Eason's geophilus
Eason's geophilus is a long, thin soil centipede from western Europe. It is a plain tan or chestnut colour. It hides on the ground under stones and dead wood.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It has between 47 and 51 pairs of legs, so about 100 legs.
In Britain it grows up to 4 centimetres, but in north-western Spain and Portugal it can reach 5.5 centimetres and have even more legs.
Scientists only noticed it was its own kind in 2001. Before that it was mixed up with a very similar centipede.
Many old records of that other centipede in Britain were probably really Eason's geophilus.
Most asked questions about Eason's geophilus
?How many legs does Eason's geophilus have?
Between 47 and 51 pairs, so around 100 legs. In Spain and Portugal some have up to 55 pairs.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Geophilus easoni
- Group
- Centipedes and millipedes
- Family
- Geophilidae
- Classification
- Chilopoda > Geophilomorpha > Geophilidae
- Lives on
- Europe
Where the facts come from
- Geophilus easoni (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Matthew Vosper. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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