Final answer:
Millipedes are decomposers that primarily feed on decaying plant material, so fresh fruits and vegetables are the best food choice for a tropical millipede raised in a terrarium. Their natural habitat is moist environments with leaf litter where they help recycle organic matter.
Step-by-step explanation:
The diet of most millipedes includes decaying plant material since millipedes are decomposers. In your terrarium with a tropical millipede, you should provide a diet consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables. Millipedes do not eat dead insects, small mammals, or tree bark as a significant part of their diet, instead, they play a crucial role in breaking down dead plants and turning them into soil nutrients, which helps in the overall recycling of organic matter.
Millipedes are generally found in moist forests, but some species can also be found in grasslands, semi-arid habitats, or deserts. These habitats are ideal for millipedes due to the availability of decomposing organic matter that they feed on. The distinction between millipedes and their relatives, the centipedes, is evident in their leg count per body segment; millipedes have two pairs of legs per body segment, while centipedes have only a single pair.