Dicellophilus carniolensis

The species D. carniolensis has 43 pairs of legs and can reach 67 mm in length and 2.3 mm in width. The body ranges from brownish yellow to reddish, with the head and forcipules darker. Although no other species in the genus Dicellophilus features 43 leg pairs, the species D. carniolensis shares some distinctive traits with the other members of this genus. For example, in all species in this genus, each of the posterior lateral sclerites of the labrum features longitudinal folds and a concave posterior margin fringed with bristles. Furthermore, in all of these species, each of the ultimate legs features not only a ventral pore that is distinctly larger than all the other pores but also a tubercle at the distal end with a few small spines. Other features, however, distinguish this species from all the other members of this genus. For example, D. carniolensis features 43 leg pairs, whereas the other species feature either 41 or 45 leg pairs. Furthermore, in the other species, the terminal article of the antennae is elongate, with a length/width ratio ranging from 2.1 to 2.5, whereas in D. carniolensis, this ratio ranges from 1.7 to 2.0. Moreover, in all the other species, the distal part of the medial projection from the first maxillae is evidently enlarged and subtriangular, but in D. carniolensis, this part is only slightly enlarged and not subtriangular.

The species D. carniolensis has been recorded in hundreds of locations in mountainous regions and adjacent areas in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In particular, this centipede has been found in the central and eastern Alps, the Dinarides, the Western, Eastern, and Southern Carpathians, and the Dobrogea region. On occasion, introduced specimens have also been recorded in Great Britain. This centipede has also been recorded in the Krasnodar territory of European Russia.

Like females of other species in the order Geophilomorpha, females of the species D. carniolensis care for their eggs for several weeks after laying them. In particular, the female coils around her brood to protect her eggs and recently hatched juveniles from predators and from mold. Unlike other females in this order, however, the female of the species D. carniolensis coils with her ventral surface in contact with her brood and her dorsal surface facing out. Females of genera in other families in this order, such as Geophilus, Strigamia, and Orphnaeus, coil around their brood with their ventral surfaces facing out. Females in the orders Scolopendromorpha and Craterostigmomorpha, like those of D. carniolensis, coil around their brood with their dorsal surfaces facing out. Authorities suggest that centipedes switched from one position to the other upon evolving sternal glands and sternal pores, which are absent in females in the orders Scolopendromorpha and Craterostigmomorpha and the family Mecistocephalidae but usually present in other families in the order Geophilomorpha. Secretions from these glands may be noxious and repel predators, thereby providing chemical protection for the brood. …