Geophilus insculptus

Geophilus insculptus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Myriapoda
Class:	Chilopoda
Order:	Geophilomorpha
Family:	Geophilidae
Genus:	Geophilus
Species:	G. insculptus
Binomial name
Geophilus insculptus (Attems, 1895)

Geophilus insculptus was once considered a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found across temperate Europe, especially Britain and Ireland. ^{[1] [2] [3]} The name G. insculptus was deemed to be a junior synonym of G. alpinus, ^{[4] [5]} which in turn was deemed to be a junior synonym of G. impressus . ^{[6] [7]}

Etymology

The name comes from Latin 'insculptus', meaning 'engraved'. ^[8]

Biology

Geophilus insculptus is a long (up to 40 mm (1.6 in)) earth centipede or wire worm and is pale yellow in colour with a darker head. It has between 45 and 53 pairs of legs. In the upper layer of the soil, under stones etc. Widespread and fairly frequent in Britain.

References

1. "Geophilus insculptus - Detail - Biodiversity Maps". maps.biodiversityireland.ie.
2. "EUNIS -Species scientific and common names result". eunis.eea.europa.eu.
3. "Taxonomy browser (Geophilus insculptus)". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
4. Bonato, L.; Chagas Junior, A.; Edgecombe, G.D.; Lewis, J.G.E.; Minelli, A.; Pereira, L.A.; Shelley, R.M.; Stoev, P.; Zapparoli, M. (2016). "Geophilus insculptus Attems, 1895". ChiloBase 2.0 - A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda). Retrieved 2025-11-17.
5. Bonato, Lucio; Minelli, Alessandro (2014-03-03). "Chilopoda Geophilomorpha of Europe: a revised list of species, with taxonomic and nomenclatorial notes". Zootaxa. 3770 (1): 1–136 [31]. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3770.1.1. ISSN   1175-5334.
6. "Opinion 2450 (Case 3673) – Geophilus alpinus Meinert, 1870 (Chilopoda): specific name not conserved". The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. 77 (1): 55. 2020-04-30. doi:10.21805/bzn.v77.a016. ISSN   0007-5167.
7. "Geophilus impressus | British Myriapod and Isopod Group". bmig.org.uk. Retrieved 2025-11-17.
8. "A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin". www.mobot.org.