# Mecistocephalidae

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mecistocephalidae
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mecistocephalidae.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecistocephalidae
> Source revision: 1354747911
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Mecistocephalidae** is a [monophyletic](/source/Monophyly) [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) of [centipedes](/source/Centipede) in the [order](/source/Order_(biology)) [Geophilomorpha](/source/Geophilomorpha). This family is the only family in the [monotypic](/source/Monotypic_taxon) [suborder](/source/Suborder) **Placodesmata**.[1][2][3] Most species in this family live in [tropical](/source/Tropics) or [subtropical](/source/Subtropics) regions, but some occur in [temperate](/source/Temperate_climate) regions.[4] This family is the third most diverse in the order Geophiliomorpha (after [Geophilidae](/source/Geophilidae) and [Schendylidae](/source/Schendylidae)),[5] with about 170 species,[6] including about 130 species in the genus *[Mecistocephalus](/source/Mecistocephalus)*.[4]

## Description

Species of this family are characterized by an elongated head with lateral margins converging backwards; first [maxillae](/source/Maxilla_(arthropod_mouthpart)) with a relatively elongate [coxosternite](/source/Maxilla_(arthropod_mouthpart)) and [coxal projections](/source/Maxilla_(arthropod_mouthpart)) that are much wider than the [telopodites](/source/Maxilla_(arthropod_mouthpart)), with both appendages ending with a distinctly hyaline part; second maxillae with small simple claws; an elongate [forcipular](/source/Forcipule) coxosternite with [pleurites](/source/Sclerite) projecting anteriorly into scapular points and displaced dorsally so that the coxopleural sutures run anteriorly on the dorsal side; metatergites on the posterior part of the trunk that are distinctly longer than those on the anterior part.[1]

This family differs from all other geophilomorphs insofar as the number of segments in mecistocephalids is generally fixed within each species and the same for each sex.[7][4] The family includes centipedes with odd numbers of leg-bearing segments ranging from as few as 41 to as many as 101.[4] A majority of the species in the genus *Mecistocephalus* have 49 pairs of legs,[8] a majority so large that most species in the family Mecistocephalidae have 49 leg pairs,[7] even though only one mecistocephalid species (*[Proterotaiwanella sculptulata](/source/Proterotaiwanella)*) outside the genus *Mecistocephalus* shares this number.[9][4]

The next most common numbers are 45 leg pairs, found in most species in the genus *[Tygarrup](/source/Tygarrup)*[6] as well as in species distributed among five other genera, and 41 leg pairs, found in all species in the genera *[Agnostrup](/source/Agnostrup)*, *[Anarrup](/source/Anarrup)*, *[Arrup](/source/Arrup)*, *[Nannarrup](/source/Nannarrup)*, and *[Partygarrupius](/source/Partygarrupius)* as well as in some species of *[Dicellophilus](/source/Dicellophilus)*;[10] fewer mecistocephalid species have 47 leg pairs (e.g., *[Mecistocephalus angusticeps](/source/Mecistocephalus_angusticeps)* and *[M. tahitiensis](/source/Mecistocephalus_tahitiensis)*) or 51 leg pairs (e.g., *[M. evansi](/source/Mecistocephalus_evansi)* and *[M. lifuensis](/source/Mecistocephalus_lifuensis)*),[4][11] found only in the genus *Mecistocephalus*,[9] and the other remaining numbers are even more rare (e.g., 43 leg pairs, found in *[Dicellophilus carniolensis](/source/Dicellophilus_carniolensis)*[10]).[7]

