Geophilus aztecus

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Geophilus aztecus
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Chilopoda
Order: Geophilomorpha
Family: Geophilidae
Genus: Geophilus
Species:
G. aztecus
Binomial name
Geophilus aztecus
Humbert & De Saussure, 1869

Geophilus aztecus is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in Mexico [1] and Guatemala. [2] The original description of this species is based on a dark red specimen measuring 44 mm in length with antennae moniliform at the apex. [3] This species can reach 52 mm in length and has 57 or 59 pairs of legs. [4]

Taxonomy

As Geophilus is a holarctic genus, G. aztecus has almost certainly been misidentified, but as of now has not been correctly reassigned. [5]

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Geophilus persephones is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae discovered in 1999. This species is named after Persephone, the queen of the underworld in Greek mythology, and found in caves in the Gouffre de la Pierre Saint-Martin. It has elongated antennae and legs as well as abundant sensory setae, and like other geophilomorhps it lacks sight, has a flattened trunk, and is well adapted to underground life. This species was the first troglomorphic geophilomorph ever discovered and one of the only two in existence along with Geophilus hadesi. Known from a single male specimen, this species has only 29 pairs of legs, one of only two species in the Geophilidae family to have so few leg pairs.

Geophilus carpophagus is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae, widely considered to be a type species of the genus Geophilus. It grows up to 60 millimeters in length, with an orange/tan body bearing a distinctive purplish marbled pattern. Males of this species have 51 to 55 pairs of legs; females have 53 to 57.

Acanthogeophilus spiniger is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in Northwest Africa. The original description of this species is based on a male specimen measuring 27 mm in length with 71 pairs of legs. It was first assigned to the genus Geophilus, but was moved to Acanthogeophilus in 1999 by Foddai and Minelli. Like other species in its genus, it is characterized by incomplete chitin lines, complete coxopleural sutures, stout legs, and a claw-like pretarsus.

Geophilus aenariensis is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in the southern Italian Peninsula. It has a body length of up to 22 millimeters, around 47 leg pairs in females and 51 in males, an absence of anal pores and bristles on the lateral part of the labrum, a distinct carpophagus pit, a small but pointed pretarsus of the second maxillae, and 3-5 coxal pores in each coxopleuron with no isolated coxal pores.

Geophilus gracilis is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found most commonly in Britain and Ireland, though specimens have also been recorded in Chile, France, Greece, and Algeria. It lives under mud and stones along the coast near or below the high tide mark, grows up to 30 millimeters in length, and is bright yellow in color with a darker reddish head. Males of this species have 51 to 57 pairs of legs; females have 51 to 61 leg pairs. This species is often confused with G. flavus and, in coastal locations, G. osquidatum.

Geophilus osquidatum is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in western Europe, from mainland Spain through western France to Britain and Ireland, though it's also been recorded in Italy, Czech Republic, and Germany. Males of this species have 51 to 57 pairs of legs; females have 53 to 63 leg pairs. This species grows up to 30 millimeters and is bright yellow with a darker reddish head. Because of this, it's often confused with G. flavus and G. gracilis. Its subspecies, G. osquidatum porosum, was found synonymous with G. flavus. In Britain, G. osquidatum is found in a wide range of habitats including woodland, grassland, and coastal shingle as well as gardens and waste ground.

Geophilus mordax, also called the pitted soil centipede, is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in North America, especially Indiana, Arkansas, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, and Florida. It grows up to 50 millimeters in length, though it averages 25–40, has 49–53 leg pairs in males and 49–57 in females, and is bright red in color. G. mordax also bears 3–5 labral teeth, a short and robust apical claw of the second maxillae, an exposed prebasal plate, and a large, consolidated sacculi.

Geophilus virginiensis is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in Virginia. It grows up to 50 millimeters in length, has 49–57 leg pairs, and is tawny yellow in color.

Geophilus vittatus, also known as the diamondback soil centipede, is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae widespread in North America and named for the dark band of diamond-shaped markings across its back. G. vittatus grows up to 52 millimeters in length, though it averages 25–40, and ranges from brown- to orange-yellow in color, with 49–53 leg pairs in females, 49–51 leg pairs in males, and a lack of consolidated carpophagus structures. It can be found under any debris on the forest floor, but mostly under loose bark and occasionally near the sea.

Geophilus varians is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in North America, particularly from South Carolina to Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. It grows up to 40 millimeters, though it averages 30-35, ranges in color from light faded orange to yellow or whitish yellow with a deeper and brighter head, and has 53-59 leg pairs in males and 55-61 in females, as well as a complete lack of consolidated paxilli and sacculi, concealed prebasal plate, and unusually long ultimate legs.

Geophilus alzonis is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in Monte Alzo near Tolosa in Spain, which it was named after. It's a poorly defined species that was described as being light yellow with a light chestnut brown head and 13-14 mm long, with small but numerous leg bristles, sternites bearing three longitudinal furrows, a carpophagus formation from segments 3-6 to segments 11th-13, and 37-51 leg pairs.

Geophilus anonyx is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in Oregon. It was originally placed in the genus Brachygeophilus based on the lack of sternal pores, a character shared with the type species B. truncorum, however it was later moved to Geophilus.

Geophilus richardi is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in France, Italy, and the Ionian Islands. Females of this species have 33 pairs of legs; males have 29 or 31. This species is one of only two in the family Geophilidae to include centipedes with as few as 29 leg pairs. This species grows up to 10 millimeters long, has no carpophagus pit or pore-fields, and has a gradually tapering, curved pretarsus of the second maxillae. G. richardi lacks typical ventral pores between 2–4mm. The sternites instead bear a small number of pores between 0.5–1mm that differ from micropores, which are unbounded by a cuticular ring. These are possibly the remnants of typical ventral pores, their smaller size being a byproduct of overall miniaturization.

Geophilus truncorum is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found across Western Europe, though it reaches as far as Poland, Italy, and Morocco. This centipede is relatively small, growing up to 20mm in length, with a yellow or orangeish brown body and dark yellow or brown head, denser and shorter hair than most Geophilus species, a main plate almost as elongated as in G. flavus (115:100), and distinct carpophagus fossae on the anterior sternites. Males of this species have 35 to 41 pairs of legs; females have 37 to 41.

Geophilus pusillifrater is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Britain. It's a relatively small, pale species, prehensorial claws with pointed teeth at the base, distinct chitin lines, and a very broad ventral plate of the pregenital segment. It's at least partially a littoral creature. Males of this species have 39 or 41 pairs of legs; females have 43 leg pairs.

Geophilus claremontus is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in Claremont, California, after which it was named. It was incorrectly placed in the genus Brachygeophilus in 1929 by Attems, most likely based on the lack of sternal pores.

References

  1. "ITIS - Report: Geophilus aztecus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  2. "Geophilus aztecus Humbert & De Saussure, 1869". ChiloBase 2.0. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  3. Humbert, A; Saussure, E (1869). "Myriapoda nova Americana". Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée. 21 (2): 149–159. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  4. Pocock, Reginald Innes (1910). "Chilopoda". In Godman, Frederick Du Cane; Salvin, Osbert (eds.). Biologia Centrali-americana: Zoology, Botany and Archaeology. Vol. 14. p. 36.
  5. Foddai, D; Minelli, Alessandro; Pereira, L.A (2000). "A catalogue of the geophilomorph centipedes (Chilopoda) from Central and South America including Mexico". Amazoniana. 16: 59–185. Retrieved 22 December 2021.