An illustrated key to the identification of centipedes (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha) of Kerala

Abstract

Introduction Centipedes are an economically important group of arthropods playing valuable role in the control of noxious insect pests in the terrestrial ecosystem (Yadav, 1994). They are often treated as creatures of nuisance value owing to their poisonous nature and painful bite, particularly of the members of the family Scolopendridae. The microhabitat of all the centipedes is the wet and moist places and they inhabit the environs below rotten barks, dry foliage, stones, heap of cowdung etc. Being a tropical megadiversity country, India is gifted with a rich variety of centipede fauna. A perusal of the recent literature on the Indian fauna reveals that systematic studies on centipedes have so far been restricted mainly to Deccan Plateau, Western Ghats, Indian Desert, Western Himalaya, U.P, Delhi, Rajastan, and Gujarat (Jangi & Das, 1984; Yadav, 1993a,b,c; Khanna & Yadav, 1997; Khanna, 2001). Khanna (2001) checklisted 100 species of centipedes belonging to 11 genera under two families from India.