Introduction
There are about 3000 species known globally in the class Chilopoda, of which about 20% occur in North America (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010). Of the five extant orders of centipedes (Minelli 2011), four occur in the United States of America and Canada (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010). Of the approximately 630 recorded species in this region, 78 species are adventive, and most of these were inadvertently transported from Europe (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010). Although not one of the more diverse classes of terrestrial arthropods, centipedes are ubiquitous and found in practically all major terrestrial ecosystems in North America, including alpine and subarctic areas. They are important predators in many invertebrate communities. The North American jurisdiction with the most described species is California, United States of America (approximately 170 species), and in general, the diversity is highest in the southern United States of America and decreases with increased latitude, a trend exhibited by most other groups in North America (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010). Nonetheless, Alaska has 35 recorded species (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010), indicating that centipedes can also be moderately diverse in the far north.
Not many people have studied the systematics of centipedes in North America, and practically no modern systematics work on the group has occurred in Canada (Langor et al. Reference Langor, deWaard and Snyder2019). The most prolific centipede taxonomists in North America were Ralph V. Chamberlin (more than 120 publications from 1901 to 1966), Ralph E. Crabill, Jr. (more than 62 publications from 1949 to 1981), and Rowland M. Shelley (more than 20 publications from 1978 to 2008). The state of knowledge about the systematics of this group is poor to moderate, depending on the taxon. Over the last 50 years, the accumulation of knowledge about centipedes has been slow compared to earlier times because there have been few recent chilopodologists. The best known order is the Scolopendromorpha, which was treated by Shelley (Reference Shelley2002). The largest orders, Lithobiomorpha and Geophilomorpha, have not received much recent attention in North America, and consequently the large majority of families and genera are in desperate need of modern revision. Thus, there is a serious taxonomic impediment to the development of comprehensive inventories of centipedes.
The earliest record of centipedes in Canada is attributed to Provancher (Reference Provancher1873), who reported two species. Brodie and White (Reference Brodie and White1883) published the first list of species from Canada that contained six species. For almost a century thereafter, only occasional centipede records from Canada appeared in the literature, mostly reported by Chamberlin and Crabill, and the Chilopoda largely escaped the attention of Canadian scientists (Langor et al. Reference Langor, deWaard and Snyder2019). The most notable contribution was a treatment of the Chilopoda of Newfoundland and Labrador (Palmén Reference Palmén1954), based on collections made during the Fennoscandian expeditions of 1949 and 1951; this remains the only Canadian jurisdiction to receive such a comprehensive faunal treatment. It was not until the late 1970s that any attempt was made to review the state of knowledge concerning centipede diversity in Canada. Kevan (Reference Kevan1979) published a brief report of known and expected species richness, which included a checklist of species. That checklist included 30 species known to be established in Canada, including the domiciliary Scutigera coleoptrata (Linnaeus), and mentioned two other species that were deemed likely to occur in Canada. This list was updated four years later by Kevan (Reference Kevan1983) because some earlier published information had been missed in the 1979 synopsis; he reported 45 species from Canada and listed many additional species likely to be found there based on their known distribution in adjacent states. Kevan and Scudder (Reference Kevan and Scudder1989) provided a few additional notes about Canadian species and included a useful key to orders and families. Behan-Pelletier (Reference Behan-Pelletier1993) provided an updated checklist and reported 40 species from Canada. Snyder (Reference Snyder2014) listed six species found in grasslands in Canada but did not add any new species to the Canadian list. Several changes to the Canadian fauna list (additions and deletions) and many taxonomic and nomenclatorial changes have been made since 1993. Recently, Bonato et al. (Reference Bonato, Danyi, Socci and Minelli2012) and Bonato and Minelli (Reference Bonato and Minelli2014) provided some taxonomic clarity to some genera of Geophilidae. As part of a recent review of the known and expected diversity of terrestrial arthropods in Canada (Langor and Sheffield Reference Langor and Sheffield2019), Langor et al. (Reference Langor, deWaard and Snyder2019) reviewed the current and expected diversity of Myriapoda in Canada and reported 54 species of Chilopoda from the country. Because Langor et al. (Reference Langor, deWaard and Snyder2019) did not provide a list of species, herein we provide a list and some details about the currently documented fauna of Canada, including two new national records and three new provincial records. Furthermore, we remove one species (an undetermined species of Nadabius) from the Canadian total reported by Langor et al. (Reference Langor, deWaard and Snyder2019), bringing the current total of reported species to 53.
