Mecistocephalidae
Guides
Dicellophilus anomalus
Dicellophilus anomalus is a soil centipede in the family Mecistocephalidae, one of only four species in this family known from North America. First described by Ralph V. Chamberlin in 1904 from a single male specimen collected in Pacific Grove, California, this species was later transferred to the genus Dicellophilus by Filippo Silvestri in 1919. It is characterized by having exactly 41 pairs of legs in both sexes without variation, reaching up to 60 mm in body length. The species exhibits a restricted distribution along the west coast of the United States from Oregon to central California.