What class contains the venomous arthropods known as centipedes?

The class containing the venomous arthropods known as centipedes is Chilopoda.

Chilopoda is a class in the subphylum Myriapoda, alongside millipedes and several smaller groups of many-legged arthropods. Centipedes have elongated, segmented bodies with one pair of legs per segment. Their name comes from Latin roots meaning hundred-foot, although no species has exactly 100 legs.

Centipedes are venomous because their first pair of legs has evolved into pincer-like structures called forcipules, or toxicognaths. These modified appendages inject venom and help subdue prey such as insects, spiders, worms, and small vertebrates. All centipedes possess venom, though the medical effects of a bite vary greatly among species.

The main classification trap is confusing Chilopoda with Diplopoda, the class of millipedes. Millipedes generally have two pairs of legs on most body segments and are chiefly detritivores, whereas centipedes are active predators. Insecta and Arachnida are also arthropod classes, but neither contains centipedes.