Soil centipedes in the genus Geophilomorpha are commonly found hiding under rocks, logs, and may be dug out of the soil while digging holes for planting. There are over 1200 species within this genus and each are blind.....I supposed having eyes does you very little good when living underground. They have 27 or more pairs of legs, and will always have an odd number of pairs. Their coloring ranges from reddish-brown, tan, or brown. They have flattened heads and flexible bodies. They are able to flex, and bend themselves in half, which allows them to move around in tight quarters.
Like all centipedes they are predators of other insects. These guys will feed on the larvae of other insects found in rotting wood, in the soil or under stones. They are especially fond of earthworms. Sometimes the predator becomes the prey and this centipede will find itself dinner for a beetle, larger centipedes, birds, skinks and other small predators.
|Soil Centipede mid-moult|
Females of Geophilomorpha show far more parental care, the eggs 15 to 60 in number are laid in a nest in the soil or in rotten wood, the female stays with the eggs, guarding and licking them to protect them from fungi. The female in some species stays with the young after they have hatched, guarding them until they are ready to leave. If disturbed the females tend to either abandon the eggs of their young or eat them; abandoned eggs tend to fall prey to fungi rapidly.
No need to fear these centipedes, as they will not bite humans, and have no toxic venom to harm us even if they could. I must correct my comment here. I recently led a trail hike with a group of kids. We flipped logs to see what we could find and one little boy found one of these centipedes. He picked it up to show me and it did indeed bite him. He said it felt like a hard pinch. He dropped it quickly and scurried away to safety. So apparently they can bite when provoked.
They prey on many harmful beetle larvae and help aerate the soil, much like earthworms do. Their rapid movements and subterranean habitat can make them a bit unnerving, but like all insects and their relatives, they have their purpose in the environment, and these guys are fun to watch!