The centipedes are a group of arthropods, which can be divided in several classes and orders. These species and types of the centipedes revolve on the same major characteristics, but have some aspects that make them different from one another. Although not many people are interested in these creatures, the centipedes have always been subjected to scientific research. Even if they are extremely small and seem to lack a purpose that would make them interesting for individuals, in recent years, studies of Ecology have focused on the impact and importance of the little creatures from the centipedes in the natural habitats and ecosystems.

There are several families or species of centipedes which people interested in the small creatures should be aware of. The first family of centipedes is the Scutigeromorpha. The main features of these revolve on the fact that they have 15 body segments which can develop legs and that they have a very fast movement speed. They also are the single species of the kind that has maintained the compound eyes feature from the original developing gene. Another species is the Lithobiomorpha. These particular ones are sometimes found not to have eyes at all, they have shorter legs and smaller antennae. The Craterostigmomorpha are a very small species, with only few exemplars still to be found in Tasmania and New Zealand. The Scolopendromorpha species of centipedes is different than the others, mostly due to the fact that it has 21 or more body segments and the same number of attached paired legs. Their eyes have four facets and the antennae have another 17 segments. The last species is that of the Geophilomorpha. This is in fact, the largest one of them all, as it can grow up to 27 segments that can develop legs. In addition to this, they are completely eyeless and thus, blind.

The centipedes have numerous variations in terms of species and family groups. They have developed different traits, but are still grouped together by some similarities, such as the paired legs, the segmented antennae, the segmented bodies and so on.