Specimen image via iDigBio
Mecistocephalus
Sign in to saveMecistocephalus is the largest genus of centipedes in the family Mecistocephalidae, with about 140 species. This genus is among the most diverse and widespread of all the genera in the order Geophilomorpha. The British entomologist George Newport first proposed this genus in 1843 to contain a group of centipedes marked by an unusual elongation of the head.
In the Vinony graph
Vinony's link graph records 58 inbound references to Mecistocephalus, and connects out to Japan, Animalia and Americas.
It sits within the topics Animals described in 1843, Centipede genera and Mecistocephalus.
Vinony links it to 4 Wikipedia language editions.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumArthropoda
- ClassChilopoda
- OrderGeophilomorpha
- FamilyMecistocephalidae
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 284
- With media
- 1
- Family
- Mecistocephalidae
- Collections
- MCZ, USNM
- Recorded in
- Indonesia, Vanuatu, Equatorial Guinea, Japan, United States, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Mecistocephalidae
Show 4 more facts
- taxon name
- Mecistocephalus
- taxon rank
- genus
- topic's main category
- Category:Mecistocephalus
- Commons category
- Mecistocephalus
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~8 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Description
- Phylogeny
- Distribution
- Species
- References
Mecistocephalus is the largest genus of centipedes in the family Mecistocephalidae, with about 140 species. This genus is among the most diverse and widespread of all the genera in the order Geophilomorpha. The British entomologist George Newport first proposed this genus in 1843 to contain a group of centipedes marked by an unusual elongation of the head.
==Description== Centipedes in this genus range from 2 cm to 10 cm in length. The head, forcipular segment, and their appendages are often elongated, with a head that is obviously longer than wide. A pair of sclerotized teeth (spicula) point forward from the anterior end of the pleurites on the sides of the head (buccae). The buccae also feature setae on at least the posterior half. The smooth areas at the posterior end of the clypeus (plagulae) are separated by an areolate stripe down the middle of the clypeus.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mecistocephalus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.