Species group · Centipedes
Centipedes
WAnimals has 3 species of centipede, spread across 2 families (Lithobiidae, Scolopendridae).
- 3 species
- 2 families
- 70 countries
- 113 parks
- Length
- 0.4 cm – 30 cm
- Lifespan
- 6 – 8 years
Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 3.
All 3 species of centipedes on WAnimals
Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
Conservation status
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
See the global conservation statusWhere they live
Recorded in 70 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Where to see them
Did you know…
It eats large arthropods, spiders, amphibians, lizards and occasionally small mammals such as bats.
The mother actively tends her young for about three months after they hatch, coiling her body around them.
It can reach 28 to 30 cm long, making it the largest centipede in the world.
It is one of the largest centipedes in Europe, and its bite, though painful, is rarely a serious risk to a healthy adult.
Its forcipules are not jaws: they are the first pair of legs turned into venomous fangs, a feature unique to centipedes.
The female coils around the eggs and guards and cleans them for weeks without feeding, remarkable parental care for a soil arthropod.
Its name means literally "life among the stones", from the Greek lithos, stone, and bios, life.
From Brown Centipede
It is identified by its reaction on being uncovered: it dashes for cover at full speed, far faster than other large Lithobius.
From Brown Centipede