Methods
This checklist was assembled through review of all available literature to the end of 2020, examination of authoritatively identified specimens in the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes, in Ottawa, Ontario, and a search of the online database Chilobase (Bonato et al. Reference Bonato, Chagas, Edgecombe, Lewis, Minelli and Pereira2016).
The classification and nomenclature of centipedes mainly follow that of Bonato et al. (Reference Bonato, Chagas, Edgecombe, Lewis, Minelli and Pereira2016). Nonnative species are indicated, based on current understanding of distributions, but some of these may be proven to be Holarctic species once distributions are more completely known. We have not included species that have been intercepted and represent incidental captures, for example, Scolopendra species, but rather focus on species that are either established in the wild or in human dwellings. No attempt has been made to list all of the synonyms for each species as this information is available in Mercurio (Reference Mercurio2010).
Discussion
About 53 species are known from Canada (Table 1): Scutigeromorpha (1), Scolopendromorpha (5), Geophilomorpha (19), and Lithobiomorpha (28). As is the case for North America as a whole, the Lithobiidae is the dominant family in Canada (26 species). Almost all Canadian centipede species are shared with the continental United States of America; eight species are known only from Canada: Arctogeophilus insularis Attems (British Columbia), Geophilus terraenovae Palmén (Newfoundland and Labrador), Paobius albertanus Chamberlin (Alberta), Paobius columbiensis Chamberlin (British Columbia), Paobius orophilus Chamberlin (British Columbia), Pokabius eremus Chamberlin (British Columbia), Sonibius lindrothi (Palmén) (Newfoundland), Zygethobius columbiensis Chamberlin (British Columbia), and Zygethopolys pugetensis tiganus Chamberlin and Wang (British Columbia). About 16 species in the Canadian fauna are adventive, and some may have been in the country for a long time; for example, Provancher (Reference Provancher1873) reported a species that was likely Lithobius forficatus (Linnaeus), and Brodie and White (Reference Brodie and White1883) reported Geophilus carpophagus Leach and Scutigera coleoptrata (Linnaeus).
List of Chilopoda species from Canada, and known distribution across provinces and territories. Nonnative species are indicated with a Ϯ. Jurisdictional abbreviations are: AB, Alberta; BC, British Columbia; MB, Manitoba; NB, New Brunswick; NL, Newfoundland and Labrador (NF, island of Newfoundland; LB, Labrador); NT, Northwest Territories; NS, Nova Scotia; NU, Nunavut; ON, Ontario; PE, Prince Edward Island; QC, Québec; SK, Saskatchewan; YT, Yukon.
Several adventive species of Scolopendromorpha were reported from Canada as incidental captures, including Rhysida longipes (Newport), Scolopendra alternans Leach, S. viridis Say, and Scolopocryptops rubiginosus Koch, but these are certainly not established (Shelley Reference Shelley2002).
Although Arctogeophilus melanonotus (Wood) was reported from Canada (British Columbia), Mercurio (Reference Mercurio2010) pointed out that western North American records are likely not this species because the only other record is from the type locality in Georgia. The identity of British Columbia material previously assigned to this species is uncertain but likely represents a Geophilus species (Crabill Reference Crabill1950). Therefore, A. melanonotus is hereby removed from the list of Canadian species. Centipedes have been reported in the literature from all Canadian jurisdictions except Nunavut. In general, the fauna of every jurisdiction is poorly known. For example, only three species are reported from Alberta, but no less than seven undetermined species have been collected from the small area of Waterton Lakes National Park in southwestern Alberta (D. Langor, unpublished). The jurisdiction with the most known species is British Columbia (23), followed by Ontario (17) and Newfoundland and Labrador (12).
