centipede - List of some commonly occurring centipedes

A carnivorous, terrestrial arthropod, commonly found in soil, leaf litter, and rotting wood; body up to 30 cm/12 in long, divided into head (bearing feelers and mouthparts) and many-segmented trunk; each trunk segment has one pair of legs; c.2500 species, some venomous. (Class: Chilopoda.)

iCentipedes
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Myriapoda Class: Chilopoda Latreille, 1817
Orders
Geophilomorpha Lithobiomorpha Scolopendromorpha Scutigeromorpha

Centipedes (Class Chilopoda) are fast-moving venomous, predatory, terrestrial arthropods that have long bodies and many jointed legs.

As in the millipedes (which, unlike centipedes, are not venomous), they are highly segmented (15 to 173 segments), but with only one pair of walking legs per segment.

The head of a centipede has a pair of antennae and jaw-like mandibles, and other mouthparts that evolved from modified appendages.

The house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) is a fast-moving carnivore that feeds on insects such as cockroaches, house flies, and other small house pests, and is thus domestically beneficial in nature.

Scolopendra gigantea, also known as the Amazonian giant centipede, is the largest extant species of centipede in the world, reaching over 30 cm (12 in) in length.

There are rumors that state that the Galapagos Island giant centipede(Scolopendra galapagoensis) can reach sizes of up to 25", though these rumors may result from the rarity of the particular centipede.

List of some commonly occurring centipedes

Arizona desert centipede black centipede burrowing centipede Chinese red-headed centipede common centipede common desert centipede Egyptian centipede feather tail centipede garden centipede Galapagos Centipede giant bat-eating centipede giant desert centipede giant North American centipede giant peruvian centipede giant Sonoran centipede house centipede Megarian banded centipede orange footed centipede Peruvian giant orange leg centipede red feather tail centipede red-headed centipede stone centipede Sonoran desert centipede Tanzanian blue ringed centipede Vietnamese centipede

In Japanese mythology, heroes battle with giant centipedes. Scutigera coleoptera the American House Centipede hatches with only 4 pairs of legs and in successive moults has 5,7,9,11,15,15,15 and 15 before becoming a sexually mature adult.