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Cave Biology Data Portal
Subterranean biodiversity of North America and around the globe
AnimaliaArthropodaMyriapodaChilopodaScolopendromorphaScolopocryptopidaeScolopocryptops

Eastern Fire Centipede
Scolopocryptops sexspinosus Say (1821)

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Subphylum Myriapoda
Class Chilopoda
Order Scolopendromorpha
Family Scolopocryptopidae
Genus Scolopocryptops
Species Scolopocryptops sexspinosus Say (1821)

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Trogloxene
Realm
Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from 15 counties across four states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee

Counties

Alabama
Blount, Colbert, Conecuh, DeKalb, Jackson, Lauderdale, Limestone, Madison, Marshall
Georgia
Dade, Walker
Missouri
Jasper
Tennessee
Franklin, Grundy, Jackson

Conservation and management

NatureServe

GNR Unranked

G1G2G3G4G5

National ranks

United States
NNR
Canada
NNR

Subnational ranks

South Carolina
SNR Unranked
Ontario
SU Unrankable

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

  • Garman, S. 1889. Cave animals from southwestern Missouri. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 17: 225–240. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4632250.
  • Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2007. A biological reconnaissance of selected caves in the Highland Rim area of central Tennessee. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 42 pp.
  • Lewis, J.J., Whitaker, J.O. & Krantz, G.W. 2010. A biological reconnaissance of the invertebrate fauna of twelve Tennessee caves with notes on the guanophilic mites of the genus Macrocheles. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science 85: 53–61.
  • Peck, S.B. 1989. The cave fauna of Alabama. Part I. The terrestrial invertebrates (excluding insects). National Speleological Society Bulletin 51: 11–33.
  • Zigler, K.S., Niemiller, M.L., Stephen, C.D.R., Ayala, B.N., Milne, M.A., Gladstone, N.S., Engel, A.S., Jensen, J.B., Camp, C.D., Ozier, J.C. & Cressler, A. 2020. Biodiversity from caves and other subterranean habitats of Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 82: 125–167. doi:10.4311/2019LSC0125

How to cite this account

Scolopocryptops sexspinosus Say (1821). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-2917. https://cavebiology.org/species/scolopocryptops-sexspinosus/ (accessed 7 September 2026).

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

Spotted something wrong on this page? Report a correction. Accounts are compiled from many sources and corrections from people who know the group are the most useful email we get.

Cave Biology Data Portal

Species accounts, distributions, and conservation status for the subterranean fauna of North America and around the globe, with resources for the cave and karst research community.

Text and data CC BY 4.0. Images all rights reserved unless stated.

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