Tygarrup javanicus Attems, 1929
Status:
GB IUCN status: Not assessed (non-native)
ID Difficulty
Identification
In Mecistocephalid centipedes the head is elongated being noticeably much longer than wide, leaving the forciples clearly visible when viewed from above (see images).
Tygarrup javanicus is a small yellowish-orange centipede (to 20 mm) with elongated reddish head and always with 45 leg pairs.
A description based on specimens from RBG Kew is given by Lewis & Rundle (1988). More information to allow accurate identification is given in the published identification keys (Barber, 2008 & 2009).
Distribution and Habitat
Tygarrup javanicus is recorded from several ‘tropical’ glasshouses (Gregory & Lugg, 2020) including Kew Gardens, London (where first discovered in 1967) and Eden Project, Cornwall. Specimens have been found beneath dead wood and among leaf-litter.
This introduced species also known from a few tropical glasshouses elsewhere in Europe, and occurs outdoors in the tropics: Seychelles, Cambodia, Jawa and Vietnam.
This account is based on the 'Centipede Atlas' (Barber, 2022).
References
Barber, A.D. (2022) Atlas of the centipedes of Britain and Ireland. Telford, FSC Publications
Links
ChiloBase 2.0 - World Catalogue of Centipedes: https://chilobase.biologia.unipd.it/searches/result_species/2827
BRC code
11
idBmigTaxa
Cen_208