There are still large numbers of undetermined centipedes in collections in most Canadian provinces, and study of those collections is sure to add more species to the faunal list and fill in distributional gaps (Langor et al. Reference Langor, deWaard and Snyder2019). A faunal analysis of Canadian Chilopoda that considered distributions of species present in the United States of America but not yet recorded from Canada, and barcodes obtained from Canadian centipedes, showed that only about 50% of the Canadian fauna is yet documented (Langor et al. Reference Langor, deWaard and Snyder2019).
Checklist of species in Canada
Order GEOPHILOMORPHA
Family Himantariidae
Haplophilus subterraneus (Shaw)
This adventive species is native to Europe and was first recorded from St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1949, based on two females (Palmén Reference Palmén1954). It has not been found since in North America, although specimens associated with plants from England were intercepted in New York state, United States of America (Crabill Reference Crabill1952).
Family Schendylidae
Escaryus ethopus Chamberlin
This Nearctic species was first reported from Canada by Pereira and Hoffman (Reference Pereira and Hoffman1993), who recorded it from La Pierre House and Swede Dome (34 miles west of Dawson City, Yukon), which remain the only known Canadian localities for this species. The species is also present in Alaska, United States of America (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010).
Schendyla nemorensis (Koch)
This species is native to Europe and is adventive in North America. In Canada, it was reported from two localities in southeastern Newfoundland by Palmén (Reference Palmén1954), based on four specimens collected in 1949. There are specimens in the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes that were collected in Ancaster, Ontario by J. Martin in 1963 and 1967 (accession numbers CNC 627317 and CNC 627316, respectively) and identified by Pereira in 1988 (determination label) that represent a new provincial record.
Family Geophilidae
Arctogeophilus glacialis (Attems)
This Nearctic species was previously reported from Alaska but not from Canada (Kevan Reference Kevan1983; Behan-Pelletier Reference Behan-Pelletier1993). More than 20 specimens of this species, determined by Ralph Crabill, were recently discovered in the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes and were collected at Reindeer Station, Northwest Territories by J.R. Vockeroth on 25 June 1948 (accession number CNC 627306). This is a new Canadian record.
Arctogeophilus insularis Attems
This Nearctic species was described from British Columbia, with the type locality published as “Vancouver, Manaimo” (sic; Attems Reference Attems1947), which is interpreted as Vancouver Island, Nanaimo. This record was missed in earlier Canadian checklists.
Arenophilus bipuncticeps (Wood)
Brodie and White (Reference Brodie and White1883) first recorded this native species from undisclosed localities in Canada but misspelled the specific name as “bipunctatus”. Peters (Reference Peters1954) reported the species from Ontario, and Crabill (Reference Crabill1952) reported it from Nova Scotia. It is likely that this widely distributed species is also present in Québec and New Brunswick.
Cheiletha kincaidi Chamberlin
This species was collected from East Bunsby Island, British Columbia in August 1955 and was identified by Ralph Chamberlin in 1956 (Carl and Guiguet Reference Carl and Guiguet1956), which was too late to include the record in Chamberlin’s description of the species in 1955. This Canadian record was overlooked by all subsequent authors and was just recently rediscovered. The repository of the material is unknown.
Geophilus carpophagus Leach
Brodie and White (Reference Brodie and White1883) reported this adventive species from undisclosed localities in Canada. There is no other report of this species from North America. As the material upon which this record is based has not yet been located, this record should be considered questionable.
Geophilus electricus (Linnaeus)
In North America, this adventive species is reported only from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (Palmén Reference Palmén1954), where two specimens were found in 1949. The species is considered established there.
Geophilus flavus (De Geer)
This adventive species was previously recorded from Canada as the synonym Necrophloeophagus longicornis Leach, with localities in Ontario (Crabill Reference Crabill1952) and four widely separated localities in Newfoundland (Palmén Reference Palmén1954).
