Centipede images

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.