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Sticker of Minor blueleg centipede
Bug card No. 2878 of 4,939

Minor blueleg centipede

Rhysida longipes
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsCentipedes and millipedesRainforests and junglesNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The minor blueleg centipede is a fast, long centipede with lots of legs. Like all centipedes, it is a hunter. Some people even keep it as a pet in a tank.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect. Insects have six legs, and this cousin has many, many more.
Lives in
Warm parts of Asia and islands of the Indian Ocean, and now also South Florida
Top speed
about 1.5 km/h (0.93 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Can bite

Centipedes are venomous! Read about centipede venom on Venom Wiki →

What does it eat?
Like all centipedes, it hunts insects and other small animals.
For real!Photo of Minor blueleg centipede
Picture by (c) Even Dankowicz, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Scientists split it into three slightly different groups called subspecies.

2

It was first described in 1845.

3

It has made itself at home in South Florida and on the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Rhysida longipes
Named by
Newport, 1845
Group
Centipedes and millipedes
Family
Scolopendridae
Classification
Chilopoda > Scolopendromorpha > Scolopendridae
Lives on
Asia, North America
Also known as
Minor blue leg

Where the facts come from

  1. Rhysida longipes (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by (c) Even Dankowicz, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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Also at home here: Rainforests and jungles

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Honey jarfor grown-ups