Scolopendromorpha Pocock, 1895

Chagas-Junior, Amazonas, Edgecombe, Gregory D. & Minelli, Alessandro, 2008, Variability in trunk segmentation in the centipede order Scolopendromorpha: a remarkable new species of Scolopendropsis Brandt (Chilopoda: Scolopendridae) from Brazil, Zootaxa 1888, pp. 36-46 : 39

Order Scolopendromorpha Pocock, 1895

Diagnosis: Epimorpha with 21, 23, 39 or 43 leg-bearing trunk segments. Eye a cluster of four ocelli, single ocellus or absent. Antenna with 17–34 (usually 17–21) articles. Single tergite covers maxillipede and first legbearing trunk segments. Trunk heterotergy slight, distinct in at least anterior segments. Four laminae of mandible intersect at cruciform suture. Curled appendages along inner margin of telopodite of first maxilla. Tarsus of second maxilla with dorsal brush. Single row of bullet-shaped sensilla at border between labral and clypeal parts of epipharynx. Foregut relatively long, differentiated into crop and gizzard. Muscles attach to dorsal and ventral sides of spiracular pouches. Genital segments retracted above ultimate sternite. Gonopods lacking in female and usually in males, the latter with genital appendage on first genital segment in some species of a few genera. Left ejaculatory duct rudimentary or absent. Spermatophore bean-shaped, with multilayered wall.

Remarks: In light of the discovery of previously unknown variability in trunk segmentation in Scolopendromorpha , the order is rediagnosed with emphasis on strictly autapomorphic characters.