[5][6] Recent phylogenetic analysis using molecular data finds that Peripatopsis sedgwicki as traditionally understood based on morphology (sensu lato) is a species complex that contains four different species: P. sedgwicki s.s. (sensu stricto, that is, as more narrowly defined), P. orientalis, P. collarium, and P.

[7] This velvet worm was first described under the name Peripatus dewaali by the Dutch zoologist Max Weber in 1898 based on specimens he collected near the town on Knysna in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

[8] In 1899, the South African zoologist William F. Purcell provided a more detailed description based on a male and eleven females that he found in 1896 in rotten wood in the forest and under heaps of weeds on farms near the town of Knysna.

[2][3] In 2024, the zoologists Aaron Barnes and Savel R. Daniels conducted a phylogenetic study using molecular data from a large sample of specimens of Peripatopsis sedgwicki (sensu lato).

[7] The species P. sedgwicki s.s. (that is, as narrowly understood) is endemic to a small area confined to the Afrotemperate forest of the Western Cape province near the original type locality Knysna.

Other specimens in the same clade were collected in three nearby localities (the Homtini River in Rheenendal as well as Harkerville and the Garden of Eden in Plettenberg Bay).

[7] The species P. collarium is a point endemic found only in the Van Stadens Wild Flower Reserve in the Eastern Cape province.

Finally, P. collarium is known from only a small sample in one locality, with 20 leg pairs recorded in four specimens (two males and two females).

[7] Color is otherwise highly variable in this species complex, even within a single clade, with the ventral surface varying from white to light pink and the dorsal colors ranging from dark blue, grey, or brown to bright orange or red.

[6][7][10] Thus, coloration proves to be generally unreliable as a basis for distinguishing among clades within this species complex.

For example, each species features a different number of scale ranks on the dorsal primary papillae, with seven in P. margaritarius, eight in P. sedgwicki s.s., nine in P. orientalis, and ten in P.

[7] In terms of gross morphology, however, the velvet worms in this species complex generally share the features associated with P. sedgwicki (sensu lato) as described below.