Mecistocephalus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Classis: Chilopoda
Ordo: Geophilomorpha

Surbordo: Placodesmata
Familia: Mecistocephalidae
Genus: Mecistocephalus
Species: M. yanagiharai
...
References

Bonato, L.; Cupul-Magaña, F.G.; Minelli, A. 2009: Mecistocephalus guildingii Newport, 1843, a tropical centipede with amphi-Atlantic distribution (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha). Zootaxa, 2271: 27–42. Abstract & excerpt
Bonato, L., Foddai, D., Minelli, A. 2002. A new mecistocephalid centipede from Ryukyu Islands and a revisitation of 'Taiwanella' (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha: Mecistocephalidae). Zootaxa 86(1): 1–12. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.86.1.1 Reference page.
Mecistocephalus is a genus of centipedes in the family Mecistocephalidae. It was described by British entomologist George Newport in 1843.[1][2]
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:

Mecistocephalus apator Chamberlin, 1920
Mecistocephalus brevisternalis Takakuwa, 1934
Mecistocephalus capillatus Takakuwa, 1935
Mecistocephalus castaneiceps Haase, 1887
Mecistocephalus ciliatus Takakuwa, 1942
Mecistocephalus collinus Verhoeff, 1937
Mecistocephalus consocius Chamberlin, 1944
Mecistocephalus erythroceps Chamberlin, 1920
Mecistocephalus furculigera (Verhoeff, 1925)
Mecistocephalus gigas Haase, 1887
Mecistocephalus glabridorsalis Attems, 1900
Mecistocephalus gracilis (Verhoeff, 1925)
Mecistocephalus hebrides (Chamberlin,1944)
Mecistocephalus heteropus Humbert, 1865
Mecistocephalus kabasanus (Chamberlin, 1920)
Mecistocephalus kurandanus Chamberlin, 1920
Mecistocephalus labasanus (Chamberlin, 1920)
Mecistocephalus lifuensis Pocock, 1899
Mecistocephalus magister Chamberlin, 1939
Mecistocephalus manokwarius Chamberlin, 1944
Mecistocephalus marcusensis Miyosi, 1953
Mecistocephalus mater (Verhoeff, 1925)
Mecistocephalus modestus (Silvestri,1919)
Mecistocephalus nagasaunus Chamberlin, 1920
Mecistocephalus nigriceps Chamberlin, 1920
Mecistocephalus ocanus Chamberlin, 1946
Mecistocephalus okabei Takakuwa, 1942
Mecistocephalus ongi Takakuwa, 1934
Mecistocephalus porosus Haase, 1887
Mecistocephalus pseustes (Chamberlin,1939)
Mecistocephalus punctifrons Newport, 1843
Mecistocephalus siaronus (Chamberlin, 1920)
Mecistocephalus simplex Chamberlin, 1920
Mecistocephalus somonus (Chamberlin, 1920)
Mecistocephalus spissus Wood, 1862
Mecistocephalus subgigas (Silvestri,1919)
Mecistocephalus subinsularis (Silvestri, 1919)
Mecistocephalus tahitiensis Wood, 1862
Mecistocephalus tsenapus Chamberlin, 1944
Mecistocephalus turucanus (Chamberlin, 1920)
Mecistocephalus uncifer (Silvestri,1919)
Mecistocephalus waikaneus Chamberlin, 1953
Mecistocephalus waipaheenas (Chamberlin, 1953)
Mecistocephalus zygethus Chamberlin, 1939

References

Newport, G (1843). "On some new genera of the class Myriapoda". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 10 (1842): 177–181 [178].
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bonato, Lucio; Minelli, Alessandro (2010). "The geophilomorph centipedes of the Seychelles (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha)" (PDF). Phelsuma. 18: 9–38.
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.