Tygarrup javanicus Attems, 1929

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

BRC code

11

idBmigTaxa

Cen_208