For the Atari video game, see Centipede (video game). For other articles with the word centipede, go to Centipede (disambiguation).

Centipedes (Class Chilopoda) are fast-moving venomous, predatory terrestrial arthropods that have long bodies and many jointed legs. Chiefly nocturnal, centipedes are found primarily in tropical climates but are also widely distributed in temperate zones. Some species are highly venomous with extremely toxic venom on their claws which can cause death in humans.

As in the closely related millipedes, they are highly segmented (15 to 173 segments), but with only one pair of walking legs per segment. Centipedes are dorso-ventrally flattened, and are among the fastest and most agile of arthropod predators.

The head of a centipede has a pair of antennae and jaw-like mandibles, and other mouthparts that evolved from modified appendages. The most anterior trunk segment of a centipede has a pair of venomous claws (called maxillipeds) that are used for both defense and for capturing and paralyzing prey. Despite their name, which stems from the Latin words 'centum' (meaning 'hundred') and 'ped' (meaning 'foot'), they normally have around half that number of legs, though it is possible to find centipedes with over 200 legs.

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