SURVEY AND IDENTIFICATION OF CENTIPEDES (ARTHROPODA-CHILOPODA) FROM BASRAH PROVINCE -SOUTHERN OF IRAQ

The current study aimed to shed the light on the species of Chilopoda present in the different areas of Basrah governorate, therefore samples were collected randomly from eight stations representing the main locations of the governorate (which are Al-Hartha, Shatt Al-Arab, Al-Zubayr, Abu Al-Khasib, Al-Qurna, Al-Madina, Al-Siba and Al-Faw). The samples were collected for the period from December 2021 to the end of June 2022. During the study period, 105 samples were collected, identified into five species (belonging to four orders and five families): Scolopendra mirabilis, family Scolopendridae, order Scolopendromopha; Cryptops anomalans, family Cryptopidae, order Scolopendromopha; Mecistocephalus envasi, family Mecistocephalidae, order Geophilomorpha; Lithobius microps, family Lithobiidae, order Lithobiomorphae; and Scutigera coleoptrata, family Scutigeromorphae, order Scutigeromorpha. As well as the taxonomic characteristics of each of the recorded species were presented.