Natural England

Natural England

Gardening with Wildlife in Mind

The Plant Press

© 2006-2008. Database provided and managed on behalf of Natural England by The Plant Press. Designed and implemented by Ideal Integration Ltd

 

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Banded centipede - Lithobius variegatus - Family: Lithobiidae

Banded centipede - Lithobius variegatusBanded centipede - Lithobius variegatus
© Roger Key/English Nature
UK distribution - East Anglia, Midlands, North, South East, South West

This species is similar to the common centipede and is red-brown but its legs are conspicuously banded with brown or purple rings.

Formerly thought to live only in the British Isles, it has recently been found on the Continent where its legs are never banded - hence our banded centipede is a subspecies that occurs nowhere else in the world. It lives under stones or in decaying vegetation, often in compost heaps, emerging at night to hunt and is a useful predator of soil pests.

Food

Predatory on ground dwelling invertebrates, including creatures larger than itself.

Prey

Fast woodlouse, Flat-backed millipede, Oniscus asellus, Pink woodlouse, Porcellio scaber, White-legged snake millipede

Predators

Blackbird, Magpie