Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Photo#509051
stone centipede - Lithobius forficatus

stone centipede - Lithobius forficatus
Beaver Brook Association, Hollis, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USA
April 16, 2011
Size: 1.5 in.
Turned over a brick and found two of these. One scattered, this one stuck around and even let me pick it up for some close-up shots. I see that it's hard IDing these guys. What views do you need to identify stone centipedes?

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stone centipede - Lithobius forficatus stone centipede - Lithobius forficatus stone centipede - Lithobius forficatus stone centipede - Lithobius forficatus

Moved
Moved from Stone Centipedes.

Lithobius forficatus
Based on:

- size
- tergital productions on segments 9, 11, 13
- antennal segments >25

 
views for lithos
This is tricky. In the northeast (north of, say, North Carolina and east of Kansas) the two most common species can be identified with just the length and a good top-down shot of the whole body. For small ones it's tricky there are a lot of species and the details are often small:

- the eyes (namely, are there multiple ocelli on each side or just one?)
- the last pair of legs in close-up, dorsal AND ventral. This is to count the number of spines on each segment so the quality has to be good.
- a ventral view of the head

Moved
Moved from Centipedes.