Mecistocephalus smithii Pocock, 1895

Published, First, 2007, The Mecistocephalidae of the Japanese and Taiwanese islands (Chilopoda: Geophilomorpha), Zootaxa 1396, pp. 1-84 : 72

Mecistocephalus smithii Pocock, 1895

This species was originally described from Da­laen­Saen, Wo Lee Lake, in the Chinese mainland, but the original account was too brief, thus the true identity of M. smithii remained unclear. It is very similar to M. diversisternus Silvestri, 1919 . After the direct examination of two specimens from the type series of M. smithii (presently preserved at the Natural History Museum, London), and the observation on new material from Japan and Taiwan, we found no evidence for the presence of M. smithii for these regions, therefore we can confidently state that published records for this species from these countries are based on misidentified specimens of M. diversisternus , including the specimens described and illustrated by Silvestri (1919) (see above, pp. 56­59).