Geophilus glyptus (Chamberlin)
This species was collected from East Bunsby Island, British Columbia in August 1955 and was identified by Ralph Chamberlin in 1956 (Carl and Guiguet Reference Carl and Guiguet1956), which was too late to include the record in Chamberlin’s description of the species in 1955. This Canadian record was overlooked by all subsequent authors and was just recently rediscovered. The repository of the material is unknown; however, it is not present in the Royal British Columbia Museum (Victoria) or the University of British Columbia (Vancouver) holdings of Chilopoda.
Geophilus proximus Koch
This adventive species is recorded only from Ontario in Canada (Crabill Reference Crabill1958).
Geophilus terraenovae Palmén
This species was described from Newfoundland, where it is widespread, and is also found in southern Labrador and on the French island of Miquelon near the southern coast of Newfoundland (Palmén Reference Palmén1954). The holotype and paratypes represent the only known determined material.
Geophilus vittatus (Rafinesque)
This Nearctic species is relatively widely distributed in the United States of America (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010), but in Canada, it is known only from Ontario (reported as the synonym Geophilus rubens Say; Chamberlin Reference Chamberlin1920) and Québec (as the synonym Geophilus deducens Chamberlin; Matthewman and Pielou Reference Matthewman and Pielou1971).
Pachymerium ferrugineum (Koch)
This species may be of Holarctic or of Palaearctic origin and inadvertently introduced to North America. It has an unusual distribution in North America, including in the Yukon and Alaska and in the eastern half of the United States of America, south to Texas and Florida. In Canada, Kevan (Reference Kevan1979) reported it as “subarctic”, but it was not included in the revised checklist provided by Kevan (Reference Kevan1983). Behan-Pelletier (Reference Behan-Pelletier1993) reports it from the Yukon Territory, but the source of this record is unknown.
Taiyuna undetermined species
Kevan (Reference Kevan1979) recorded T. opita (Chamberlin) from British Columbia, which seems to be a disjunct distribution as the only other records of this species are from the states of Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, United States of America. Interestingly, Kevan (Reference Kevan1983) does not list this species from Canada, but he speculates that the Taiyuna specimens from British Columbia belong to T. occidentalis (Meinert). The repository for the British Columbia specimens of this genus is unknown. Until the specimens can be located and studied, it is best to record this as Taiyuna sp.
Family Linotaeniidae (sensu Minelli)
Strigamia acuminata (Leach)
This species is native to Europe and was inadvertently introduced to North America (Bonato et al. Reference Bonato, Danyi, Socci and Minelli2012). Kevan (Reference Kevan1983) reported the species from Québec, but this record needs confirmation. Bonato et al. (Reference Bonato, Danyi, Socci and Minelli2012) state that records of this species from North America require confirmation because of “probable confusion with S. chionophila”. Thus, the record of this species from Québec is considered tentative until the material is re-examined.
Strigamia chionophila (Wood)
This Nearctic species was thought by several authors (e.g., Chamberlin Reference Chamberlin1920; Eason Reference Eason1964) to be synonymous with S. acuminata, although the synonymy was never formalised. Bonato et al. (Reference Bonato, Danyi, Socci and Minelli2012) recently examined both species and concluded that they are distinct. The holotype was collected at Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories, the only jurisdiction reported for this species by Kevan (Reference Kevan1983) and Behan-Pelletier (Reference Behan-Pelletier1993); however, Chamberlin (Reference Chamberlin1920) reported the species from Ottawa, Ontario and claimed that this was one of the most abundant North American centipedes, particularly in northern regions, and Crabill (Reference Crabill1952) reported it from Alberta and Ontario.
Strigamia parviceps Wood
This Nearctic species was reported from British Columbia by Chamberlin (Reference Chamberlin1954, Reference Chamberlin1963) and Kevan and Scudder (Reference Kevan and Scudder1989). Bonato et al. (Reference Bonato, Danyi, Socci and Minelli2012) pointed out that the true identity of this species remains uncertain.
