Centipedes fact sheet– garagun

What are centipedes?

Centipedes are one of the largest terrestrial carnivorous invertebrates, with some species reaching up to 30 centimetres in length.

Centipedes belong to the invertebrate group  Myriapoda  and the class Chilopoda. As a myriapod, centipedes have segmented bodies, many legs, antennae and breathing holes called spiracles. Centipedes are also equipped with venomous claws behind their head which help them paralyse their prey.

The local Darug people of the Sydney basin refer to centipedes as  garagun, djingaring  and  Centipedes have antennae, venomous claws and one pair of legs per body segment.

Do centipedes have 100 legs?

Although the name centipede means 100-footed, centipedes do not actually have 100 legs. Centipedes have one pair of legs per body segment.

The total number of legs a centipede has depends upon the number of body segments its species has. The lowest number of leg pairs in a centipede species is 15, whilst the highest is 191. The number of leg pairs a centipede has is always an odd number.

How many legs does this large centipede have?

What is the difference between a centipede and a millipede?

Both centipedes and  millipedes  are myriapods, meaning they both have body segments and many legs. Centipedes have one pair of legs per body segment whilst millipedes have two pairs.

Centipedes are predators and have venomous claws and a flattened body for hunting in the leaf litter. Millipedes eat rotting leaf litter and have a rounded body and no venomous or grasping body parts.

Are these invertebrates centipedes or millipedes?

Where do centipedes live?

Centipedes are found under rocks and rotting logs, in  leaf litter  and inside old logs. In these habitats they are an important part of the ecosystem as they are important predators which control other invertebrate populations. They also provide an important food source for animals such as birds, reptiles and small mammals.

What do centipedes eat?

Invertebrates, spiders, slaters and pill bugs make up a large portion of the centipede diet. Some larger species of centipedes have been known to eat reptiles, amphibians, small mammals and birds.

Centipedes have venomous claws which help them paralyse their prey. They are the first pair of legs and are folded under their mouth parts.

How are centipedes adapted to their environment?

Some centipedes can be hard to find as they are camouflaged to blend in with the environment. Others are brightly coloured to warn predators that they may be poisonous to eat.

Centipedes have their first pairs of legs folded under their mouth parts. These end in sharp claws with venom glands which are used for defence and to kill or paralyse their prey.

Centipedes have flattened streamlined bodies that allow them to move swiftly through the leaf litter. This allows them to quickly move away from predators.

The last pair of legs on a centipede are slightly larger, often brightly coloured and are used to grasp prey.

The head of a centipede is more rounded than its tail and has long antennae.

How do centipedes reproduce?

Female adult centipedes attract mates by releasing pheromones which can be detected by the male. In some species the male deposits their sperm in a silk covering called a spermatophore. The male either leaves the spermatophore for females to find and take up or they present it to the female through a courtship dance.

Centipedes have two ways of producing young. Some species lay eggs whilst others give birth to live young through a process called ovoviviparity. This involves eggs hatching inside the body of the mother and being laid as live young.

In some species the female leaves her young where they are laid, whilst in others, the female protects her young by curling her body around them.

Some egg-laying centipedes also lick their eggs to prevent fungus and mould from growing on the eggs.

Some centipede mothers curl around their young to protect them.

What is the life cycle of centipedes?

Most centipede species lay between 15 to 50 eggs in the soil or in the hollows of rotting logs.

Egg

Centipedes begin their life as an egg.

Centipede eggs

Juvenile

For many species centipede hatchlings have fewer pairs of legs than adults. As centipedes have a hard exoskeleton they must moult in order to grow or change shape. Each time a centipede moults it gains additional body segments and legs until it becomes full size.

Juvenile centipede

Adult

The time it takes for centipedes to reach adulthood varies with species. However, compared to insects, centipedes are relatively long-lived. Some species can live for over 10 years.

An adult centipede

Related fact sheets

More invertebrate fact sheets

• Invertebrate fact sheets – overview
• Myriapod fact sheet (many-segmented invertebrates like centipedes and millipedes)
• Arachnids fact sheet – spiders and other predators sharing log and litter habitats.
• Annelids fact sheet – earthworms that live in the same soil and rotting log habitats.
• Gastropod fact sheet (slugs and snails that also live in moist soil and leaf litter)

Habitats and ecosystems

• Leaf litter habitat fact sheet
• Field of Mars Reserve fact sheet

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