Geophilus centipede? - Geophilus

Moved

… Joseph DeSisto Alling, 28 March, 2015 - 7:07pm

The appearance and habitat ma

The appearance and habitat match Geophilus vittatus, but this is an extreme southerly record ... these are common in the northeast but start to peter out as far south as Virginia. Also it has a few too many pairs of legs (I count 61 pairs, if you could double check that would be terrific).

So basically, I'm not sure. Florida has a lot of unrecognized centipede diversity and this is a weird centipede, but for now I'm going to put it in the genus Geophilus.

Is there a way for you to get up close photos of the ventral side of the head and the ventral side of the last leg-bearing segment? That would help a lot. Thanks.

… Joseph DeSisto Alling, 28 March, 2015 - 7:06pm

Thank you so much for

the information. I kept the specimen. Although my equipment is not very sophisticated, I'll try to get the close-up photos this week. I'll also examine the specimen and count the legs directly. When I did the leg count from the photograph, I got 59 pairs, and also thought based on that number it was probably genus Geophilus. But, I am truly a novice.

… Susan Leach Snyder, 29 March, 2015 - 7:39am

59 sounds a bit more like G.

59 sounds a bit more like G. vittatus, but from southern Florida ... Anyway, just remember to pay attention to segments where the legs have been broken off, this happens a lot with centipedes.

This afternoon I can send you some drawings of the features I would be looking for, that way if you can't send me photographs you can just tell me what you see. That should help in getting us towards a positive ID! I'm very curious about this little guy.

… Joseph DeSisto Alling, 29 March, 2015 - 10:36am

Sounds

like a plan!

… Susan Leach Snyder, 29 March, 2015 - 11:17am

Perfect!

I just sent you an e-mail with instructions/photos of the characters I need to get closer to a species ID. If you look at that and then let me know which picture is closest to your centipede, we might be able to figure out what this thing is!

… Joseph DeSisto Alling, 30 March, 2015 - 1:26pm

I took some photos

that show the pores. To me, it looks like the pores are scattered randomly all over the coxae, so it is most similar to what you called "Gmordax" in your e-mail to me. Also, I counted the legs and you were correct. There are 61 pair. Thanks for your help with this one, Joseph.

… Susan Leach Snyder, 1 April, 2015 - 4:29pm

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… Ken Wolgemuth, 13 March, 2015 - 9:02pm

Thanks

so much for confirming the Order.

… Susan Leach Snyder, 14 March, 2015 - 3:07pm