''Alipes grandidieri'', most commonly known as the feather-tail centipede, is a species of
centipede
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 ...
.
[Bisby FA, Roskov YR, Orrell TM, Nicolson D., Paglinawan LE, Bailly N., Kirk PM, Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D. (ed.) (June 2, 2011). "Species 2000 & ITIS Catalog of Life : 2011 Annual Checklist." Species 2000: Reading, UK . Read September 24, 2012 . online at:http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2011/search/all/key/alipes+grandidieri/match/1] It is a member of the genus ''
Alipes'' and the family
Scolopendridae
Scolopendridae (or, in older documents, Scolopendridæ) is a family of large centipedes (class Chilopoda). Nearly all species in this family have four ocelli ( simple eyes) on each side of the head and only 21 pairs of legs, but there are excepti ...
.
It was first described from
Zanzibar, as ''Eucorybas Grandidieri''
icby
Hippolyte Lucas in 1864.
The species range is in eastern Africa, in
Kenya,
Tanzania, and
Uganda.
It has distinctive, elongated
ultimate legs
Ultimate legs are a pair of modified rear legs unique to centipedes. Although they do not aid in locomotion, ultimate legs are used for a variety of uses, and their morphology varies accordingly.
Sexual dimorphism is frequently present.
Usage
...
with laterally-flattened pads on the distal portions, resembling feathers. When threatened they will shake these legs and make a hissing sound.
The body is 10–15 cm long.
References
Arthropods of Africa
Scolopendridae
Animals described in 1864
{{Myriapoda-stub