Ooperipatellus insignis

Females of this species range from 5 mm to 39 mm in length and from 1 mm to 5 mm in width, whereas males range from 4 mm to 30 mm in length and from 0.7 mm to 3.5 mm in width. The head features eyes and 30 complete rings on each of the antennae. The jaw features two blades, an inner blade and an outer blade. The inner blade features one large tooth, about five smaller accessory teeth, and no diastema. Accessory teeth are absent on the outer blade. This species has 14 pairs of legs in each sex, with claws on each leg including the last pair, which are well developed and barely reduced in size. The dorsal surface of the body features 12 complete plicae (transverse ridges) between adjacent leg pairs. The feet each feature thee spinous pads on the ventral surface. The proximal pad is narrow, and on the fourth and fifth leg pairs, a nephridial tubercle interrupts the proximal pad. On some legs, especially the last pair, the proximal pad breaks up transversely. Each foot also features three distal papillae (one anterior, one median over the claws, and one posterior), but no basal papillae. The male of this species features crural papillae on the ventral surface of the legs from leg pairs 6 through 13. The crural glands of leg pair 13 are long and extend into the body cavity, but the crural glands anterior to leg pair 13 do not extend into the body cavity. …

This species is found in and under rotten logs. This velvet worm can be found all over Mount Macedon in the state of Victoria in Australia, unlike the sympatric species Ooperipatus oviparus, which is limited to lower elevations on this mountain. Specimens assigned to this species have been collected elsewhere, not only in New Zealand and Tasmania, where such specimens are now assigned to other species, but also in other localities in Victoria. For example, this velvet worm has been recorded in Kinglake National Park, Emerald, Elmhurst, Ferntree Gully, and Gembrook, as well as on Mount Donna Buang. A redescription of this species published by the Australian zoologist Amanda L. Reid in 1996, however, includes only specimens from the type locality (Mount Macedon) and regards other specimens with caution.

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