Found this on the decking this afternoon. Looks like it may be of the Cryptopidae family but it seems to have lost it's back-end! Two legs on the right-hand side and the final segment with the backward-facing pair of legs appear to have gone astray.
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| Cryptopidae query |
Howard - It`s not the commonest Cryptops (hortenis), which is smaller and `stumpier-looking`. It will be either C. parisii or C. anomalans. When I was actively recording this group 25-30 years ago (time flies!), I used to get hortensis commonly in Carmarthenshire, parisii sometimes, especially in the SE of the county, and I may have had anomalans once (I`d have to dig out old notes to check!). I suggest that you send your photo to Tony Barber, the very helpful UK Centipede Recording Scheme organiser (abarber159@btinternet.com); also look at the interesting British Myriapod and Isopod Group website. South Wales is under-recorded for millipedes, centipedes and woodlice and there`s good records to be made - I was lucky to have several new to Wales and one new to the UK in my time.
ReplyDeleteHoward - It`s not the commonest Cryptops (hortenis), which is smaller and `stumpier-looking`. It will be either C. parisii or C. anomalans. When I was actively recording this group 25-30 years ago (time flies!), I used to get hortensis commonly in Carmarthenshire, parisii sometimes, especially in the SE of the county, and I may have had anomalans once (I`d have to dig out old notes to check!). I suggest that you send your photo to Tony Barber, the very helpful UK Centipede Recording Scheme organiser (abarber159@btinternet.com); also look at the interesting British Myriapod and Isopod Group website. South Wales is under-recorded for millipedes, centipedes and woodlice and there`s good records to be made - I was lucky to have several new to Wales and one new to the UK in my time.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Owen in Gwent is the only person I know who is actively recording myriapods locally at the moment. He's found several interesting species over there, including some new to the UK I think.
ReplyDeleteI've only just started looking at them recently since getting the AIDGAP Key (Barber 2008), just Lithobious forficatus and L. variegatus identified so far.
Thanks to both for your comments.
ReplyDeleteI have recently updated my SEWBReC records for 2015 and my records for centipedes seen in the garden - Lithobius, Geophilus and Cryptops - were verified by Steve Gregory of the BMIG. He suggested L. melanops and G. flavus for the first two but wouldn't commit on the Cryptops specimen. I was pleased to find that I'd got the families correct!
This specimen is similar to, (except for the missing rear end) but looks a little 'sleeker' than, the Cryptops recorded in October 2015.
Is the UK Centipede Recording Scheme associated with BMIG? and do I need to send records to them in addition to SEWBReCord?
John Harper - I believe that he lives in Gwent - is also a very talented recorder of myriapods, woodlice, spiders and other `cryptic` groups. I`d still try emailing Tony Barber though (with your photo).
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