Centipede Subfamily Plutoniuminae 61 



O. spinicauda without alluding to the confusion surrounding Opisthemega 

 and postica or the synonymy with Theatops proposed by Pocock (1888). 

 Attems (1930) published the last comprehensive work on the Scolopendro- 

 morpha, recognizing Plutonium, P. zwierleini, Theatops, T. postica, 

 T. erythrocephala, and T. spinicauda. He provided a key to the species 

 of Theatops and summarized locality information since Kraepelin's 

 work (1903). Attems (1938) included T. spinicauda among the Hawaiian 

 fauna, a record deleted by Shelley (1991). Chamberlin (1951/?) described 

 the fourth American and fifth total species of Theatops, T. phanus, 

 from a cave in Sonora County, Texas, and presented a key to species. 

 He recognized only four species, implying that he then considered 

 T. calif or niensis to be a synonym of T. erythrocephala. Crabill (1957) 

 reviewed Newport's chilopod genera, credited him with authoring Theatops, 

 and indicated that the type species, C. postica Say, was fixed by subsequent 

 monotypy. Matic (1960) proposed T erythrocephala breuili for a specimen 

 from a Spanish cave. Crabill (1960) included Theatops and Theatopinae 

 in a key to North American scolopendromorph genera, subfamilies, 

 and families, and characterized the ranges of the four North American 

 species. He considered T. californiensis to be a species, but suggested 

 that it might be a synonym of T. erythrocephala. 



In recent years, Wiirmli (1975) reported authentic localities for 

 P. zwierleini and provided a distribution map. In concluding paragraphs, 

 he reviewed the distribution of T. erythrocephalus, which he considered 

 as including California and Oregon, thus implying synonymy of T. 

 californiensis, placed T. e. breuili in synonymy, and noted that Plutoniinae 

 Bollman antedates Theatopidae Verhoeff. Crabill (1977) included Theatops 

 and Theatopinae in a key to North American and Mexican cryptopid 

 taxa, and Summers (1979) included T. posticus, T. spinicaudus, and 

 the Theatopinae in a key and taxonomic listing to centipedes of the 

 north-central United States. 



In a definitive text on centipede biology, Lewis (1981) reported 

 the results of Baerg (1924) on the effect of centipede bites, noting 

 that T. spinicauda had little to no effect on rats and caused sharp 

 pain in humans that disappeared in 30 minutes. Lewis recognized the 

 subfamily Theatopsinae with Plutonium, in Sicily, Sardinia, and Campania, 

 and Theatops, in North America, the Mediterranean region, and Hawaii. 

 He noted that Plutonium has 19 pairs of spiracles, one each on segments 

 2-20, or all leg bearing segments except the first and last, instead 

 of the nine pairs typically found in scolopendromorphs with 21 segments. 

 Kevan (1983) reported the northernmost records for T postica, T spinicauda, 

 and T. californiensis and questioned whether the last name was a synonym 

 of T. erythrocephala. Shelley and Edwards (1987) reported T. posticus 



