Eastern Saw-toothed Centipede

Appearance

The general colour is pale yellowish brown with a darker reddish-brown head that is comparatively long and sturdy as compared to most other soil centipedes. The mandibles carry long hairs and four tooth each, the outer two longer than the inner.

The antennae a relatively (males: 1.6-2mm., fem: 2.4-2.5mm with the first seven or eight joints sparsely pilose, and apically more densely covered with short straight hairs. The articles are all long, with the ultimate about equal in length to the two preceding together.

The pleurae of the last segment are only slightly inflated, with each side carrying around nine small pores along an oval line spanning ventral and lateral surfaces.

The original description of eight specimen gives the species 49 pairs of legs (pilose, with long hairs) with slender, scarcely modified caudal legs. Later descriptions amend 45 pairs of legs for males and 47-49 for females, with adult males reaching around 21mm and adult females 31mm.

Naming

The vernacular name "Saw-toothed" is derived from the fangs that each carry 4 tooth, making them look (a bit) like a saw.

History and timeline

This species was originally described as Mecistocephalus umbraticus by Mc Neil in 1887. Later, in 1902, Chamberlin described it again as Geophilus xenoporus, which was later (in 1961) synonymized by Chamberlin himself, while at the same time also sinking Gnathomerium americanum Ribaut, 1912 into synonymy.