The body is divided into two parts, the head and a segmented trunk. They breathe through spiracles, holes positioned along the body. Their bite can be painful to a human but not lethal. Centipedes eat insects, earthworms, spiders, slugs, and other small animals. She drops the eggs into a hole she digs in the soil.
Some centipedes care for their eggs and the hatchlings.
About 20 families and 3,000 species of centipedes have been described.