- Joined
- Nov 25, 2007
- Messages
- 622
Hey,
today I focused on a long-term-purpose, mating hardwickei. I don't know if it worked out, facing some strange occurencies in the world of pedes with an open end.
The first two specimen I picked up turned out as female and male though i personally know it's only quarter of the rent (one additional quarter goes to succesful mating, the other quarter goes to laying eggs and the last quarter on succesful hatches).
Here you can see some videos (and sorry you can't see much - it was incredibly difficult to spot their actions since they were usually hidden under the bark):
http://www.scolopendra.info/data/hw_mating.wmv
In fact i first tried out mating in a "blank" enclosure with only one hiding spot to figure out how they react - and if they are ready to mate.
This turned out as very interesting. First of all hardwickei seem to have "calming down sessions" where they signalize peace.
Both lay on each other. First the female began to vibrate with the antenna. After half an hour the male started to respond with antenna vibration movements.
After one hour both separated somehow lazily, probably not expecting any further dangers and then standard mating behaviour started as you may have seen in S. heros. Female stimulates male terminal legs with antenna.
The main purpose is to let the male produce a sperm web and place a spermatophore into the web.
As things always turn out complicated when I start to do anything, the male moved like it was spinning a web without success.
It just moved in the air as if it wanted to web. After another 30 min. i decided to put both pedes into a terrarium with substrate.
One minute after i rehoused the pedes, the male began to web. I couldn't see anything, only the webbing movements and the webbing organ coming out (including the web itself). The female was close to the males' anus with her head, waiting for him to finish.
Now it gets complicated. After the male finished he moved from the bark - the female speciman just followed the male and continued with stimulation. After 10 minutes both pedes separated - and everytime the male faced the female speciman it turned back fast as if all the mating process was finished.
Later on I decided to pick up the bark to check the sperm web. I couldn't see any spermatophore, but a sperm web:
Finally I'm not sure if the female picked it up after following the male under the bark or if the male couldn't produce a sperm web.
It still stays a mystery and i will find out if my female decides to produce a clutch after 8-10 months or not.
What I want to say at all (and not advertising my trial): Please be aware of the fact that it is of highest importance to breed centipedes. People seem to be always shy, afraid of loosing a rare species - maybe because of less experience in centipedes, but that is not relevant at all.
Please try, cause it's not impossible. I am really afraid of certain populations, especially S. hardwickei that is harvested like a fruit. There will be a day where we are stuck in keeping certain species, cause no one tried. Never give up, please - i want to encourage all the motivated centipede keepers to try and not be afraid of losing a speciman. Especially the ones who still keep some hardwickei.
If your trial failed, please don't be too shy to share your experiences. It helps everyone to learn.
Regards,
Turgut
today I focused on a long-term-purpose, mating hardwickei. I don't know if it worked out, facing some strange occurencies in the world of pedes with an open end.
The first two specimen I picked up turned out as female and male though i personally know it's only quarter of the rent (one additional quarter goes to succesful mating, the other quarter goes to laying eggs and the last quarter on succesful hatches).
Here you can see some videos (and sorry you can't see much - it was incredibly difficult to spot their actions since they were usually hidden under the bark):
http://www.scolopendra.info/data/hw_mating.wmv
In fact i first tried out mating in a "blank" enclosure with only one hiding spot to figure out how they react - and if they are ready to mate.
This turned out as very interesting. First of all hardwickei seem to have "calming down sessions" where they signalize peace.
Both lay on each other. First the female began to vibrate with the antenna. After half an hour the male started to respond with antenna vibration movements.
After one hour both separated somehow lazily, probably not expecting any further dangers and then standard mating behaviour started as you may have seen in S. heros. Female stimulates male terminal legs with antenna.
The main purpose is to let the male produce a sperm web and place a spermatophore into the web.
As things always turn out complicated when I start to do anything, the male moved like it was spinning a web without success.
It just moved in the air as if it wanted to web. After another 30 min. i decided to put both pedes into a terrarium with substrate.
One minute after i rehoused the pedes, the male began to web. I couldn't see anything, only the webbing movements and the webbing organ coming out (including the web itself). The female was close to the males' anus with her head, waiting for him to finish.
Now it gets complicated. After the male finished he moved from the bark - the female speciman just followed the male and continued with stimulation. After 10 minutes both pedes separated - and everytime the male faced the female speciman it turned back fast as if all the mating process was finished.
Later on I decided to pick up the bark to check the sperm web. I couldn't see any spermatophore, but a sperm web:
Finally I'm not sure if the female picked it up after following the male under the bark or if the male couldn't produce a sperm web.
It still stays a mystery and i will find out if my female decides to produce a clutch after 8-10 months or not.
What I want to say at all (and not advertising my trial): Please be aware of the fact that it is of highest importance to breed centipedes. People seem to be always shy, afraid of loosing a rare species - maybe because of less experience in centipedes, but that is not relevant at all.
Please try, cause it's not impossible. I am really afraid of certain populations, especially S. hardwickei that is harvested like a fruit. There will be a day where we are stuck in keeping certain species, cause no one tried. Never give up, please - i want to encourage all the motivated centipede keepers to try and not be afraid of losing a speciman. Especially the ones who still keep some hardwickei.
If your trial failed, please don't be too shy to share your experiences. It helps everyone to learn.
Regards,
Turgut