Singapore Wild Animals: Centipedes

Class Chilopoda

Centipedes are venomous and differs from Millipedes by have only one pair of legs per segment. They also have a pair of long feelers and forked tail.

Eaten by Cattle Egret at Jurong Lake ©Lau SY

There are 5 orders of centipedes and 4 can be found in Singapore¹.

House Centipedes (Order Scutigeromorpha)

House centipedes are so called because they have been found in houses. Fortunately, this is extremely unlikely to happen in Singapore. They have up to 15 pairs of long legs.

There is only one species in Singapore - the Long-legged Cave Centipede (Thereuopoda longicornis).

10-cm-long Long-legged Cave Centipede (Thereuopoda longicornis) at Rifle Range ©Eddy Lee

Stone Centipedes (Order Lithobiomorpha)

These are short centipedes with up to 15 pairs of short legs.

There are two species in Singapore, the endemic Australobius discolor and the introduced Lithobius forficatus.

Tropical Centipedes (Order Scolopendromorpha)

These are centipedes with 21-23 body segments.

There are about 18 species in Singapore, of which there are three confirmed species of Scolopendra. Of the Scolopendra, S. subspinipes is the most common; it has the thinnest black band between segments and red legs. S. morsitans is the second most common; it has thicker black band between segments, red head and no red legs. S. hardwickei is the rarest; it has almost alternating black and red segments.