Schendyla

Distinguished from other geophilomorph centipedes by the combination of: (1) second maxillary claws with few spines, (2) absence of pore fields on posterior sternites, (3) two large pores on the coxopleuron of ultimate legs, and (4) ultimate legs without functional claws or with only rudimentary claws. Species-level identification requires examination of leg pair counts and body size, with S. antici identifiable by its extremely small size (5–8 mm) and minimal leg pairs (29–31), S. vizzavonae by its large size (45 mm) relative to leg count (≤51 pairs), and S. monoeci by its high leg pair count (51–57).

Soil-dwelling; found in forest soils including mixed dipterocarp forest and montane forest. Recorded from soil cores, humus layers, and bat guano. Occurs across elevations from lowland (200–250 m) to upper montane zones (1650–1930 m).

Western Palearctic region (Europe and western Asia). Specific records from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden; broader distribution inferred from genus-level occurrence data. Individual species have more restricted ranges.

Principal component of soil arthropod macrofauna in forest ecosystems. Contributes to soil fauna diversity across multiple forest habitat types and elevation zones.

• MesoschendylaClosely related genus in the same family Schendylidae; distinguished by subtle morphological differences in ultimate leg structure and distribution primarily in tropical regions (Southeast Asia) rather than Palearctic.
• Other Geophilomorpha familiesDistinguished by the unique combination of few spines on second maxillary claws, absence of posterior sternite pore fields, two large coxopleural pores on ultimate legs, and reduced or absent ultimate leg claws.

• soil centipede
• Geophilomorpha
• western Palearctic
• soil fauna
• forest arthropod

• BugGuide
• Wikipedia
• GBIF taxonomy match
• iNaturalist taxon
• NCBI Taxonomy
• Catalogue of Life
• Redescription of Mesoschendylajavanica (Attems, 1907) and its first records from Borneo (Chilopoda, Geophilomorpha, Schendylidae).