Family LITHOBIIDAE

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Introduction

Members of the family Lithobiidae range in size from 5–40 mm, have 15 pairs of legs, 19 body segments, long slender antennae with up to 80 segments, a short body, and usually up to 30 ocelli on each side of the head along the cephalic plate (Lewis 1981: 27). Adults are generally a shade of reddish brown, although some smaller species may appear yellow or purple (Hoffmann 1982: 681).

The Lithobiidae are a large family of 80 named genera and 1400 species, many of which are recorded from North and Central America and southern Europe. Some occur in South-east Asia, northern South America and Australia (Hoffmann 1982: 682). Two genera and four species are listed for the Australian fauna.

General References

Hoffmann, R.L. 1982. Chilopoda. pp. 681-688 in Parker, S. (ed.). Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms. New York : McGraw-Hill Vol. 2.

Lewis, J.G.E. 1981. The Biology of Centipedes. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press vii 476 pp.

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