Mecistocephalus

Mecistocephalus is a genus of centipedes in the family Mecistocephalidae. It was described by British entomologist George Newport in 1843.[1][2]

Mecistocephalus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Chilopoda
Order: Geophilomorpha
Family: Mecistocephalidae
Genus: Mecistocephalus
Newport, 1843[1]
Type species
Mecistocephalus punctifrons
Newport, 1843

Description

Centipedes in this genus range from 2 cm to 10 cm in length and usually have 45 to 51 pairs of legs, but some have more, up to as many as 101 leg pairs.[3] Most species in this genus have 49 pairs of legs (e.g., Mecistocephalus punctifrons and M. pallidus),[4] but other species have 51 pairs (e.g., M. sechellarum and M. lifuensis), 47 pairs (e.g., M. angusticeps and M. tahitiensis), or 45 pairs (e.g., M. nannocornis and M. spissus).[5][6]

Intraspecific variation in the number of leg-bearing segments within each sex has been recorded among the species with the greatest number of legs in this genus: M. diversisternus, which has 57 or 59 leg pairs, M. japonicus, which has 63 or 65 leg pairs, and M. microporus, which has odd numbers of leg pairs ranging from 93 to 101, the maximum number in the family Mecistocephalidae.[7][3]

Distribution

Centipedes in this genus occur mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of south and east Asia, with some also found in temperate areas and in the Americas.[3]

Species

There are about 145 valid species,[2] including:

References
  1. Newport, G (1843). "On some new genera of the class Myriapoda". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 10 (1842): 177–181 [178].
  2. Bonato L., Chagas Junior A., Edgecombe G.D., Lewis J.G.E., Minelli A., Pereira L.A., Shelley R.M., Stoev P., Zapparoli M. (2016). "ChiloBase 2.0". A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda). Rosario Dioguardi and Giuseppe Cortese, University of Padua. Retrieved 2 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Bonato, Lucio; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Zapparoli, Marzio (2011). "Chilopoda – Taxonomic overview". In Minelli, Alessandro (ed.). The Myriapoda. Volume 1. Leiden: Brill. pp. 363–443. ISBN 978-90-04-18826-6. OCLC 812207443.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. Bonato, L.; Minelli, A. (2004). "The centipede genus Mecistocephalus Newport 1843 in the Indian Peninsula (Chilopoda Geophilomorpha Mecistocephalidae)". Tropical Zoology. 17 (1): 15–63. doi:10.1080/03946975.2004.10531198. ISSN 0394-6975. S2CID 85304657.
  5. Bonato, Lucio; Foddai, Donatella; Minelli, Alessandro (2003). "Evolutionary trends and patterns in centipede segment number based on a cladistic analysis of Mecistocephalidae (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha): Evolution of segment number in Mecistocephalidae". Systematic Entomology. 28 (4): 539–579. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3113.2003.00217.x.
  6. Bonato, Lucio; Minelli, Alessandro (2010). "The geophilomorph centipedes of the Seychelles (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha)" (PDF). Phelsuma. 18: 9–38.
  7. Minelli, Alessandro (2020). "Arthropod Segments and Segmentation – Lessons from Myriapods, and Open Questions" (PDF). Opuscula Zoologica (Budapest). 51(S2): 7–21. doi:10.18348/opzool.2020.S2.7. S2CID 226561862.
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