''Geophilus '' is a large, heterogeneous

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of soil centipedes in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Geophilidae The Geophilidae are a polyphyletic, cosmopolitan family of soil centipedes in the superfamily Geophiloidea containing the mostly defunct clades Aphilodontidae, Dignathodontidae, Linotaeniidae, Chilenophilinae, and Macronicophilidae. Species in ...

largely considered to be synonymous with '' Brachygeophilus''. It is a mostly

holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical region ...

genus characterized by a claw-shaped ultimate pretarsus, anterior porefields, complete or nearly complete coxo-

pleural The pleural cavity, pleural space, or interpleural space is the potential space between the pleurae of the pleural sac that surrounds each lung. A small amount of serous pleural fluid is maintained in the pleural cavity to enable lubrication bet ...

sutures at the

prosternum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ea ...

, and incomplete chitin-lines. The generic name first appeared in Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopaedia in 1814 as ''

Geophilus electricus ''Geophilus electricus'' is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found across temperate Europe, especially Britain and Ireland. Originally discovered and named ''Scolopendra electrica'' in 1758, it was later moved to its own genu ...

''. Although centipedes in this genus can have as many as 89 pairs of legs, most species have a much smaller number of leg pairs. For example, two species in this genus include centipedes with only 29 pairs of legs, the lowest number found in the family Geophilidae: '' G. persephones'' (29 pairs in the only specimen, a male) and '' G. richardi'' (29 or 31 pairs in males and 33 pairs in females). This genus also includes other species with notably few legs, for example, ''G. hadesi'' (33 pairs in both males and females) and ''G. piae'' (35 pairs in males and 37 pairs in females).

Species

The genus contains the following species: *'' Geophilus admarinus'' Chamberlin, 1952 *''

Geophilus aenariensis Geophilus aenariensis is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae The Geophilidae are a polyphyletic, cosmopolitan family of soil centipedes in the superfamily Geophiloidea containing the mostly defunct clades Aphilodontidae, D ...

'' Verhoeff, 1942 *''

Geophilus aetnensis ''Geophilus aetnensis'' is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae The Geophilidae are a polyphyletic, cosmopolitan family of soil centipedes in the superfamily Geophiloidea containing the mostly defunct clades Aphilodontidae, ...

'' Verhoeff, 1928 *'' Geophilus alaskanus'' Cook, 1904 *''

Geophilus algarum ''Geophilus algarum'' is a species of centipede in the family Geophilidae found in the littoral zone on the French Atlantic and Channel Coasts. It has one subspecies, ''G. algarum var. decipiens'', which can be identified by lack of a dorsal coxa ...

'' Brölemann, 1909 *'' Geophilus alzonis'' Attems, 1952 *''

Geophilus ampyx ''Geophilus ampyx'' is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in North America, especially South Carolina. It grows up to 52 millimeters in length, though it averages 30–40, has 49–53 leg pairs in males and 51–55 in fem ...

'' Crabill, 1954 *'' Geophilus angustatus'' Eschscholtz, 1823 *''

Geophilus anonyx ''Geophilus anonyx'' is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in Oregon. It was originally placed in the genus Brachygeophilus based on the lack of sternal pores, a character shared with the type species ''B. truncorum'' (n ...

'' Chamberlin, 1941 *''

Geophilus arenarius ''Geophilus arenarius'' is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in northwest Africa, specifically near Annaba, Algeria. It's frequently misidentified with '' G. electricus'', and as part of the carpophagus species-complex ...

'' Meinert, 1870 *'' Geophilus atopodon'' Chamberlin, 1903 *''

Geophilus aztecus ''Geophilus aztecus'' is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in Mexico and Guatemala. The original description of this species is based on a dark red specimen measuring 44 mm in length with antennae moniliform at the apex. ...

'' Humbert and Saussure, 1869 *''

Geophilus becki ''Geophilus becki'' is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae found in Cabrillo Beach, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents acros ...

'' Chamberlin, 1951 *'' Geophilus bipartitus'' Takakuwa, 1937 *'' Geophilus bluncki'' Verhoeff, 1928 *''

Geophilus bobolianus ''Geophilus bobolianus'' is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae The Geophilidae are a polyphyletic, cosmopolitan family of soil centipedes in the superfamily Geophiloidea containing the mostly defunct clades Aphilodontidae ...

