Centipede images

Henia vesuviana [Geophilomorpha: Dignathodontidae] from Sardinia. This species occurs throughout Europe (including varied sites in southern Britain) and probably also in North Africa. Its defensive behaviour has been studied – glue secreted from glands on each trunk segment immobilise potential predators such as beetles (Hopkin & Anger, 1992).    

Himantarium gabrielis [Geophilomorpha: Himantariidae] from Sardinia. This species is geographically widespread in the Mediterranean region, exhibiting considerable variability in trunk segment numbers across its distribution (Simaiakis, 2009: Soil Organisms).

Newportia adisi [Scolopendromorpha: Scolopocryptopidae] from Amazonas, Brazil. This image depicts maternal care of the hatchlings. Newportia includes more than 50 nominal species in Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Current work with Varpu Vahtera involves phylogeographic studies of some Mesoamerican species.  

Otostigmus scaber [Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae] from Thailand. This species, recognised by the longitudinal keel on its tergites, is distributed throughout East and Southeast Asia. Collections from Thailand are being studied as part of PhD research by Warut Siriwut (Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok) on the Scolopendromorpha of Thailand.

Scolopendra dehaani [Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae] from Thailand. With specimens exceeding 22 cm in length, this species is the largest scolopendrid through parts of its geographic range in Asia.  Long regarded as a subspecies of Scolopendra subspinipes, it has recently been elevated to full species status (Kronmüller, 2012: Spixiana). 

Scolopendra morsitans [Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae] from Western Australia. This species, originally named by Linnaeus, has an extremely broad distribution in the warm temperate and tropical parts of the world. It is one of the most widely distributed species throughout Australia, especially in arid regions.

Scolopocryptops simojovelensis [Scolopendromorpha: Scolopocryptopidae] from Miocene amber, Chiapas, Mexico. This fossil species was included in a phylogenetic analysis of extant Scolopocryptops based on morphology and sequence data for six genes (Edgecombe et al., 2012: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society).

Sterropristes metallicus [Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae] from Thailand. This genus had not been reported between its last published record in the 1930s and its rediscovery in 2011. A recent revision (Muadsub et al., 2012: Zootaxa) recognises three species of Sterropristes, one in Sulawesi, one in peninsular Malaysia, and one on islands in the Andaman Sea off the coast of Thailand.

Scolopendra cingulata [Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae] from Sicily. Molecular variation in scolopendromorph (including populations of this species from different parts of the Mediterranean) is being studied by Varpu Vahtera in the Giribet lab at Harvard.

Theatops erythrocephalus [Scolopendromorpha: Plutoniumidae] from Portugal. This genus, which has a disjunct Mediterranean / North American / Chinese distribution, is the closest relative of the Mediterranean Plutonium, the only scolopendromorph with spiracles on all trunk segments.

Scutigera coleoptrata from Cape Town, South Africa. This synanthropic species, native to southern Europe and the Near/Middle East but introduced to Australia, southern Africa, North America, etc., exhibits considerable genetic variation throughout its geographic distribution. Much of the anatomical evidence on which the position of Scutigeromorpha is inferred comes from studies of this species.

Cryptops punicus [Scolopendromorpha: Cryptopidae] from Sardinia. Whether blind scolpendromorphs like Cryptops evolved via a single or multiple events of eye loss is one of the ongoing debates in centipede phylogenetics. Molecular data and foregut anatomy support a single loss of eyes.  

Eupolybothrus nudicornis [Lithobiomorpha: Lithobiidae] from Sicily. DNA barcode data for this species from different parts of its circum-Mediterranean distribution have been collected in collaboration with David Porco.

Craterostigmus crabilli from New Zealand, the second species to be described in the order Craterostigmomorpha.  More images and information for this species can be found at

Craterostigmus crabilli

Cormocephalus hartmeyeri [Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae] from Porongurup National Park, Western Australia. The mother is shown brooding peripatoid stage hatchlings. Maternal brood care is identified as an evolutionary novelty with a single origin in the Chilopoda.

Epipharynx of Scolopendra cingulata, with SEM details of chemosensory sensilla ("taste buds") from area shown by inset. The detailed structure of the preoral chamber is being surveyed within each of the major centipede groups in collaboration with Markus Koch (Freie Universität Berlin). SEMs credit Sue Lindsay (Australian Museum).

Forcipules of Tidops collaris [Scolopendromorpha: Scolopocryptopidae] from Guyana, cleared in Hoyer’s to show the poison calyx, the length of which is variable in Scolopendromorpha.  

Hypopharynx of the Geophilus carpophagus [Geophilomorpha: Geophilidae], a species used in a survey of the mouth region of geophilomorphs with Markus Koch. Photo credit: Markus Koch on the NHM Philips XL30 scanning electron microscope.