[2][3] The species in this genus are among the smallest centipedes in the order Geophilomorpha, reaching only 8 mm in length.

[4] This genus is also notable for featuring the fewest legs (only 33 or 35 pairs) in the subfamily Aphilodontinae.

[2][4] This genus was created by the Italian entomologist Filippo Silvestri in 1909 to contain the newly discovered type species M.

[2] The holotype is deposited in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria in Genova, Italy.

[4] In 2019, the biologists Victor C. Calvanese, Antonio D. Brescovit, and Lucio Bonato described the second species in this genus to be discovered, M.

Outside of the genus Mecophilus, no species in this subfamily features 35 or fewer leg pairs.

[4] The three species in this genus may be distinguished from one another based on the denticle on the ultimate article of the forcipule.