Centipede

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For the Atari video game, see Centipede (video game). For other articles with the word centipede, go to Centipede (disambiguation).

Centipedes (Class Chilopoda) are fast-moving venomous, predatory terrestrial arthropods that have long bodies and many jointed legs. Chiefly nocturnal, centipedes are found primarily in tropical climates but are also widely distributed in temperate zones. Some species are highly venomous with extremely toxic venom on their claws which can cause death in humans.

As in the closely related millipedes, they are highly segmented (15 to 173 segments), but with only one pair of walking legs per segment. Centipedes are dorso-ventrally flattened, and are among the fastest and most agile of arthropod predators.

Note that the claw arises from the first thoracic segment

The head of a centipede has a pair of antennae and jaw-like mandibles, and other mouthparts that evolved from modified appendages. The most anterior trunk segment of a centipede has a pair of venomous claws (called maxillipeds) that are used for both defense and for capturing and paralyzing prey. Despite their name, which stems from the Latin words 'centum' (meaning 'hundred') and 'ped' (meaning 'foot'), they normally have around half that number of legs, though it is possible to find centipedes with over 200 legs.

The house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) is a fast-moving carnivore that feeds on insects such as cockroaches and other small invertebrates.

In Japanese mythology, heroes battle with giant centipedes, which even at mundane sizes are often thought to be connected with the world of the dead.

List of some commonly occurring centipedes

Arizona desert centipede
black centipede
burrowing centipede
Chinese red-headed centipede
common centipede
common desert centipede
Egyptian centipede
feather tail centipede
garden centipede
Galapagos Centipede
giant bat-eating centipede
giant desert centipede
giant North American centipede
giant peruvian centipede
giant Sonoran centipede
house centipede
Megarian banded centipede
orange footed centipede
Peruvian giant orange leg centipede
red feather tail centipede
red-headed centipede
stone centipede
Sonoran desert centipede
Tanzanian blue ringed centipede
Vietnamese centipede

The giant orange leg centipede is the biggest centipede in the world, reaching 26 cm (10 in) in length. The prehistoric Euphoberia was four times bigger, still.

References

Neil A. Campbell, Biology: Fourth Edition, (Benjamin/Cummings Publishing, New York) 1996 page 614 ISBN 0-8053-1957-3

External links

[Tree of Life Project] – Chilopoda
[What do you call a centipede?]
[Pictures of many centipede species plus information]
[Photos of Australian centipede] (Scolopendra morsitans)

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