Gifted a Centipede (Need an ID)

Luke

Arachnosquire
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Sep 11, 2010
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So a friend of mine gave me this centipede and I have no idea what it is other than huge. lol It's about 8" long. The closest thing I could find to it was Scolopendra subspinipes. I defer to you all however. This is my first large Centipede and I'd like to know what I am working with here! Heres a pic of the little guy/gal:



Based on what I've read about Centipedes in general, I put this together:



The soil is half cocofiber, half topsoil, with moss and leaves for added cover. The Enclosure is 12" tall (since I hear these are escape artists). There is 2-3" of soil in the bottom.

Thanks for any info!!!

Luke
 

Ripa

Arachnobaron
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Jan 17, 2015
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Looks like Scolopendra dehaani. You were close with subspinipes, as it used to be listed a subspecies under that species. Good luck ;)
 

The Centipede

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how do you tell the difference of a (Scolopendra dehaani) and a (Scolopendra subspines) Ripa? they look exactly the same
 

Biollantefan54

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I hope Ripa can give a better answer but I THINK it is because of the lack of 'spikes' on the last pair of legs.
 

The Centipede

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OK that sounds about right...that makes sense because it looks like it has less legs. and that's probably the only thing that looks different.
 

Ripa

Arachnobaron
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how do you tell the difference of a (Scolopendra dehaani) and a (Scolopendra subspines) Ripa? they look exactly the same
Biollantefan54 is right, but since I can't see the terminal legs in this pic (and you probably shouldn't attempt to sedate the centipede in order to look at them firsthand unless you're experienced with this sorta thing), the other less defining characteristic that separates them from the traditional subspinipes is the mahogany coloration. Google images didn't really get the hint that dehaani is separate species from subspinipes, so half the images on Google of subspinipes are dehaani. It doesn't really help that centipede taxonomy is such a cryptic topic for many biologists, so mainstream searches can misconstrue info.
 

Biollantefan54

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Biollantefan54 is right, but since I can't see the terminal legs in this pic (and you probably shouldn't attempt to sedate the centipede in order to look at them firsthand), the other less defining factor that separates them from the traditional subspinipes is the mahogany coloration. Google images didn't really get the hint that dehaani is separate species from subspinipes, so half the images on Google of subspinipes are dehaani. It doesn't really help that centipede taxonomy is such a cryptic topic for many biologists, so mainstream searches can misconstrue info.
I wanted to say color was a factor as well but I couldn't remember for sure. Thanks for saying terminal legs, I was trying to hard to remember what they were called lol :)
 

Ripa

Arachnobaron
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I wanted to say color was a factor as well but I couldn't remember for sure. Thanks for saying terminal legs, I was trying to hard to remember what they were called lol :)
Yea, I don't really like relying on color alone as a defining characteristic, especially with centipedes, but generally it can be used as a helpful trait for narrowing down species.
 

The Centipede

Arachnosquire
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Ok that method would make it a lot easier to define the two, and that does make it confusing if they show both species on the same search on google that's why you can't rely on google images ha ha ha.
 

Ripa

Arachnobaron
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Ok that method would make it a lot easier to define the two, and that does make it confusing if they show both species on the same search on google that's why you can't rely on google images ha ha ha.
Well, it's not just because of Google when referring to coloration. Some species, like S. polymorpha or morsitans can come in many different color varieties. You can have some subpopulations demonstrate distinct colorations compared to the metapopulation of that species. Heck, with polymorpha, you might mistake some subpopulations for entirely different species, because not only could some populations be distinct colors from other ones, but also different sizes.
 
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Ripa

Arachnobaron
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oh really? wow time to do some research
Yea, and then there's the Haitian giant and Florida Keys alternans lol

Haitian giant gets larger and has a distinct patterning, specifically between the terga. Florida Keys alternans has more uniform coloration.
 

LeFanDesBugs

Arachnobaron
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Mar 14, 2015
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Hello Ripa!How are you?
You say the Florida Keys Scolopendra alternans has a uniform coloration,I would say something like "it looks like a worm" xD
I had one several months ago,and it was totally brown and I never,never saw it...it stayed in the substrate,it was a funless centipede ...
Though centipedes aren't supposed to be fun,if I see mines once a month I'm still happy ;)
 

Ripa

Arachnobaron
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Jan 17, 2015
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Hello Ripa!How are you?
You say the Florida Keys Scolopendra alternans has a uniform coloration,I would say something like "it looks like a worm" xD
I had one several months ago,and it was totally brown and I never,never saw it...it stayed in the substrate,it was a funless centipede ...
Though centipedes aren't supposed to be fun,if I see mines once a month I'm still happy ;)
Yea, even the Haitian giant alternans can be an enigma. Mine just dropped eggs a little over a week ago, and it was underground in a chamber for a good 1.5 months prior with no physical indication that it was gravid. It actually dislikes live Blatta lateralis, but loves eating prekilled ones- interestingly enough, it preferrs live crickets over dead crickets.
Considering old world species are hard to come by in the US (aside from subspinipes/ dehaani), I might grab a Florida Keys alternans in the future. But first I should probably gauge that when/ if these eggs hatch, how many plastic containers I may need to put the young in after their second/ third instars.
 
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