Scolopendra hardwickei Experiment

Lucas339

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This will be the thread where i post all my findings for the experiment with satelliterob's S. hardwickei centipede.

before receiving the animal, everything that was to be used for the experiment was sterilized with 70% ethanol and rinsed with RODI water. in my past experience, 70% ethanol is and effective killer of mites thus eliminating any chance of adults being present. the area in the lab that the animal is kept was also sterilzed using the same method.

i prepared five petri dishes with clean paper towel for incubating the frass. they were cleaned in the same manner as stated above. i also set up an oven at a temp around 80-82 degrees fahrenheit.

refer to thread for more details: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=159672
 
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Lucas339

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August 20, 2009

Fed the animal a frozen thawed cricket (feeding frozen thawed will help eliminate any furthure possible parasites). the animal accepted the f/t (here on out used to refer to frozen, thawed) quickly.

placed a water dish in enclosure. animal drank for a few minutes and went away from dish. after a few hours, the dish was removed.

animal deficated. frass collected and half was preserved in 70 ETOH (here on out used to refer to ethanol) and the other was was placed in a petri dish and put in the incuating oven.

examined frass under disecting scope. definite eggs. eggs large (0.3825 mm in diameter; measured using ocular micrometer) and white. frass was photographed and placed in oven.

after removing frass, enclosure was cleaned. old paper towels removed, cleaned with ETOH, and replaced with new paper towel.

crumpled paper towels were added this time to give the animal a place to hide a bit. the animal took right to it.

experiment set up:



animal used:





photo of the frass showing the eggs in question:

 

Lucas339

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August 21, 2009

Fed animal 2 f/t crickets

collected frass and preserved it.

cleaned and changed enclosure towels as previously done. when chaing towels, crumpled pieces are changed.

added water to mite culture.
 

Lucas339

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August 24, 2009

Came in and inspected culture in the oven. culture was completely covered in mold. culture was preserved.

2 pieces of frass were collected. both were preserved. i didn't want to keep these as i did not know how old they were and if the eggs would be viable. the enclosure is kept dry and eggs need moisture to develop.

1 frass was examined under scope. the frass was dry and hard. i cut open the frass down the middle and found that the eggs are throughout the frass. this eliminates any therory that the eggs are being laid after the animal deficates.

animal fed 2 f/t crickets and given water dish.

animal deficated. frass collected and placed in petri dish. this time i will put the frass in a small cup with some coco fiber to aid in humidity. enclosure cleaned as with same methods above.
 

ftorres

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:? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :? :?
 

Satellite Rob

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Hay Lucas339,
I had alot of cultures get mold and not hatch.I never figured out why it
happened.Was I keeping them to wet or to dry?I tryed on different substrate
and it ddn't seem to matter what I did.Some molded and some didn't.I always
kept about 10 cultures going at a time.I had 8 cultures hatch into mites and
twice that many start to mold.I wish I could help more.Just try to keep more
than 1 culture at a time.I was keeping them at room temperature.That was
80 degrees.I also had them in vials with small pin hole in the top.I think the
vials help by holding the humidity in.I wish I could help more.
 

szappan

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That's TWICE now I've opened this thread and viewed that frass close-up while I'm eating... it's like I can taste it! :wall:

But seriously, really fantastic work! Thank you for sharing! Moving the hobby forward one step at a time! Looking forward to more. Congratulations to all involved! :clap:
 

ftorres

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Hello All,
If they are mixed within the frass, wouldn't that be an indication of a bad egg being discarted?

cool experiment and a long shot at making them hatch.

Best of luck, I would love to see what comes out of those eggs
 
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Lucas339

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Hello All,
If they are mixed within the frass, wouldn't that be an indication of a bad egg being discarted?

cool experiment and a long shot at making them hatch.

Best of luck, I would love to see what comes out of those eggs
we think that these eggs are some kind of internal parasitic mite.

i moved one culture over to coco fiber and im keeping this one i the lab. i think the mold problem was due to not enough ventilation.
 

wayne the pain

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Do you think the internal parasite would need a intermediate host? then when pede eats this host the cycle is complete? :)
 

Lucas339

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Do you think the internal parasite would need a intermediate host? then when pede eats this host the cycle is complete? :)
too early to tell at this point. what animal would a centipede eat that eats cenitpede poop? this cycle may be really complex. not all internal parasites have a single intermediate host. some have many. its too early to tell anything.

i have at least one dead one on the way to do some gut analysis to see if i can find whats inside of these passing the eggs. that is, if the one i get has the parasite.
 

wayne the pain

Arachnoangel
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Crickets and roaches eat pretty much anything dont they?

Looking forward to your conclusions :)
 

Galapoheros

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I really want to call those eggs but I can't do that with 100% certainty yet. I need a little more, like seeing something in inside them, or of course, one hatching would do it for me. I had another thought but I'm guessing too much so I won't mention, maybe later. Great pic:eek: and looking forward to anymore news!
 

Lucas339

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they are absolutely eggs. on the preserved ones, i can see the cells splitting under a light microscope.
 

ranchulas

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they are absolutely eggs. on the preserved ones, i can see the cells splitting under a light microscope.
Now I'm courious??? Really want to know what could be growing inside......Maybe we don't really want to know.....could be a new strain of the H1N1.....LOL
 

Galapoheros

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Cool, that's what I needed to hear, that they were actually looked into to see if they are alive, or used to be. Can you take a pic of that? I know some are sure they are mite eggs but I was thinking about what ftorres said. At first I blew it off but then started wondering if females do discard reproductive material or tiny eggs. It made me wonder if they regularly produce tiny eggs until their system tells them to stop discarding them and grow the eggs when the season comes along. Seems like it'd be a waste of energy though if that were true. Hey I know that sounds crazy but this whole topic sounds pretty crazy. If that were true, what a way to sex pedes! I often see small white balls in pede frass but the ones I've seen are bright white, not so opaque as those, don't know if they're the same thing.
 

Finntroll86

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Well it is interesting, I have seen those same white spheres in the frass of my S. subspinipes. But i have never heard of a endoparasitic mite let alone one that gestates inside the mid-gut of a pede, I have read through "The Biology of Centipedes" by J.G.E. Lewis, but couldn't find anything related to this occurrence. Maybe they could possibly be a cystic form of protozoan? I dunno, i am eager to see if you can hatch these "eggs". Good work and good luck!
 

Lucas339

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August 25, 2009

Put frass from yester on previously frozen coco fiber in a 2 oz. sauce cup with air holes.

fed animal 2 f/t crickets

examined frass (preserved) under scope: frass is made up of undigest parts of crickets. wings, legs, and mouth pieces were seen in the frass. appeared to be only the chitionous parts of the crickets. legs looked hollow.

no frass collected today. animal did not defecate.

changed towels and cleaned enclousure.
 

Lucas339

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August 26, 2009

Collected frass from over night. frass was dry but was rehydrated with DI water. frass was checked later in the day and some viable eggs were seen.

fed 2 f/t crickets

examined "urate?": animal passes a white urate looking (like in snakes but not sure if you call them urates with inverts) clump. these have been previously seen with frass. examined urate under scope. there are no eggs with the urates.
 
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