A new centiped: Lithobius varioporus

Centipeds are predatory arthropods that are often venomous and can inflict painful bites. Despite their name referring to the number 100, centipedes can have a varying number of legs, ranging from 30 to 354. Actually, they always have an odd number of pairs of legs which means they never can have 100 legs. Their size ranges from a few millimetres to 30 cm. This new species belongs to the smaller ones as it is only a little over a centimetre long. Its name refers to a varying number of pores on their hip joints.

For the experts: Lithobius (Ezembius) varioporus sp. nov. (Lithobiomorpha, Lithobiidae), recently discovered from Longquanguan Town, Fuping County, Baoding City, Hebei Province, China, is described. Morphologically it resembles to Lithobius (Ezembius) laevidentata Pei, Ma, Hou, Zhu & Gai, 2015 from the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, but can be easily distinguished from the latter by the Tömösváry’s organ, slightly smaller than the adjoining ocelli, no secondary sexual modifications on male tibia 14 and 15, posterior accessory spine of legs 14 and 15 present and the number of coxal pores varying considerably from three to eight. The main morphological characters of the known Chinese species of the subgenusEzembius Chamberlin, 1919 based on adult specimens are presented.