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The Wildlife Trusts

© 2011. Database provided and managed on behalf of The Royal Horticultural Society/The Wildlife Trusts by The Plant Press. Designed and implemented by Ideal Integration Ltd

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Geophilus carpophagus - a centipede - Family: Geophilidae

Geophilus carpophagus - a centipedeGeophilus carpophagus - a centipede
© Roger Key/English Nature
UK distribution - East Anglia, Midlands, North, South East, South West

This is a slender and very pale brown centipede, two to six centimetres long, that lives in the soil or in leaf matter. Although centipedes are reputed to have 100 legs, these, the longest and leggiest of centipedes, have only around half that number.

These animals are most often seen when there is digging or any other kind of soil disturbance, when the centipede often repeatedly knots and un-knots its body. Although blind, these centipedes sometimes emit a greenish light which is only rarely seen by people because of where the animals live. It is very common in the soil of most gardens.

Food

Predatory on soil invertebrates, in particular small earthworms.

Prey

Worms

Predators

Blackbird, Robin

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