Myriapods
Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Myriapoda
Classes: Chilopoda, Diplopoda, Pauropoda, Symphyla
This is a fairly small group of arthropods with many legs and a single pair of antennae. The two main groups are the herbivorous millipedes with two pairs of legs per body segment and around 12,000 described species worldwide and the carnivorous centipedes with one pair of legs per body segment and around 3,000 described species worldwide. There are also the much smaller Symphyla and Pauropoda groups which are tiny animals usualy found in soil.
For more information on myriapods in general click here
Trinidad & Tobago Myriapods
The centipedes, millipedes and other myriapods found in T&T are quite well known with researchers as far back as 1919 listing local species. The size range is impressive ranging from tiny millipedes just a few millimetres long to the largest species of centipede in the world, Scolopendra gigantea, can reach up to 30cm long.
For profiles of selected species click here
UWIZM Collections
The collections consist of a small number of specimens in spirit and a few dried examples of the larger centipedes. Amongst the millipede specimens is a paratype of the recently discovered Pandirodesmus rutherfordi, which was found in Tobago by the UWIZM curator Mike G. Rutherford and named after him by renowned millipede expert Rowland Shelley.
Highlights
A dried specimen of Pandirodesmus rutherfordi
A dried Giant Centipede (Scolopendra gigantea)
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Last updated 16 September 2019