Order LITHOBIOMORPHA
Family Henicopidae
Lamyctes emarginatus (Newport)
Early Canadian records of this Palaearctic species from Ontario (Crabill Reference Crabill1952) and Newfoundland (Palmén Reference Palmén1954) were published under the synonym Lamyctes fulvicornis Meinert. Mercurio (Reference Mercurio2010) did not list it from the Northwest Territories, but Behan-Pelletier (Reference Behan-Pelletier1993) did. The species was also recorded from Alaska by Mercurio (Reference Mercurio2010), so undoubtedly it is in the Yukon, too. Kevan and Scudder (Reference Kevan and Scudder1989) reported this species, as L. fulvicornis, from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and from Kamloops and Burnaby Mountain, British Columbia. The species is clearly widely distributed throughout Canada. In Newfoundland, it is frequently found in natural habitats far from human habitation (Palmén Reference Palmén1954).
Zygethobius columbiensis Chamberlin
This native species was described from a single female collected near Kaslo, British Columbia and was unknown from any other jurisdiction until reported from Wagner Bog, near Edmonton, Alberta (Kevan and Scudder Reference Kevan and Scudder1989). However, the Alberta specimens do not exactly fit the description, so some uncertainty remains about the determination. It is unknown who determined the material and where the specimens reside. They do not reside at the Royal Alberta Museum (Edmonton, Alberta), which coordinated the extensive sampling of the Wagner Bog in the late 1980s and was possibly the source of this record.
Family Lithobiidae
Alaskobius adlatus Chamberlin
This native species was listed from Alaska but not from Canada by Behan-Pelletier (Reference Behan-Pelletier1993). However, there is a specimen in the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes from Reindeer Station, Northwest Territories collected by J.R. Vockeroth on 22 June 1948 (accession number CNC 627302) and was later identified by Ralph Crabill according to the determination label. This represents a new Canadian record.
Bothropolys columbiensis Chamberlin
The holotype from Kaslo, British Columbia represents the only known record for this species (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010).
Bothropolys ethus Chamberlin
Behan-Pelletier (Reference Behan-Pelletier1993) listed this native species from British Columbia, but Mercurio (Reference Mercurio2010) lists it from only Alaska. The location of the British Columbia material is unknown. This record should be considered questionable until the Canadian material is located and re-examined.
Bothropolys hoples (Brölemann)
This native species is distributed throughout the Pacific Northwest, and Chamberlin (Reference Chamberlin1925a) recorded it from Kaslo, British Columbia.
Bothropolys multidentatus (Newport)
Kevan (Reference Kevan1979) considered this species to be adventive; however, it is most likely native (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010). It is distributed throughout the eastern half of the United States of America (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010) and from Ontario and New Brunswick (Kevan Reference Kevan1983).
Bothropolys victorianus Chamberlin
The holotype of this native species is from Victoria, British Columbia (Chamberlin Reference Chamberlin1925b). The species is also found in Alaska and Oregon, United States of America (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010).
Ethopolys californicus (Daday)
Kevan (Reference Kevan1983) reported this native species from British Columbia as Ethopolys sierravagus (Chamberlin), which is now a junior synonym. The species is distributed from California to Washington in the United States of America (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010).
Ethopolys spectans Chamberlin
This native species was described from Spectacle Lake, Vancouver Island, British Columbia and is still known only from the type material, which is stored in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., United States of America (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010). Kevan (Reference Kevan1983) reported a putative new species similar to E. spectans, but because there is no species description or any authoritative taxonomic treatment, the putative new species is not recognised as valid.
Garibius undetermined species
Palmén (Reference Palmén1954) reported a Lithobius species from Newfoundland and suggested it may belong to Garibius. The farthest north that Garibius has been recorded is Massachusetts and New York state, United States of America (G. opicolens Chamberlin; Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010), so Newfoundland would be a considerable range extension for this genus. For now, this record is maintained, but the material (1 male; University of Helsinki Museum of Zoology, Helsinki, Finland) should be re-examined to ascertain if it is indeed Garibius.
