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Centipedes of the genus Scolopocryptops Newport, 1844 are blind species mostly described from the New World and East Asia. In this study, a Japanese species, S. quadristriatus (Verhoeff, 1934), which is characterised by four longitudinal keels on the tergites, is re-described, based on the likely holotype preserved in the Zoologische Staatssammlung München and specimens newly collected from near the type locality. In addition, S. longisetosus sp. nov., a new species that bears tergal keels like S. quadristriatus, is described from the Ryukyu Islands in Japan and Taiwan. Although the presence of four keels on tergites is unique to these two species, phylogenetic analyses using nuclear and mitochondrial markers showed that S. longisetosus sp. nov. is not sister to S. quadristriatus. The obtained phylogeny indicates that the tergal longitudinal keels evolved in parallel within Scolopocryptops or that the presence of keels represents a plesiomorphic character of the clade containing these species.

The blind centipede genus Scolopocryptops Newport, 1844 comprises two lineages: the “Asian/North American” group and the “Neotropical/Afrotropical” group. The former can be further split into two groups, a clade comprising Scolopocryptops elegans (Takakuwa, 1937) and Scolopocryptops curtus (Takakuwa, 1939), and a clade comprising all other “Asian/North American” species. Here, Scolopocryptops miyosii sp. nov. from Kyushu and Amami Island and Scolopocryptops brevisulcatus sp. nov. from Izena Island and Okinawa Island in southern Japan are described. The two new species have external features similar to S. elegans and S. curtus. They can be distinguished from most other “Asian/North American” Scolopocryptops by the absence of complete sulcus/sulci along the lateral margin of the cephalic plate and the presence of sternal longitudinal sulci. They can be distinguished from each other by several external features, such as the density of antennal setae and the shape of the anterior margin of the coxosternite. Phylogenetic analyses using nuclear and mitochondrial markers also support the monophyly of the four species, which form a clade sister to all other “Asian/North American” Scolopocryptops.

The blind centipede genus Scolopocryptops Newport, 1844 comprises two lineages: the “Asian/North American” group and the “Neotropical/Afrotropical” group. The former can be further split into two groups, a clade comprising Scolopocryptops elegans (Takakuwa, 1937) and Scolopocryptops curtus (Takakuwa, 1939), and a clade comprising all other “Asian/North American” species. Here, Scolopocryptops miyosii sp. nov. from Kyushu and Amami Island and Scolopocryptops brevisulcatus sp. nov. from Izena Island and Okinawa Island in southern Japan are described. The two new species have external features similar to S. elegans and S. curtus. They can be distinguished from most other “Asian/North American” Scolopocryptops by the absence of complete sulcus/sulci along the lateral margin of the cephalic plate and the presence of sternal longitudinal sulci. They can be distinguished from each other by several external features, such as the density of antennal setae and the shape of the anterior margin of the coxosternite. Phylogenetic analyses using nuclear and mitochondrial markers also support the monophyly of the four species, which form a clade sister to all other “Asian/North American” Scolopocryptops.

The epigean centipede genus Scolopocryptops Newport, 1844 consists of two monophyletic lineages, the “Asian/North American” and “Neotropical/Afrotropical” groups. Most of the “Asian/North American” species bear the complete sulcus/sulci along the lateral margin of the cephalic plate and sternites lacking sulci, whereas Japanese Scolopocryptops elegans (Takakuwa, 1937) bears short lateral sulci on the cephalic plate and Taiwanese Scolopocryptops curtus (Takakuwa, 1939) lacks the cephalic marginal sulci, and both species bear a longitudinal sternal sulcus. The taxonomic accounts of S. elegans and S. curtus were revisited in this study based on newly collected specimens. We found that these two species share a characteristic of the second maxilla, that they lack the transparent margin on the dorsal brush, which distinguishes them from other “Asian/North American” species. Scolopocryptops elegans and S. curtus can be distinguished from each other by the characters of their antennal articles, cephalic plate, forcipular coxosternite, tergite 23, and coxopleuron. Phylogenetic analyses using nuclear 28S ribosomal RNA and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequences confirmed that S. elegans and S. curtus are closely related and form a single clade sister to a clade comprising all the other “Asian/North American” Scolopocryptops species.

The authorships of 14 species-group names of chilopods introduced by Yoshioki Takakuwa in 1934 are clarified. Four names, viz., Dicellophilus latifrons Takakuwa, 1934, Tygarrup moiwaensis Takakuwa, 1934, Prolamnonyx obtusus Takakuwa, 1934, and P. dentatus Takakuwa, 1934 should be attributed to Takakuwa’s work published in Japanese in April 1934 in Volume 2, Issue No. 4 of the journal Shokubutsu oyobi Dobutsu (=Botany and Zoology). The specific names of two other Mecistocephalus species, viz., M. ongi Takakuwa, 1934 and M. brevisternalis Takakuwa, 1934, should be attributed to the Takakuwa’s work published in German in April 1934, in Volume 14, Issue No. 3 of the journal Annotationes Zoologicae Japonenses. The correct attributions of six more names, viz., Geophilus monoporus Takakuwa, 1934, Nesogeophilus kozuensis Takakuwa, 1934, N. tiosianus Takakuwa, 1934, N. littoralis Takakuwa, 1934, Thalthybius tenuicollis Takakuwa, 1934, and Cryptops japonicus Takakuwa, 1934, is to Takakuwa’s work published in Japanese in September 1934, in Volume 46, Issue No. 551 of the journal Dobutsugaku Zasshi. In addition to the 14 species-group names, the correct attribution of Mecistocephalus takakuwai, which has traditionally been attributed to the work by Karl W. Verhoeff published in November 1934, is clarified. This species was described by Takakuwa in the work published in April 1934, but nonetheless, it is concluded that its correct attribution is to Takakuwa’s work published in Japanese in October 1932 in Volume 30, Issue No. 47 of the journal Hakubutsugaku Zasshi. Synonymies showing earlier authors’ attributions are given for each of these species, and, when possible, the composition of the original type series of each of these species is inferred. In 1955 some of the type material was still said to exist, but by now all of Takakuwa’s specimens of these species seem to have been lost.

Eight specimens of a scolopendromorph centipede collected in Tokashiki Island and Minamidaito Island (both in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan) represent the first record of Cryptops (Cryptops) navis Chamberlin, 1930 from the islands of the Far East (i.e., Japanese Archipelago, Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan). This material also provides new details of the morphological variability of C. (C.) navis and the first data on natural habitats of C. (C.) navis, which previously was known only from soil samples from Singapore and China.