'' Verhoeff, 1928 *'' Geophilus bosniensis'' Verhoeff, 1895 *'' Geophilus brevicornis'' Wood, 1862 *'' Geophilus brunneus'' McNeill, 1887 *'' Geophilus carpophagus'' Leach, 1814 *'' Geophilus caucasicus'' Sseliwanoff, 1884 *'' Geophilus cayugae'' Chamberlin, 1904 *'' Geophilus chalandei'' Brölemann, 1909 *'' Geophilus challangeri'' Pocock, 1891 *'' Geophilus claremontus'' Chamberlin, 1909 *'' Geophilus compactus'' Attems, 1934 *'' Geophilus crenulatus'' Silvestri, 1936 *'' Geophilus delotus'' Chamberlin, 1941 *'' Geophilus dentatus'' Takakuwa, 1936 *'' Geophilus duponti'' Silvestri, 1897 *'' Geophilus easoni'' Arthur et al. 2001 *'' Geophilus elazigus'' Chamberlin, 1952 *''

'' Linne,1758 *'' Geophilus embius'' Chamberlin, 1912 *'' Geophilus erzurumensis'' Chamberlin, 1952 *'' Geophilus eudontus'' Chamberlin, 1952 *''

Geophilus flavus ''Geophilus flavus'' is a terrestrial, soil-dwelling, species of centipede in the Geophilidae family. ''G. flavus'' occurs in a range of habitats across central Europe, North America, Australia and other tropical regions. Geophilomorph centiped ...

'' De Geer, 1778 *'' Geophilus fossularum'' Verhoeff, 1943 *'' Geophilus fossuliferus'' Karsch, 1884 *'' Geophilus foveatus'' McNeill, 1887 *'' Geophilus frigidanus'' Verhoeff, 1928 *'' Geophilus fruitanus'' Chamberlin, 1928 *'' Geophilus fucorum'' Brölemann, 1900 *'' Geophilus gavoyi'' Chalande, 1910 *'' Geophilus geronimo'' Chamberlin, 1912 *'' Geophilus gigas'' Attems, 1951 *'' Geophilus glaber'' Bollman, 1887 *'' Geophilus glyptus'' Chamberlin, 1902 *'' Geophilus gracilis'' Meinert, 1870 *'' Geophilus guanophilus'' Verhoeff, 1939 *''

Geophilus hadesi ''Geophilus hadesi'' is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae, named after Hades, king of the underworld in Greek mythology. This species is found in the caves of the Velebit Mountains of Croatia and characterized by relatively el ...

'' Stoev et al. 2015 *'' Geophilus honozus'' Chamberlin, 1952 *'' Geophilus ibericus'' Attems, 1952 *'' Geophilus impressus'' C.L. Koch, 1847 *'' Geophilus indianae'' McNeill, 1887 *'' Geophilus infossulatus'' Attems, 1901 *'' Geophilus intermissus'' Silvestri, 1935 *'' Geophilus joyeuxi'' Léger and Duboscq, 1903 *'' Geophilus judaicus'' Verhoeff, 1934 *'' Geophilus kobelti'' Attems, 1903 *'' Geophilus koreanus'' Takakuwa, 1936 *'' Geophilus labrofissus'' Verhoeff, 1938 *'' Geophilus lanius'' Brölemann, 1896 *'' Geophilus leionyx'' Chamberlin, 1938 *'' Geophilus lemuricus'' Verhoeff, 1939 *'' Geophilus longicapillatus'' Verhoeff, 1937 *'' Geophilus madeirae'' Latzel, 1895 *'' Geophilus marginatus'' Lucas, 1849 *'' Geophilus minimus'' Verhoeff, 1928 *'' Geophilus monoporus'' Takakuwa, 1934 *'' Geophilus mordax'' Meinert, 1886 *'' Geophilus multiporus'' Miyosi, 1955 *'' Geophilus mustiquensis'' Pocock, 1893 *'' Geophilus nanus'' Attems, 1952 *'' Geophilus nasintus'' Chamberlin, 1909 *'' Geophilus naxius'' Verhoeff, 1901 *'' Geophilus nealotus'' Chamberlin, 1902 *'' Geophilus nesiotes'' Attems, 1903 *'' Geophilus nicolanus'' Chamberlin, 1940 *'' Geophilus occidentalis'' Linnaeus, 1758 *'' Geophilus okolonae'' Bollman, 1888 *'' Geophilus oligopus'' Attems, 1895 *'' Geophilus orae'' Verhoeff, 1943 *'' Geophilus oregonus'' Chamberlin, 1941 *'' Geophilus orientalis'' Seliwanoff, 1881 *'' Geophilus orientis'' Chamberlin, 1952 *'' Geophilus osquidatum'' Brölemann, 1909 *'' Geophilus oweni'' Brölemann, 1887 *'' Geophilus parki'' Auerbach, 1954 *'' Geophilus pauciporus'' Machado, 1952 *'' Geophilus pellekanus'' Attems, 1903 *''

