![]() The house centipede, believed to have originated in the Mediterranean region, was introduced into Mexico and the Southern United States and has increased its distribution. Centipedes are among the largest terrestrial invertebrate predators, and often contribute significantly to the invertebrate predatory biomass in terrestrial ecosystems. Accordingly, they are found in soil and leaf litter, under stones and dead wood, and inside logs. ![]() Within these habitats, centipedes require a moist microhabitat because they lack the waxy cuticle of insects and arachnids, therefore causing them to rapidly lose water. Centipedes have a wide geographical range, even reaching beyond the Arctic Circle. They are found in an array of terrestrial habitats from tropical rainforests to deserts. Worldwide, an estimated 8,000 species of centipedes are thought to exist, of which 3,000 have been described. Cavernicolous (cave-dwelling) and subterranean species may lack pigmentation, while many tropical scolopendromorphs have bright aposematic colors. They normally have a drab coloration combining shades of brown and red. In Fairfax VA and the surrounding areas, they rarely get to be more than a couple inches long.Ĭentipedes can be found in a wide variety of environments. Their size can range from a few millimetres in the smaller lithobiomorphs and geophilomorphs to about 12 in in the largest scolopendromorphs. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs, ranging from 30 to 382. Centipedes always have an odd number of pairs of legs no centipede has exactly 100 legs. Like spiders and scorpions, centipedes are predominantly carnivorous. All centipedes are venomous and can inflict painful bites, injecting their venom through pincer-like appendages known as forcipules. Centipedes are elongated segmented (metameric) creatures with one pair of legs per body segment. Centipedes are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda, an arthropod group which also includes millipedes and other multi-legged creatures.
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