Lamyctes emarginatus (Newport, 1844)

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Synonyms

Lamyctes fulvicornis Meinert, 1868

Status:

  • GB IUCN status: Not applicable (non-native)
  • GB rarity status: Naturalised

ID Difficulty

3

Identification

Lamyctes are small centipedes with 15 leg pairs (fewer in larval stages) and look very similar to Lithobius. 

Lamyctes emarginatus is a small brown species (to 10 mm long) with a single prominent ommatidia on each side of the head (at least 3 in Lithobius) and lacking stout leg spines (usually, but not always, present in Lithobius species). The antennae typically have about 25 articles.

A very similar species, Lamyctes africanus, has been recorded twice in the UK and may be over-looked in synanthropic habitats in the UK. This typically has c. 28 antennal articles.

More information to allow accurate identification is given in the published identification keys by Tony Barber (2008 & 2009).

J.P. Richards
Keith Lugg
Ed Hardy
Ed Hardy
Ed Hardy

Distribution

Lamyctes emarginatus is very widely recorded throughout Britain, including Orkney and Shetland, and throughout Ireland. 

This species is native to the Australasia, but has been spread worldwide.

Habitat

It can be found in both semi-natural and synanthropic sites in a wide variety of (often damp) habitats, including grassland, wetland, river-side gravels, waste ground and arable fields. 

It is an annual species and often recorded in late summer (when other centipedes tend to be more elusive).

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/883

BRC code

20

idBmigTaxa

Cen_157