Tygarrup javanicus Attems, 1929
Status:
GB IUCN status: Not assessed (non-native)
ID Difficulty
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).
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