Intraspecific variation in the number of leg-bearing segments within each sex has been recorded among the mecistocephalid species with the greatest number of legs: *[Mecistocephalus diversisternus](/source/Mecistocephalus_diversisternus)*, which has 57 or 59 leg pairs, *[M. japonicus](/source/Mecistocephalus_japonicus)*, which has 63 or 65 leg pairs, and *[M. microporus](/source/Mecistocephalus_microporus)*, which has odd numbers of leg pairs ranging from 93 to 101.[12] Other mecistocephalid species with many legs are known from samples too small to provide persuasive evidence of intraspecific invariance (e.g., *[M. cyclops](/source/Mecistocephalus_cyclops)*, with 57 leg pairs in the only known specimen).[13] The mecistocephalid species *[Krateraspis sselivanovi](/source/Krateraspis_sselivanovi)* has 53 leg pairs without intraspecific variation,[9][14] which may be the maximum number evidently fixed by species in the class [Chilopoda](/source/Centipede).[15]

## Genera

This family includes the following genera distributed among three subfamilies:[16][4]

**Subfamily [Arrupinae](/source/Arrupinae) Chamberlin, 1912**

- *[Agnostrup](/source/Agnostrup)* Foddai, Bonato, Pereira & Minelli, 2003
- *[Arrup](/source/Arrup)* Chamberlin, 1912
- *[Nannarrup](/source/Nannarrup)* Foddai, Bonato, Pereira & Minelli, 2003
- *[Partygarrupius](/source/Partygarrupius)* Verhoeff, 1939

**Subfamily [Dicellophilinae](/source/Dicellophilinae) Cook, 1896**

- *[Anarrup](/source/Anarrup)* Chamberlin, 1920
- *[Dicellophilus](/source/Dicellophilus)* Cook, 1896
- *[Proterotaiwanella](/source/Proterotaiwanella)* Bonato, Foddai & Minelli, 2002

**Subfamily [Mecistocephalinae](/source/Mecistocephalinae) Bollman, 1893**

- *[Krateraspis](/source/Krateraspis)* Lignau, 1929
- *[Mecistocephalus](/source/Mecistocephalus)* Newport, 1843
- *[Takashimaia](/source/Takashimaia)* Miyosi, 1955
- *[Tygarrup](/source/Tygarrup)* Chamberlin, 1914

## References

1. Bonato, Lucio; Drago, Leandro; Murienne, Jérôme (2014). ["Phylogeny of Geophilomorpha (Chilopoda) inferred from new morphological and molecular evidence"](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cla.12060). *Cladistics*. **30** (5): 485–507. [doi:10.1111/cla.12060](https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12060). [ISSN 1096-0031](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1096-0031)

1. ["Placodesmata"](https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1093069#null). *Integrated Taxonomic Information System*. [itis.gov](/source/Itis.gov). Retrieved 4 November 2021.

1. ["Placodesmata"](https://www.gbif.org/species/158553104/verbatim). *www.gbif.org*. [GBIF](/source/GBIF). Retrieved 2021-12-17.

1. 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"](http://doi.wiley.com/10.1046/j.1365-3113.2003.00217.x). *Systematic Entomology*. **28** (4): 539–579. [doi:10.1046/j.1365-3113.2003.00217.x](https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3113.2003.00217.x)

1. Tuf, Ivan Hadrián; Mock, Andrej; Dvořák, Libor (2018-06-01). ["An exotic species spreads through Europe: Tygarrup javanicus (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha: Mecistocephalidae) is reported from the Slovakia and the Czech Republic"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1226861517307719). *Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology*. **21** (2): 560–562. [doi:10.1016/j.aspen.2018.03.004](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aspen.2018.03.004). [ISSN 1226-8615](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1226-8615). [S2CID 89794909](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:89794909)

1. Bonato, Lucio; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Zapparoli, Marzio (2011). "Chilopoda – Taxonomic overview". *The Myriapoda. Volume 1*. Minelli, Alessandro (ed.). Leiden: Brill. pp. 363–443. ISBN 978-90-04-18826-6. [OCLC 812207443](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/812207443)

1. Minelli, Alessandro & Bortoletto, Stefano (1988-04-01). ["Myriapod metamerism and arthropod segmentation"](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1988.tb00448.x). *Biological Journal of the Linnean Society*. **33** (4): 323–343 [329–330]. [doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1988.tb00448.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1988.tb00448.x). [ISSN 0024-4066](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0024-4066)

