''Scolopendra cingulata'', also known as Megarian banded centipede, and the Mediterranean banded centipede, is a species of

centipede Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...

, and "the most common scolopendromorph species in the Mediterranean area".

Description

The species has alternating bands of black and yellow-gold. At approximately , ''Scolopendra cingulata'' is one of the smallest species in the family

Scolopendridae Scolopendridae (or, in older documents, Scolopendridæ) is a family of large centipedes ( class Chilopoda). Nearly all species in this family have four ocelli (simple eyes) on each side of the head and only 21 pairs of legs, but there are excepti ...

. Its venom is also not as toxic as that of other scolopendrid centipedes.

Distribution

Widely distributed, this species can be found throughout southern Europe, including Portugal and around the Mediterranean Sea, in such countries as Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Greece, as well as parts of North Africa and Eastern Europe, in Albania and Ukraine.de Jong, Y. et al. (2014
Fauna Europaea - all European animal species on the web
Biodiversity Data Journal 2: e4034. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.2.e4034.

Habitat

''Scolopendra cingulata'' is a burrowing animal, preferring dark, damp environments such as beneath logs and in leaf litter.

Diet

''Scolopendra cingulata'' is an opportunistic carnivore. It will attack and consume almost any animal that is not larger than itself. These include insects and small lizards.

References

External links

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Scolopendridae Arthropods of Africa Myriapods of Europe Animals described in 1829 Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille {{Myriapoda-stub