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The log pile · Centipedes, millipedes and woodlice
Brown centipede
Lithobius forficatus
A flat, shiny, chestnut-brown animal with fifteen pairs of legs and long antennae, that runs very fast.
- Size
- Up to 3cm long
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Under logs, stones and bark, and in compost heaps
My spotter's list
Races after you on fifteen pairs of legs. Move your pointer and see.
Good to know
Six things about the centipede
LegsNot a hundred legs
The name means hundred legs, but this one has thirty. No centipede has exactly a hundred.
FangsVenomous claws
The first pair of legs are hollow claws that inject venom into its prey. It is harmless to us.
SpeedA hunter in a hurry
It runs down woodlice, spiders and small insects in the dark.
TellCentipede or millipede?
A centipede has one pair of legs on each segment and is fast. A millipede has two pairs and is slow.
GrowIt grows more legs
A young one hatches with seven pairs and adds more each time it sheds its skin.
LongA long life
It can live for five or six years, which is old for something so small.
The real thing
Photos of the centipede
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
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Out and aboutHow to spot one
Lift a log and look fast. It is the flat brown streak that vanishes down the nearest crack.
Lend a handHow to help
Centipedes eat the things that eat your plants. A log pile gives them somewhere to live.
Following youLadybird
Who should follow you?
The garden
Meadow and hedgerow
Pond and stream bugs live on their own page: choosing one takes you there.
Pond and stream
The log pile
After dark
Bugs from other parts of the world live on their own pages: choose another.
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