Haplophilus souletinus
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > centipede > Centipede |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Not Relevant) [NT(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | Stigmatogaster souletina |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Haplophilus souletinus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Brölemann, 1907) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Lee, 2015 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Currently only known from 3 hectads in the Falmouth area from a range of urban and rural sites. This the entirety of the known population north of the Pyrenees. It is well established in the area but not yet found further afield and it is not really known if populations are stable. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Not at risk of extinction in England |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | The species appears to use a variety of habitats, so a mosaic could be beneficial |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Relict or natural rarity |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | A somewhat iconic species as being the only population (as far as known) in NW Europe and also the only British centipede that can have more than a hundred pairs of legs. It is comparatively large (70mm) . Several name changes, it is also known as Stigmatogaster souletina in myriapod circles in France, Italy and UK. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Investigate habitat requirements of the species, particularly occupied and unoccupied sites in close proximity and identify characteristics which determine the likelihood of presence of the species.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: Known sites around Falmouth
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Undertake DNA analysis of UK populations to compare with Pyrenees populations / Iberian populations.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 6-10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: sites identified in Action 1
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.