[3] The generic name first appeared in Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopaedia in 1814 as Geophilus electricus.

[6] Centipedes in this genus feature slightly elongate heads and labral intermediate parts with tubercles, the forcipules are usually poorly elongate with a single small tubercle at the base of each tarsungulum, and the anterior trunk metasternites usually have an anterior medial socket and a posterior transversally elongate pore-field.

[2] For example, two species in this genus include centipedes with only 29 leg pairs, the lowest number recorded in the family Geophilidae: G. persephones (29 in the only specimen, a male) and G. richardi (29 or 31 in males and 33 in females).

[13] Several other species in this genus are known from specimens with notably few leg pairs in each sex, including G. ribauti (as few as 31 in males and 33 in females),[14] G. hadesi (33 in both sexes),[8] G. piae (as few as 35 in males and 37 in females),[15] G. bipartitus (35 in males and 39 in females),[16] and G. oligopus (37 or 39 in both sexes).

[17] This genus is the largest in the family Geophilidae, with about 140 species:[5][1][3]