This paper provides the first field report of maternal care in a Neotropical centipede. Nine females of Otostigmus scabricauda were found taking care of eggs or first instar nymphs at Sao Sebastiao Island, southeastern Brazil. Brood-guarding females were found in the leaf litter or under fallen trunks. The mean clutch size was 29.1 +/- 15.7 and no egg was observed to be infected with fungi. The nymphs are non-pigmented and hatch with 21 segments. Egg-laying in O. scabricauda probably takes place in the beginning of the wet-warm season (October), and the reproductive season lasts until February. Predation pressure in the leaf litter and the high risk of infection due to fungi may have favored the evolution of maternal care in many arthropods living on the soil, such as centipedes.1114250254