Geophilomorpha is an order of

centipedes Centipedes (from Neo-Latin , "hundred", and Latin language, Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphyl ...

commonly known as soil centipedes. The name "Geophilomorpha" is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

roots meaning "formed to love the earth." This group is the most diverse centipede order, with 230 genera. These centipedes are found nearly worldwide but are absent in Antarctica and most Arctic regions.

Description

Centipedes in this order are epimorphic, hatching with a full complement of segments. These centipedes each have an odd number of leg-bearing segments ranging from 27 (in the genus '' Schendylops'') to 191 (in the species '' Gonibregmatus plurimipes''). They are eyeless and blind, with long and narrow bodies, ranging from yellow to brown in color and from about 1 cm to 22 cm in length. They bear spiracles on all leg-bearing segments except the first and the last. The antennae have 14 segments and are usually slightly attenuated.

Suborders and families

This order is a monophyletic group including two suborders: the

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

Placodesmata Mecistocephalidae is a monophyletic family of centipedes in the order Geophilomorpha. It is the only family in the suborder Placodesmata. Most species in this family live in tropical or subtropical regions, but some occur in temperate regions ...

, which contains the family Mecistocephalidae, and Adesmata, which includes the superfamilies Himantarioidea (containing the families

Oryidae Oryidae is a monophyletic family of soil centipedes belonging to the superfamily Himantarioidea. Description Centipedes in this family feature a short head, stout antennae, mandibles with a series of pectinate lamellae, a slightly concave l ...

, Himantariidae, and Schendylidae, including Ballophilidae) and Geophiloidea (containing the families Zelanophilidae, Gonibregmatidae including Eriphantidae and Neogeophilidae, and Geophilidae including Aphilodontidae, Dignathodontidae, Linotaeniidae, Chilenophilinae, and Macronicophilidae). Segment number is usually fixed by species in the family Mecistocephalidae, unlike the case in other families in this order, in which the segment number usually varies within each species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2664614 Myriapod orders