Scolopendra cingulata

{{Short description|Species of centipede}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = Scolopendra cingulata

| image = Scolopendra cingulata - D7-08-2291.JPG

| taxon = Scolopendra cingulata

| authority = Latreille, 1829

| synonyms = *Scolopendra hispanica (Newport, 1845)

  • Scolopendra nigrifrons (Koch, 1847)
  • Scolopendra thracia (Verhoeff, 1928)
  • Scolopendra hispanica
  • Scolopendra nigrifrons
  • Scolopendra thracia

| synonyms_ref = {{cite web |title=Scolopendra cingulata Latreille, 1789 |url=https://fauna-eu.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/13aa5b42-b3ae-464e-b458-b1ecc23dad44#common_name |website=fauna-eu.org |access-date=16 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418052838/https://fauna-eu.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/13aa5b42-b3ae-464e-b458-b1ecc23dad44#common_name |archive-date=Apr 18, 2023 |language=en |url-status=live}}

}}

Scolopendra cingulata, also known as Megarian banded centipede,[http://digimorph.org/specimens/Scolopendra_cingulata/ Digimorph - Scolopendra cingulata (centipede)] and the Mediterranean banded centipede,{{cite web|url=http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/S-cingulata.html |title=Megarian Banded Centipede Care Sheet |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729231530/http://www.petbugs.com/caresheets/S-cingulata.html |archive-date=2019-07-29 |publisher=Petbugs.com |date= |accessdate=2011-10-27}} is a species of centipede,[http://www.wildsideholidays.com/natural/insects-and-creepy-crawlies/91-spiders-etc/101-megarian-banded-centipede Megarian banded centipede (Scolopendra cingulata) Escolopendra] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010044857/http://www.grazalemaguide.com/ |date=2012-10-10 }} and "the most common scolopendromorph species in the Mediterranean area".{{cite journal |author=Stylianos Michail Simaiakis, Sinos Giokas & Zoltán Korsós |year=2011 |title=Morphometric and meristic diversity of the species Scolopendra cingulata Latreille, 1829 (Chilopoda: Scolopendridae) in the Mediterranean region |journal=Zoologischer Anzeiger |volume=250 |issue=1 |pages=67–79 |doi=10.1016/j.jcz.2010.11.006}}

Description

File:Scolopendra fg02.JPG]]

The species has alternating bands of black and yellow-gold.{{cite web |url=http://www.wildsideholidays.com/natural/insects-and-creepy-crawlies/91-spiders-etc/101-megarian-banded-centipede |title=Megarian banded centipede (Scolopendra cingulata) Escolopendra |publisher=Wildsideholidays.com |date=2009-02-25 |accessdate=2011-10-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010044857/http://www.grazalemaguide.com/ |archivedate=2012-10-10 }} At approximately {{convert|15|–|18|cm}}, Scolopendra cingulata is one of the smallest species in the family Scolopendridae.

Its venom is also not as toxic as that of other scolopendrid centipedes.

Distribution

Widely distributed, this species can be found throughout southern Europe, including Portugal and around the Mediterranean Sea, in such countries as Spain, France, Italy, Albania, Serbia, Croatia, Israel, and Greece, around the Black Sea in South Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, as well as parts of North Africa.de Jong, Y. et al. (2014) [https://fauna-eu.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/13aa5b42-b3ae-464e-b458-b1ecc23dad44 Fauna Europaea - all European animal species on the web]. Biodiversity Data Journal 2: e4034. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.2.e4034.

Habitat

Scolopendra cingulata is a burrowing animal, preferring dark, damp environments such as beneath logs and in leaf litter.

Diet

Scolopendra cingulata is an opportunistic carnivore. It will attack and consume almost any animal that is not larger than itself; this includes insects and small lizards.

References

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