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of woodlice, and a pleasing variety of worms, but the most numerous invertebrates were centipedes. These were the long thin, many- and short-legged Haplophilus (or similar) species. They have lots of short legs for pushing through the soil, a bit like

something to do with the mange taking their numbers right down. It appeared in south London in 2005 as I recall. Before then, every specimen I saw was a fine thick-pelted creature with glossy coat and stiff brush. Since, the few I have seen have been mostly

what it is. So it was when I uncovered a huge centipede, which bit me. It was one of the Cryptops species, with 21 pairs of legs. I didn't have to count them, it's just that it obviously had more than the 15 pairs possessed by the shorter and broader