Soil Centipede - Order Geophilomorpha

I usually see red soil centipedes, not orange ones. So, I'm not yet sure what this one is.

Habitat: Under rotting wood in a deciduous forest.

comments (7)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Very cool find! Posted 6 years ago

Pudding4brains

Lion

Hi Christine, very interesting - most species here in Europe are like the one shown above, with a yellow-ish body and usually a somewhat darker head. Only a few all-reddish species here.
This one has a very long head, which could greatly help in ID-ing, but also always try to get a proper count for the pairs of legs and a total length.
"Official" ID-ing uses many ventral details of the head, body segments and above all of the pores on the last (or last two) segments and all these are hardly ever possible to observe without first killing the critter. But with colour, head shape, antenna shape (length & nr of segments) and leg count it is quite often possible to come a long way towards an ID if you have the proper literature at hand (which I don't have for North America, but that's a different subject). Cheers! Arp Posted 6 years ago, modified 6 years ago
1. Pudding4brains
  
  Lion
  
  P.S. Have a look at Arctogeophilus umbraticus
  https://bugguide.net/node/view/100407/bgimage
  Me thinks that might well fit the bill ... Posted 6 years ago
2. 1. Pudding4brains
    
    Lion
    
    Christine, I've gone ahead and created the species account. In the references you will find a publication by Ribaut that contains many drawings for the species (Note: you have to scroll back up from the start of the species description to find most of the figs!!):
    Ribaut, (1912:120) Sur un genre nouveau de la sous-tribu des Ribautiina Bröl. (Myriopoda-Geophilomorpha.) - Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle de Toulouse, vol.43, pp.105-126.
    Gnathomerium americanum => p.120, figs. 12-17.
    https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/41903890
    Posted 6 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      Thanks so much, Arp! I appreciate your help!! And, sorry I didn't get back to you sooner - I tend to always get behind on messages :P Posted 6 years ago
    2. 1. Pudding4brains
        
        Lion
        
        No worries, you're talking to the just about the worst "keep-in-toucher" imaginable ... if I'm swamped, all sorts of contacts/mail just fall off the table in the end *rolleyes*.
        Pleasure to solve this little puzzle - gives me an opportunity to learn too. :o) Posted 6 years ago
      2. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Hehe, glad I'm not the only one. Checking email is beyond an afterthought for me ;P
        
        Thanks again, you're the best <3 Posted 6 years ago

The Eastern Saw-toothed Centipede

The Eastern Saw-toothed Centipede (Arctogeophilus umbraticus) is a common Soil Centepede (Geophilomorpha) in large parts (not just eastern) of the United States of America.

Info 1 0

Similar species: Soil Centipedes

Species identified by Pudding4brains