[2] The American biologist Horatio Curtis Wood first described this species in 1862 based on type material found in Kauai or Oahu in Hawaii.

[1][2] This centipede has only 45 pairs of legs,[3] the minimum number recorded in the genus Mecistocephalus.

Published records report finds on Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, Necker, and Oahu.

This analysis suggests that the common ancestor of the centipedes in this genus had 45 leg pairs and that the species in this sister group evolved through a process that added segments and increased the number of legs.

[3] Although both this species and its close relative M. nannocornis have only 45 leg pairs, there are also clear differences.