There's an irruption of black snake millipedes from the Canary Islands to West Cork

DID WE bring the infamous black snake millipedes to the Canary Islands, from Ireland, asks Damien Enright

In recent years, we have become accustomed to seeing them seasonally swarming up the exterior walls of our home in west Cork. Now, they are doing the same thing on a friend’s house in upland La Gomera. Until a few years ago, he had never seen one before. However, happily, we are not responsible for the invasion.

The millipede Tachypodoiulus niger is, in fact, a long-term member of the Canarian fauna. However, my pal, in his mid fifties and a keen amateur naturalist, swears he never saw a snake millipede until he visited us in west Cork. When, sometime later, he saw marching columns of them on his house walls, he had cause to wonder.