Adesmata is a
suborder
Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...
of
centipedes
Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an a ...
within the
order Geophilomorpha
The centipedes or Chilopoda are divided into the following orders.
Scutigeromorpha
The Scutigeromorpha are anamorphic, reaching 15 leg-bearing segments in length. Also known as house centipedes, they are very fast creatures, and able to withstan ...
containing the
superfamilies Geophiloidea
''Geophiloidea'' is a superfamily in the order Geophilomorpha and suborder Adesmata containing the families Zelanophilidae, Gonibregmatidae
Gonibregmatidae are a paraphyletic (with respect to Neogeophilidae and Eriphantidae) family of soil ...
and
Himantarioidea
Himantarioidea is a monophyletic superfamily of soil centipedes in the suborder Adesmata containing the families Oryidae
''Oryidae'' is a monophyletic family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consangu ...
. This suborder contains 13 families. All members of this suborder have ventral defensive glands.
Description
Species of the suborder Adesmata are characterized by a
labrum without a separate intermediate tooth, the lateral parts fringed by projections;
coxal projections and
telopodites of the first
maxilla
The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The t ...
e possessing subapical spine-
sensilla
A sensillum (plural ''sensilla'') is an arthropod sensory organ protruding from the cuticle of exoskeleton, or sometimes lying within or beneath it. Sensilla appear as small hairs or pegs over an individual's body. Inside each sensillum there are ...
and apical
scutefilaments; telopodites of the second maxillae short compared to the
coxosternite width; forcipular coxosternite with
chitin
Chitin ( C8 H13 O5 N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is probably the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cellulose); an estimated 1 billion tons of chit ...
-lines; glands along the trunk opening in ventral pore-fields; and a variable number of legs between conspecific specimens. However, there are reversals within the suborder and most
autapomorphies
In phylogenetics, an autapomorphy is a distinctive feature, known as a derived trait, that is unique to a given taxon. That is, it is found only in one taxon, but not found in any others or outgroup taxa, not even those most closely related to t ...
evolved in parallel to other centipedes.
References
Geophilomorpha
Arthropod suborders
Centipedes
{{myriapoda-stub