Lithobius (Lithobius) forficatus (Linnaeus)
This Palaearctic species was first reported from Canada (undisclosed localities) by Brodie and White (Reference Brodie and White1883). Chamberlin (Reference Chamberlin1925b) recorded it from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Québec. Herein, we record it for the first time from New Brunswick (Shediac, 5.ix.1926, F. Johansen, 1 specimen, accession number CNC 627304) and Prince Edward Island (Tyne Valley, 13.ix.1926, F. Johansen, 1 specimen, accession number CNC 627305), based on specimens in the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes. The species is also present on the islands of St. Pierre et Miquelon, France (Palmén Reference Palmén1954).
Lithobius (Lithobius) melanops Newport
In Canada, this Palaearctic species is known only from two localities in southeastern Newfoundland, where specimens were collected in 1949 (Palmén Reference Palmén1954).
Lithobius (Sigibius) microps Meinert
This Palaearctic species was previously reported from Canada under the synonyms Lithobius duboscqui Brölemann and Sigibius puritanus Chamberlin. The earliest record for Canada was from Québec (Chamberlin Reference Chamberlin1920). Judd (Reference Judd1964) first reported the species from Ontario. In Newfoundland, it was recorded from several localities in the southeastern part of the island (Palmén Reference Palmén1954).
Nadabius aristeus Chamberlin
Crabill (Reference Crabill1952) recorded this species from Ontario, but this record was overlooked in later lists of species in Canada (e.g., Kevan Reference Kevan1979, Reference Kevan1983; Behan-Pelletier Reference Behan-Pelletier1993).
Nadabius eigenmanni (Bollman)
A syntype of this native species is from Glacier, British Columbia (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010). Matthews (Reference Matthews1935) was of the opinion that this species is synonymous with N. jowensis (Meinert) but did not formalise the synonymy as the opinion resides solely in a Ph.D. thesis. Thus, N. eigenmanni is considered a valid species pending further examination.
Nadabius jowensis (Meinert)
This native species was first recorded from Canada (Rondeau Park, Ontario) by Judd (Reference Judd1957), who reported it being eaten by a salamander. Because the material was seemingly destroyed and is no longer available for study, and because no further records of this species are known from Canada, this record must be considered questionable. This species is sometimes mistakenly reported as Nadabius “iowensis” in the literature.
Nampabius lundii (Meinert)
Crabill (Reference Crabill1952) recorded this native species from Canada (Ontario), but the record was overlooked in later lists of species in Canada (e.g., Kevan Reference Kevan1979, Reference Kevan1983; Behan-Pelletier Reference Behan-Pelletier1993).
Oabius undetermined species
Kevan (Reference Kevan1983) recorded an undetermined Oabius species from the Northwest Territories. This might be Oabius alaskanus Chamberlin, which was recorded from Haines, Alaska (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010), but this has yet to be confirmed.
Paobius albertanus Chamberlin
This species was described from Alberta (likely Banff), but there is some confusion about the location of the holotype; the National Museum of Natural History (Washington, D.C.) and Museum of Comparative Zoology (Cambridge, Massachusetts) each have a specimen with a holotype designation, both collected at the same place and time (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010). Mercurio (Reference Mercurio2010) comments that this native species is likely synonymous with Paobius columbiensis Chamberlin. The only recorded locality for P. albertanus is the type locality.
Paobius columbiensis Chamberlin
This species is known only from the type locality, Kaslo, British Columbia (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010).
Paobius orophilus Chamberlin
This species is known only from the type locality, Kaslo, British Columbia (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010).
Pokabius eremus Chamberlin
This species is known only from the type locality, Kaslo, British Columbia (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010).
Simobius ginampus (Chamberlin)
This species was first reported from Canada (British Columbia) by Kevan (Reference Kevan1983), and no further Canadian records are known.
