Along with plant sources, arthropods (such as millipedes) are also known for their antioxidant activities that can help combat human ailments. Therefore, methanolic extracts of males and females of two endemic giant pill-millipedes of the Western Ghats (Arthrosphaera fumosa Pocock and Arthrosphaera magna Attems) were evaluated for antioxidant potential. The bioactive principles and activities assessed were total phenolics, total antioxidant activity, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl or DPPH radical scavenging, ferrous ion chelation, reducing power and hydrogen peroxidase scavenging. Significant differences were shown between the two species, the sexes and the sexes within millipede species in total antioxidant activity, DPPH radical scavenging and ferrous ion chelation. Total phenolics and EC50 of DPPH radical scavenging activity differed significantly only between species and the sexes. This study clearly demonstrated that the antioxidant capacity of the methanolic extract of Arthrosphaera spp. is comparable to the ascorbic acid standard and possesses potential scavenging ability against reactive oxygen species generated during oxidative stress.

The diet of southern African carnivorous slugs of the endemic family Chlamydephoridae is discussed. At least three species, Chlamydephorus bruggeni, C. burnupi and C. sexangulus, are predators of pill-millipedes Sphaerotherium sp. The feeding behaviour of C. sexangulus is described in detail and illustrated. It is suggested that the prey, once captured, is killed or immobilized by the introduction of a toxin through the intersegmental membrane joining the millipede's skeletal plates. The source for such a toxin may be the anterior pedal mucous gland. Predation on sphaerotheriid millipedes may be a behavioural apomorphy associated with a clade within the Chlamydephoridae, including taxa with longitudinal body keels and distinctive radula morphology, but it is evidently not confined to this clade. Whether the diet of such millipede-eating slugs is limited to millipedes is unknown, but it is probable that at least some chlamydephorids feed on more conventional prey such as snails and earthworms.