In 1862 H. C. Wood described a new centipede, Mecistocephalus fulvus, which he found “not very abundantly” in the vicinity of Philadelphia. To my knowledge no subsequent worker has ever attempted to refer a centipede to this species, nor has fulvus ever been considered a synonym of any other species, so that for eighty-eight years it has been regarded privately or in print as being incertae sedis.

The confusion surrounding this species has been due primarily to the following considerations: it has never been taken by anyone other than its author; the type is missing; it was highly improbable that this species could be referred to Mecistocephalidae, or even to Mecistocephalus, a genus represented in the eastern United States by a single imported species; and the original description itself refers to a centipede not quite like anything else known to occur in the east.