Scolopendra morsitans, Linnaeus, 1758: 638

Shelley, Rowland M., 2006, A chronological catalog of the New World species of Scolopendra L., 1758 (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae), Zootaxa 1253 (1), pp. 1-50 : 5-6

morsitans Linnaeus, 1758:638 .

Holotype ( LSUK, a dry, pinned specimen in Aptera Box 33); type locality: India .

Original rank: species. Current rank and status: valid species.

Anatomical illustrations: Attems (1930, figs. 38–39), Lewis (1966, figs. 2–4; 1968, figs. 3–9, 13–16, 20–24; & 1969, figs. 3–5, all as S. amazonica ; 2001, figs. 2–4, as S. morsitans ), L. E. Koch (1983, figs. 1–15), Shelley (2002, figs. 57–64), Shelley et al. (2005, fig. 1).

Distribution: believed to be native to Africa, Australia, & Asia from India to Papua New Guinea & the Philippines (L. E. Koch 1983, Khanna 2001, Shelley et al. 2005); its sporadic occurrence in the New World undoubtedly reflects human introductions. According to Shelley (2002) and Shelley et al. (2005), S. morsitans occurs on Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas (Eleuthera, Exuma, New Providence), Barbuda, Cayman Islands (Grand & Little Cayman), Curaçao, Dominica, Grenadines (Bequia), Guadeloupe, Hispaniola ( Haiti, Dominican Republic), Jamaica, Marie Galante, Martinique, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Barthélemy, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Tobago, Turks and Caicos (Grand Turk, South & West Caicos), Puerto Rico, & the US Virgin Islands (St. Croix & St. Thomas). On the continental land mass, the centipede has been encountered in the US (Florida); Mexico (Baja California Sur, Colima, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucátan), Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia (Casanare, Cordoba), Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru (Huanuco, La Libertad, Loreto, San Martinj), Brazil (Amazonas, Bahia, Goias, Mato Grosso, Pará, Paraiba, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo), Paraguay, & Argentina ( Brölemann 1901, 1902 a, b, 1903, 1909; Attems 1930; Bücherl 1939, 1942 a, 1950, 1974; Jeekel 1952; Shelley 2002; Shelley et al. 2005). Maps: Shelley et al. (2005, figs. 2–3).

Remarks: Scolopendra morsitans was designated the type species of Scolopendra in 1957 under the plenary powers of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (Opinion 454) in response to the application by Crabill (1955).