Sonibius lindrothi (Palmén)
This native species was described as Lithobius lindrothi Palmén from Newfoundland, where it was found in several localities on the west coast (Palmén Reference Palmén1954), and is still known only from there. Palmén (Reference Palmén1954) expressed some uncertainty about whether this species was indeed new or conspecific with Sonibius politus (McNeill). He did not compare the specimens to type material but relied on comparison to a published description by Chamberlin. The Newfoundland specimens should be compared to the syntype(s) of S. politus.
Sonibius politus (McNeill in Bollman)
This species was first reported from Canada (Ontario and Québec) by Chamberlin (Reference Chamberlin1920).
Zygethopolys pugetensis tiganus Chamberlin and Wang
This subspecies is known only from the type locality of Vancouver, British Columbia, where it was collected in 1933 (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010).
ORDER SCOLOPENDROMORPHA
Family Cryptopidae
Cryptops anomalans Newport
This Palaearctic species was reported by Kevan (Reference Kevan1983) from southern Ontario and Québec, where it was said to occur in greenhouses. However, Kevan (Reference Kevan1983) admits that this species could have been confused with Cryptops hortensis (Donovan). Shelley (Reference Shelley2002) states that he has never seen specimens from North America. It is unknown where the specimens putatively collected from Canada reside. This record is considered tentative until the material is located and re-examined.
Cryptops hortensis (Donovan)
This Palaearctic species is known from scattered locations across North America (Shelley Reference Shelley2002). The Canadian record is based on one specimen collected from a greenhouse in Chilliwack, British Columbia in 1948 (Shelley Reference Shelley2002), which is hardly convincing evidence of establishment. This record is treated as questionable and may simply represent an incidental capture of an imported specimen.
Cryptops parisi Brölemann
Palmén (Reference Palmén1954) recorded this Palaearctic species from Newfoundland, based on two specimens found in a winter-warm greenhouse in a market garden in St. John’s; however, he believed that the species could not become established outdoors in Newfoundland because of the cold climate. The species is not recorded from anywhere else in North America. It seems unlikely that this species has persisted in greenhouses in Newfoundland since 1949. This material should be re-examined in light of current taxonomic knowledge.
Family Scolopocryptopidae
Scolopocryptops sexspinosus (Say)
This Nearctic species was first reported from Canada (unspecified localities) by Brodie and White (Reference Brodie and White1883). In Ontario, it is known only from the Niagara region (Shelley Reference Shelley2002). Kevan (Reference Kevan1983) reported it from British Columbia; however, Shelley (Reference Shelley2002) asserts that records of this species from British Columbia are Scolopocryptops spinicaudus Wood, a native western species also found in Washington, Oregon, California, and Colorado.
Scolopocryptops spinicaudus Wood
Records of this native species from British Columbia were misidentified as S. sexspinosus until corrected by Shelley (Reference Shelley2002). The species is distributed along the coast of British Columbia, including Vancouver Island, Haida Gwaii, and on other islands (Shelley Reference Shelley2002).
Order SCUTIGEROMORPHA
Family Scutigeridae
Scutigera coleoptrata (Linnaeus)
This species, initially thought to be of European origin, now has a cosmopolitan distribution (Mercurio Reference Mercurio2010). It was first reported from Canada (undisclosed localities) as Cermata forceps Rafinesque (Brodie and White Reference Brodie and White1883). Mercurio (Reference Mercurio2010) reports this species from only British Columbia, Ontario, and Québec in Canada and overlooked the records from Alberta and Saskatchewan reported by Behan-Pelletier (Reference Behan-Pelletier1993). Of the almost 800 observations of this species in Canada included in iNaturalist (www.inaturalist.org), the vast majority are from southern Ontario and Québec. The species is domiciliary and may have a wider jurisdictional distribution in Canada than currently reported.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Valerie Behan-Pelletier (Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes), Stephanie Boucher (Lyman Entomological Museum, McGill University), Tyler Cobb (Royal Alberta Museum), Claudia Copley (Royal British Columbia Museum), and Karen Needham (Spencer Entomological Collection, University of British Columbia) for providing information and/or data about centipedes in their collections and databases. The authors appreciate the valuable comments provided by two anonymous reviewers.