Geophilus persephones ''Geophilus persephones'' is a species of soil centipede in the family Geophilidae discovered in 1999. This species is named after Persephone, the queen of the underworld in Greek mythology, and found in caves in the Gouffre de la Pierre Saint- ...

'' Foddai & Minelli, 1999 *'' Geophilus phanus'' Chamberlin, 1943 *'' Geophilus piae'' Minelli, 1983 *'' Geophilus piedus'' Chamberlin, 1930 *'' Geophilus pinivagus'' Verhoeff, 1928 *'' Geophilus polyporus'' Takakuwa, 1942 *'' Geophilus procerus'' C. L. Koch, 1878 *'' Geophilus promontorii'' Verhoeff, 1928 *'' Geophilus proximus'' C.L.Koch, 1847 *'' Geophilus punicus'' Silvestri, 1896 *'' Geophilus pusillifrater'' Verhoeff, 1898 *'' Geophilus pusillus'' Meinert, 1870 *'' Geophilus pygmaeus'' Latzel, 1880 *'' Geophilus pyrenaicus'' Chalande, 1909 *'' Geophilus readae'' Jones, 2001 *'' Geophilus regnans'' Chamberlin, 1904 *'' Geophilus rex'' Chamberlin, 1912 *'' Geophilus rhomboideus'' Takakuwa, 1937 *'' Geophilus ribauti'' Brölemann, 1908 *''

Geophilus richardi ''Geophilus richardi'' is a species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which a ...

'' Brölemann, 1904 *'' Geophilus ridleyi'' Pocock, 1890 *'' Geophilus rouncei'' Jones, 2001 *'' Geophilus secundus'' Chamberlin, 1912 *'' Geophilus serbicus'' Stojanović, Mitić, Antić, 2019 *'' Geophilus setiger'' Bollman, 1887 *'' Geophilus seurati'' Brölemann, 1924 *'' Geophilus shoshoneus'' Chamberlin, 1925 *'' Geophilus sibiricus'' Stuxberg, 1876 *'' Geophilus silesiacus'' Haase, 1881 *'' Geophilus simoporus'' Chamberlin, 1952 *'' Geophilus smithi'' Bollman, 1889 *'' Geophilus sounkyoensis'' Takakuwa, 1937 *'' Geophilus strictus'' Latzel, 1880 *'' Geophilus strigosus'' McNeill, 1887 *'' Geophilus studeri'' Rothenbühler, 1899 *'' Geophilus tampophor'' Chamberlin, 1953 *'' Geophilus tenellus'' L. Koch, 1882 *'' Geophilus tenuiculus'' C. L. Koch, 1878 *'' Geophilus terranovae Palmén, 1954 *'' Geophilus transitus'' Chamberlin, 1941 *'' Geophilus trichopus'' Muralewicz, 1926 *'' Geophilus truncorum'' Bergsøe and Meinert, 1866 *'' Geophilus ungviculatus'' Daday, 1889 *'' Geophilus varians'' McNeill, 1887 *'' Geophilus venezuelae'' Silvestri, 1897 *'' Geophilus vinciguerrae'' Silvestri, 1895 *'' Geophilus virginiensis'' Bollman, 1889 *'' Geophilus vittatus'' Raffinesque, 1820 *'' Geophilus winnetui'' Attems, 1947 *'' Geophilus yavapainus'' Chamberlin, 1941

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4039347 Centipede genera Geophilomorpha Taxa named by William Elford Leach