Janneil Marie Sabillo

Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum: MyriapodaClass: Chilopoda by Latreille, 1817

From Greek ἄρθρον árthron, "joint", and ποδός podós "foot", which together mean "jointed feet“;

Invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton; Segmented body; Jointed appendages.

The group contains 13,000 species, all of which are terrestrial;

Although their name suggests they have myriad (10,000) legs, myriapods range from having over 750 legs.

They are fast, predatory and venomous, hunting mostly at night. There are around 3,300 species, ranging from the diminutive Nannarup hoffmani (less than half an inch in length, c. 12 mm) to the giant Scolopendra gigantea, which may exceed 30 centimetres (12 in).

Its external stuff is the mouth, antenna, maxilla, poison claw and walking leg. The internal things would be the lungs ,stomach, brain and heart.

Segmented, linear bodies commonly flattened

Centipedes◦20-300 legs Always an odd number of pairs of legs

Forcipules◦Venomous claws

Bright aposematic colors◦Warning colors

Size few millimeters to 30 centimeters

8,000 species Arctic circle, deserts and tropical rainforests

Require moist environment◦No waxy cuticle

Biggest invertebrate predators on land

Most centipedes are adapted for running. The legs are long to enable them to make long strides. There does not appear to be any overlap in leg movements.

The class is predacious on small arthropods but some have been observed

Feeding on small toads and snakes. A captive Scolopendra was kept alive on small mice.

Prey is located by the antennae. They are captured or killed by the poison claws. The

Venom is nontoxic to humans but will produce the effect of a wasp sting. Some species

Do have extracellular digestion.

Tracheae are the devices for gas exchange. Some marine forms exist at the intertidal area, and they probably trap air to last them when submerged.

There is a single pair of Malpighian tubules, but waste is most often in the form of ammonia instead of uric acid.

Many lack eyes but some have ocelli in varying numbers. Some ocelli are so clustered as to form compound eyes in function, although none have true compound eyes.

Organs of Tomosvary are found in head at the base of antennae in many and these seem to detect vibrations, possibly of an auditory nature.

Sperm transfer is indirect. The male constructs a web of silk from

glands in the posterior end of the body. A spermatophore is emitted and placed in

the webbing. The female picks it up and places it in her

gonopore. Sexes may palpate each other’s rear end

with their antennae as a courtship ritual. ◦ Broods of 15 to 35 eggs may be laid in hollowed

out cavities of wood or soil.

The female winds her body around the egg mass and stands guard.

Centipedes are a major component of terrestrial ecosystems throughout the temperate and tropical regions. Most of them move in the upper soil levels, among leaf litter and rock debris, others live deeper in the soil; the scutigeromorphs are surface-runner or cave-dwellers. Centipede diversity is highest in forest soils, but representatives of this arthropod group can be found from littoral shingle to cold montane prairies, from dump soil to arid ground. All centipedes are active predators, feeding on small invertebrates, sometimes even larger than them. The largest invertebrate carnivores in many terrestrial ecosystems are indeed centipedes.

More than three thousand species have been described to date, but many other are waiting description. Five main lineages are recognisable among extant centipedes. The geophilomorphs are the most diverse and widespread. Of the other larger groups, the scolopendromorphs are well represented and diverse in the tropical regions, whereas the lithobiomorphs dominate in temperate areas. The very distinctive scutigeromorphs (‘house centipedes’) are much less diverse, and mainly tropical, while the craterostigmomorphs are represented by one species only.

Population◦There are probably around 10,000

species globally, but only around 2,800 have been described

Size◦10-270+ mm worldwide; the largest

North American species (Scolopendra heros) grows to about 153 mm in length

Habitat◦Moist areas such as leaf litter, under logs

or rocks.

Internet References http://www.earthlife.net/insects/chilopod.html

http://www.naturalsciences.org/research/inverts/centipedes/

http://www.myriapoda.org/images.html

A fact sheet on centipedes

Another fact sheet on centipedes

A fact sheet on centipedes and millipedes

http://chilobase.bio.unipd.it - Taxonomic information for all present-day species in the world

www.arachnoboards.com - Sexing centipedes.