Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 12, 2026

Orphnaeus

Orphnaeus is a genus of centipedes in the family Oryidae. This genus was described by Danish entomologist Frederik Vilhelm August Meinert in 1870. Centipedes in this genus are found in tropical regions.

Last revised
Jun 12, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
293 w
Citations
7
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Orphnaeus
Orphnaeus brevilabiatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Chilopoda
Order: Geophilomorpha
Family: Oryidae
Genus: Orphnaeus
Meinert, 18701
Type species
Orphnaeus lividus
Meinert,1870
Synonyms
  • Andenophilus Verhoeff, 1941
  • Azygethus Chamberlin, 1920

Orphnaeus is a genus of centipedes in the family Oryidae. This genus was described by Danish entomologist Frederik Vilhelm August Meinert in 1870.12 Centipedes in this genus are found in tropical regions.3

Description

Centipedes in this genus have short ultimate legs, range from 3 cm to 13 cm in length, and have 53 to 131 pairs of legs.3 The minimum number of legs in this genus (53 pairs) appears in the species Orphnaeus bevilabiatus; the maximum number (131 pairs) appears in the species O. madegassus.4

Species

There are 14 valid species:2

  • Orphnaeus atopus (Chamberlin, 1920)
  • Orphnaeus bohlsi Attems, 1903
  • Orphnaeus brasilianus (Humbert & Saussure, 1870)
  • Orphnaeus brevilabiatus (Newport, 1845)
  • Orphnaeus fangaroka Saussure & Zehntner L., 1902
  • Orphnaeus guillemini (Gervais, 1847)
  • Orphnaeus heteropodus Lawrence, 1963
  • Orphnaeus maculatus Lawrence, 1960
  • Orphnaeus madegassus Lawrence, 1960
  • Orphnaeus meruinus Attems, 1909
  • Orphnaeus multipes Manfredi, 1939
  • Orphnaeus polypodus Silvestri, 1895
  • Orphnaeus porosus Verhoeff K. W., 1937
  • Orphnaeus validus Lawrence, 1953
References

References

  1. Meinert, F (1870). "Myriapoda Musaei Hauniensis. Bitrag til Myriapodernes morphologi og systematik. I. Geophile". Naturhistorisk Tidsskrift, 3. 7: 1–128 [17].
  2. Bonato L.; Chagas Junior A.; Edgecombe G.D.; Lewis J.G.E.; Minelli A.; Pereira L.A.; Shelley R.M.; Stoev P.; Zapparoli M. (2016). "ChiloBase 2.0". A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda). Rosario Dioguardi and Giuseppe Cortese, University of Padua. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  3. Bonato, Lucio; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Zapparoli, Marzio (2011). "Chilopoda – Taxonomic overview". In Minelli, Alessandro (ed.). The Myriapoda. Volume 1. Leiden: Brill. pp. 363–443. ISBN 978-90-04-18826-6. OCLC 812207443.
  4. Lawrence, R.F. (1960). "Myriapodes Chilopodes". Faune de Madagascar (in French). 12: 1–123 [28, 33] – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.