Lamyctes coeculus (Brölemann, 1889)
Synonyms
Lamyctes caeculus (Brölemann, 1889)
Status:
GB IUCN status: Not applicable (non-native)
ID Difficulty
Identification
Lamyctes are small centipedes with 15 leg pairs (fewer in larval stages) and look very similar to Lithobius.
Lamyctes coeculus is very small and very fast yellow centipede, reaching 5 mm and lacking ommatidia (eyes).
More information to allow accurate identification is given in the published identification keys by Tony Barber (2008 & 2009).
Distribution and Habitat
Lamyctes coeculus is known from a few tropical glasshouses widely scattered across England, Scotland and Wales (Gregory & Lugg, 2020) including Eden Project (Rainforest Biome), Cornwall where it is well established. It has not yet been found in Ireland.
This account is based on the 'Centipede Atlas' (Barber, 2022).
References
Gregory, S.J. & Lugg, K. (2020) Some recent observations of woodlice (Isopoda: Oniscidea), millipedes (Diplopoda) and centipedes (Chilopoda) from artificially heated glasshouses. Bulletin of the British Myriapod and Isopod Group, 32: 35-43.
Links
ChiloBase 2.0: World Catalogue of Centipedes: https://chilobase.biologia.unipd.it/searches/result_species/119
BRC code
20
idBmigTaxa
Cen_156