The white-striped centipede (''Henia vesuviana'', formerly ''Chaetechelyne vesuviana''), is a species of geophilid

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 ...

belonging to the family

Dignathodontidae Dignathodontidae is a monophyletic clade of soil centipedes in the family Geophilidae found in the Mediterranean region, extending to Macaronesia, Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian S ...

Description

This is a long and slender species, reaching lengths of up to in mainland Europe. It is one of the few geophilomorph species to be identifiable in the field, with a distinct greyish colouration, orange-yellow head and rear, short terminal legs and thick mid-body. It can have anywhere between 57 and 87 leg pairs, with British specimens tending towards the middle of that range. There also exists

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

in leg count, with males generally having fewer legs than females. It gains its common name from the distinct white dorsal blood vessel running along the length of the body.

Behaviour

This species spends the day under cover such as logs and stones, often curled up in a ball with its underside facing outward. It is able to secrete a sticky liquid from the ventral side of its segments when attacked, as demonstrated by an experiment conducted with the

devil's coach horse beetle The devil's coach-horse beetle (''Ocypus olens'') is a species of beetle belonging to the large family of the rove beetles (Staphylinidae). It was originally included in the genus '' Staphylinus'' in 1764, and some authors and biologists still us ...

(''Ocypus olens''). Not much is known of its diet, but it has been observed feeding on a millipede of the family

Blaniulidae Blaniulidae is a family of millipedes in the order Julida Julida is an order (biology), order of millipedes. Members are mostly small and cylindrical, typically ranging from in length. Eyes may be present or absent, and in mature males of ma ...

Habitat and distribution

It is distributed throughout

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, as far east as

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, it is considered Nationally Scarce, but is fairly frequent in the

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

area and in coastal regions. It has been shown to prefer urban sites and arable soils.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6507610 Geophilomorpha