chilopod

plural chilopods

1. Any myriapod of the class Chilopoda, a centipede.

   Consequently most chilopods are carnivorous, searching for earthworms, enchytraeids, and insects.

   2006, G. Eisenbis, “1: Biology of Soil Invertebrates”, in Helmut König, Ajit Varma, editors, Intestinal Microorganisms of Termites and Other Invertebrates, page 34

   2 more examples

   Important predatory groups in the beech forest at Göttinger Wald are chilopods, spiders, carabid and staphylinid beetles and gamasid mites. Chilopods consume a high proportion of collembolan populations and of other saprophagous groups (Poser, 1988, 1991).

   2009, M. Schaefer, S. Migge-Kleian, S. Scheu, “Chapter 12: The Role of Soil Fauna for Decomposition of Plant Residues”, in Rainer Brumme, Partap K. Khanna, editors, Functioning and Management of European Beech Ecosystems, page 223

   However, the authors point out that the motoneurons' morphologies are dissimilar in hexapods and chilopods, a fact that argues against a homology of hexapodan and chilopodan longitudinal muscle motoneurons.

   2013, Rudolf Loesel, Harald Wolf, Matthes Kenning, Steffen Harzsch, Andy Sombke, “13: Architectural Principles and Evolution of the Arthropod Central Nervous System”, in Alessandro Minelli, Geoffrey Boxshall, Giuseppe Fusco, editors, Arthropod Biology and Evolution: Molecules, Development, Morphology, page 308

   Synonyms: centipede