1. Bonato, L. & Minelli, A. (2004). ["The centipede genus Mecistocephalus Newport 1843 in the Indian Peninsula (Chilopoda Geophilomorpha Mecistocephalidae)"](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03946975.2004.10531198). *Tropical Zoology*. **17** (1): 15–63. [doi:10.1080/03946975.2004.10531198](https://doi.org/10.1080/03946975.2004.10531198). [ISSN 0394-6975](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0394-6975). [S2CID 85304657](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:85304657)

1. Dyachkov, Yurii V. & Bonato, Lucio (2022-04-14). "Morphology and distribution of the Middle Asian centipede genus Krateraspis Lignau, 1929 (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha, Mecistocephalidae)". *ZooKeys*. '***(1095): 143–164. [doi:10.3897/zookeys.1095.80806](https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1095.80806). [ISSN 1313-2970](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1313-2970). [PMC 9023436](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9023436). [PMID 35836682](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35836682)***

1. Bonato, Lucio; Dányi, László; Minelli, Alessandro (2010). "Morphology and phylogeny of *Dicellophilus*, a centipede genus with a highly disjunct distribution (Chilopoda: Mecistocephalidae)". *Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society*. **158** (3): 501–532. [doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00557.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00557.x). [hdl:11577/2465689](https://hdl.handle.net/11577/2465689)

1. Evans, W. Edgar & Brolemann, Henry W. (1923). ["VI.—Myriapods collected in Mesopotamia and N.W. Persia"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-royal-society-of-edinburgh/article/abs/vimyriapods-collected-in-mesopotamia-and-nw-persia/FBE63D640959EDA3CB429CCB7C11F4AA). *Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh*. **42**: 54–74. [doi:10.1017/S0370164600023841](https://doi.org/10.1017/S0370164600023841). [ISSN 0370-1646](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0370-1646)

1. Minelli, Alessandro (2020). ["Arthropod Segments and Segmentation – Lessons from Myriapods, and Open Questions"](http://opuscula.elte.hu/PDF/Tomus51_S2/Op_%20Minelli_Arthropod_segmentation.pdf). *Opuscula Zoologica (Budapest)*. **51** (S2): 7–21 [10]. [doi:10.18348/opzool.2020.S2.7](https://doi.org/10.18348/opzool.2020.S2.7). [S2CID 226561862](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:226561862)

1. Bonato, Lucio & Minelli, Alessandro (2010). ["The geophilomorph centipedes of the Seychelles (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha)"](https://islandbiodiversity.com/Phelsuma%2018-1.pdf). *Phelsuma*. **18**: 9–38.

1. Dyachkov, Yu. V. (2019). ["New data on the family Mecistocephalidae Bollman, 1893 (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha) from Middle Asia"](https://kmkjournals.com/journals/AS/AS_Index_Volumes/AS_28/AS_28_3_368_373). *Arthropoda Selecta*. **28** (1): 368–373. [doi:10.15298/arthsel.28.3.02](https://doi.org/10.15298/arthsel.28.3.02). [ISSN 0136-006X](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0136-006X). [S2CID 216530363](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:216530363)

1. Minelli, Alessandro; Chagas-Júnior, Amazonas; Edgecombe, Gregory D. (2009). ["Saltational evolution of trunk segment number in centipedes"](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1525-142X.2009.00334.x). *Evolution & Development*. **11** (3): 318–322 [319]. [doi:10.1111/j.1525-142X.2009.00334.x](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-142X.2009.00334.x). [PMID 19469859](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19469859). [S2CID 40909871](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:40909871)

1. ["ITIS - Report: Mecistocephalidae"](https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=913871#null). *www.itis.gov*. Retrieved 2022-12-28.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mecistocephalidae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecistocephalidae) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecistocephalidae?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.