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

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

, 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), from Ancient Greek σκόλοψ (''skólops''), meaning "thorn", and ἔντερον (''énteron''), meaning "earthworm", is a family of large centipedes (class Chilopoda). Description Nea ...

. 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, Albania, Serbia, Croatia, Israel, and Greece, around the Black Sea in South Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, as well as parts of North Africa.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 Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

Diet

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

References

External links

*
Naturdata's file of Scolopendra cingulata in PortugalInteractive images

cingulata Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra, is an order of armored New World placental mammals. The armadillos, whose species are split between the families Dasypodidae and Chlamyphoridae, are the only surviving members of the order. Two grou ...

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