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Sticker of Mediterranean banded centipede
Bug card No. 0902 of 1,500

Mediterranean banded centipede

Scolopendra cingulata
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsCentipedes and millipedesForests and woodsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The Mediterranean banded centipede is a long, fast centipede with stripes of black and golden yellow. It hides under logs and in damp leaves by day. It is the most common big centipede around the Mediterranean Sea.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect. Insects have six legs, and this cousin has many, many more.
Lives in
Southern Europe, around the Mediterranean and Black Sea, and parts of North Africa
Length
15 to 18 cm (5.9 to 7.1 in)
Top speed
about 3.7 km/h (2.3 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Can bite or sting
What does it eat?
It attacks almost any animal that is not bigger than itself, like insects and even small lizards.
For real!Photo of Mediterranean banded centipede
Picture by ืขืจืŸ ืคื™ื ืงืœ. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Mediterranean banded centipede about 18 cm long (7.1 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)A house cat about 50 cm (20 in)
as long as 6 toy building bricks in a rowabout as long as your handcould run across a dinner table in 1 seconds

How big is Mediterranean banded centipede compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Even at 15 to 18 centimetres long, it is one of the smallest members of its centipede family.

2

It likes to dig and lives in dark, damp places under logs and leaves.

3

Small groups of it still live as far north as Austria and Hungary.

you asked

Most asked questions about Mediterranean banded centipede

?What does the Mediterranean banded centipede eat?

Insects and other small animals, even small lizards.

?How big is the Mediterranean banded centipede?

It is about 15 to 18 centimetres long.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Scolopendra cingulata
Group
Centipedes and millipedes
Family
Scolopendridae
Classification
Chilopoda > Scolopendromorpha > Scolopendridae
Lives on
Europe, Africa, Asia
Also known as
Megarian banded centipede

Where the facts come from

  1. Scolopendra cingulata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by ืขืจืŸ ืคื™ื ืงืœ. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.

More from the same group: Centipedes and millipedes

Also at home here: Forests and woods