Lithobius forficatus
Encyclopedia
Lithobius forficatus , most commonly known as the brown centipede, is a common Europe
an centipede
of the family
Lithobiidae, although its distribution is not exclusive to Europe. It is between 18 and 30 mm long and up to 4 mm broad and is a chestnut brown
colour.
It is similar to a variety of other European lithobiid centipedes, particularly the striped centipede, Lithobius variegatus
, but L. forficatus does not have stripes on its legs. Like most lithobiids, it is found in the upper layers of soil, particularly under rocks and rotting logs. This species can be fairly easily identified by an experienced myriapodologist by its reaction to being revealed, which is to run extremely quickly for cover. This is different from many of the other species of large lithobiid, which tend to be less extreme in their evasion behaviour.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an centipede
Centipede
Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric animals with one pair of legs per body segment. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of...
of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Lithobiidae, although its distribution is not exclusive to Europe. It is between 18 and 30 mm long and up to 4 mm broad and is a chestnut brown
Chestnut (color)
Chestnut, also known as Indian red, is a color, a medium brownish shade of red, and is named after the nut of the chestnut tree.As Indian red, it is named after the red laterite soil found in India. It is thus an earth tone as well as a red. It is composed of naturally occurring iron oxides. Other...
colour.
It is similar to a variety of other European lithobiid centipedes, particularly the striped centipede, Lithobius variegatus
Lithobius variegatus
Lithobius variegatus is a species of centipede found in Europe, sometimes called the common banded centipede or banded centipede....
, but L. forficatus does not have stripes on its legs. Like most lithobiids, it is found in the upper layers of soil, particularly under rocks and rotting logs. This species can be fairly easily identified by an experienced myriapodologist by its reaction to being revealed, which is to run extremely quickly for cover. This is different from many of the other species of large lithobiid, which tend to be less extreme in their evasion behaviour.