Tygarrup javanicus Attems, 1929

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Status:

GB IUCN status: Not assessed (non-native)

ID Difficulty

3

Identification

In Mecistocephalid centipedes the head is elongated being noticeably much longer than wide, leaving the forciples clearly visible when viewed from above (see images). 

Tygarrup javanicus is a small yellowish-orange centipede (to 20 mm) with elongated reddish head and always with 45 leg pairs.

A description based on specimens from RBG Kew is given by Lewis & Rundle (1988).  More information to allow accurate identification is given in the published identification keys (Barber, 2008 & 2009).

Tony Barber
Tony Barber
Keith Lugg
Keith Lugg
J.P. Richards
Thomas Hughes

Distribution and Habitat

Tygarrup javanicus is recorded from several ‘tropical’ glasshouses (Gregory & Lugg, 2020) including Kew Gardens, London (where first discovered in 1967) and Eden Project, Cornwall. Specimens have been found beneath dead wood and among leaf-litter. 

This introduced species also known from a few tropical glasshouses elsewhere in Europe, and occurs outdoors in the tropics: Seychelles, Cambodia, Jawa and Vietnam.

This account is based on the 'Centipede Atlas' (Barber, 2022).

References

Barber, A.D. (2022) Atlas of the centipedes of Britain and Ireland. Telford, FSC Publications

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/2827

BRC code

11

idBmigTaxa

Cen_208