mosquitos. The researchers explain that by self-anointing themselves with the chewed up millipedes the lemurs clean themselves of parasites that can wind up in their intestines, gastric system, and Oxyuridae nematodes (these cause irritation around the area of their anus). If a lemur gets infested with these parasites, the worms and their eggs cause them to get an itchy rash on their skin. Peckre and her colleagues believe that the lemurs use the millipedes to treat the condition as well as prevent it.

The researchers intend to look further into different animals using millipedes in a similar manner. They specifically want to compare animals that anoint themselves with the millipede secretions but do not eat them with the animals that do both. They postulate that primates that are more exposed to digestive parasites are likely to eat the crushed millipedes as well as anoint themselves with them. This could also lead to millipedes possibly being useful for human medicine in the future.

Have you ever seen an animal rubbing an insect or a chewed insect on their body? What did you think they were doing?