Lithobius forficatus (Linnaeus,1758)
Synonyms
Lithobius (Lithobius) forficatus (Linnaeus,1758)
Status:
GB IUCN status: Least Concern
ID Difficulty
Identification
Lithobius is a difficult genus and at least 17 species are known from Britain and Ireland.
Lithobius forficatus is the familiar large brown centipede (to 30 mm) with >4 + >4 forcipular teeth and strong projections on tergites 9, 11 and 13. However, due to the presence of other ‘large brown’ Lithobius that also share these characters, such as L. pilicornis, it is not possible to reliably identify in the field and a voucher specimen should be collected for identification.
More information to allow accurate identification is given in the published identification keys by Tony Barber (2008 & 2009).
Distribution
Lithobius forficatus is very common throughout much of Britain and Ireland. In south west England it can be locally replaced by L. pilicornis.
Habitat
It is ubiquitous in its habitat preferences, being found almost anywhere, most often under stones and dead wood.
This account is based on the 'Centipede Atlas' (Barber, 2022).
Links
ChiloBase 2.0 - World Catalogue of Centipedes: https://chilobase.biologia.unipd.it/searches/result_species/1843
BRC code
19
idBmigTaxa
Cen_163