A venomous predatory arthropod of the order Chilopoda, characterized by one pair of legs per leg-bearing segment. The venom is injected through the first pair of leglike appendages, modified into piercing claws; the bites may be painful and locally necrotic, but seldom are dangerous, except to very young children. Genera found in the U.S. include Scutigera, Lithobius, Scolopendra, and Geophilus. [L. centum, hundred, + pes (ped-), foot]
