Centipede details, footage and data. Discover out precisely what a centipede is, what centipedes eat, the place they’re discovered, and far more…
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What Is a Centipede?
A centipede is an invertebrate predator within the class Chilopoda. A centipede has a protracted, segmented physique with one pair of legs per phase (not like a millipede, which has two pairs of legs per phase).
The identify “centipede” comes from the Latin centi (hundred) + pedis (foot), however the precise variety of toes varies: the frequent home centipede Scutigera coleoptrata has 30 legs, whereas the southern European centipede Himantarium gabrielis can have greater than 350.
Centipedes at all times have an odd variety of pairs of legs, that means that no centipede really has precisely 100 legs!
Centipedes are metameric, that means their our bodies are organized in clearly outlined segments. The top and tail segments are extremely specialised, however the center segments are all very related, every one bearing a single pair of legs.
Every pair of legs is longer than the pair in entrance. This ensures the centipede doesn’t journey over its personal legs!
How Many Centipede Species Are There?
There are an estimated 6,950 species of centipede scattered all around the world, from the Arctic to the Amazon (some estimates put the whole variety of centipede species at 8,000).
Lower than half of these species have been found and named thus far; the Catalogue of Life identifies 3,145 identified species of centipede. (Supply, twenty fifth Sept 2023)
Is A Centipede An Insect?
Though they appear to be bugs, centipedes and bugs are solely distant family members. Each centipedes and bugs (together with arachnids, crustaceans, and the traditional horseshoe crabs) belong to the phylum Arthropoda.
The arthropods are among the many oldest complicated animals, having advanced round 500 million years in the past – in any case that point, it’s no shock they’ve advanced a lot range.
An irrational worry of centipedes known as chilopodophobia (the identify comes from Chilopoda, the scientific identify for centipedes).
Some species of centipede are remarkably attentive dad and mom. Females will guard the eggs from predators and clear them to stop an infection. In a number of species, this protecting habits extends even after the eggs hatch.
Are Centipedes Toxic?
Centipedes are venomous, however typically not sufficient to hurt people. Nonetheless, a centipede chew may be painful, particularly from one of many bigger species. Like most stings, the largest dangers come not from the chew itself however from the allergic response some folks expertise afterwards.
The centipede’s venom glands are situated within the pincer-like claws (generally known as forciples) that mission from its head part.
Centipedes Glow In Ultraviolet Mild
Bizarrely, centipedes glow beneath blacklight (Ultraviolet A). In case you exit at evening with a typical UV-A flashlight, you’ll see centipedes (in addition to millipedes and scorpions) stand out like pale inexperienced lightbulbs.
Nobody is admittedly positive why – we all know one thing concerning the chemical compounds that trigger the glow, however the evolutionary operate (if there’s one) continues to be a thriller.
World’s Largest Centipede
The biggest centipede on this planet is the Amazonian big centipede (Scolopendra gigantea). The species, which is present in tropical forests of northern South America, particularly Colombia and Venezuela, routinely reaches 10” in size. Though the Guinness Guide of World Data states that 10” is the document for longest centipede, scientists have reported even longer specimens – greater than 12” in some circumstances.
Most centipedes eat small invertebrates, however the Amazonian big centipede is sufficiently big to hunt mice, frogs, birds, and different comparatively massive prey. In a single collapse Venezuela, scientists found a inhabitants of big centipedes that cling down from the ceiling, snatching bats out of the air and killing them with venom.
World’s Smallest Centipede
The most important centipedes are present in tropical rainforests, however the smallest could also be proper close to your entrance door. In 2002, scientists found a brand new species of centipede residing in New York’s Central Park. The species is called Hoffman’s dwarf centipede Nannarrup hoffmani.
At lower than half an inch lengthy, it was the smallest centipede ever found. Its discoverers assume it might not be native to New York, although, and should as an alternative have arrived from Asia on ships or airplanes.
Centipede With The Most Legs
The centipede thought to have probably the most legs is Himantarium gabrielis, a species present in Southern Europe from Portugal to Greece. Though a lot smaller than its Amazonian cousins (solely 5-8 inches in size), H. gabrielis has way more physique segments: as much as 179 within the largest males. At 2 legs per phase, that comes out at 354 legs.
Prehistoric Centipedes
Fossil centipedes date again to 430 million years in the past, making them one of many oldest still-living animal types. Centipedes had been among the many first animals to crawl out of the ocean and make a residing on land (millipedes and scorpions really received there first, however centipedes had been shut behind).
One speculation means that the primary land-living animals had been scavengers who would patrol the shore for washed-up corpses. As a result of nothing else may reside on the land, there was no competitors for these sources – and no predators to be cautious of, till the arrival of animals akin to early centipedes.
Can Centipedes Swim?
The traditional ancestors of centipedes had been aquatic or amphibious beach-combers, however at the moment’s centipedes are all restricted to the land… or, not less than that’s what we used to assume.
In 2001, scientists found Scolopendra cataracta, a Southeast Asian cousin of the Amazonian big centipede.
S. cataracta, it seems, is a robust swimmer that may discover prey on land or in water. After lots of of hundreds of thousands of years, this one species appears to have re-evolved the aquatic life-style of its distant ancestors!
Centipedes vs Millipedes
Each centipedes and millipedes belong to the subphylum Myriapoda. Though they give the impression of being considerably related, with follow the distinction between centipede and millipede is straightforward to identify.
Whereas centipedes solely have two legs (i.e., one pair of legs) per phase, millipedes have 4 (i.e., two pairs of legs). That offers millipedes a way more “leggy” look.
The legs of a centipede are splayed out to the perimeters reasonably than positioned immediately beneath the physique, as is the case in millipedes.
Centipedes have a flat profile, whereas millipedes look extra rounded or tubular.
If it curls right into a ball when threatened, it’s a millipede. Centipedes want to chew after which run away.
Centipedes and millipedes have very completely different existence. Centipedes are lively predators, however millipedes are typically detritivores, that means they feed on decaying natural matter.
Centipedes and millipedes each have huge variation in dimension, millipedes barely extra so. The smallest millipedes are solely a tenth of an inch in dimension, whereas the most important are as a lot as 15 inches.
So millipedes present larger extremes at each ends of the dimensions spectrum. Up to now, millipedes had been much more spectacular: Arthropleura, which lived in North America some 300 million years in the past, was 8 toes lengthy and a foot and a half extensive.
What Do Centipedes Eat?
All centipedes are predators. They appear to have no specific choice on the subject of prey and are joyful to go after no matter is sufficiently small to slot in their mouths. For probably the most half, meaning small bugs and different invertebrates, however the largest centipedes can take vertebrate prey as effectively.
As lively hunters, some centipedes have advanced to be extremely quick. The frequent home centipede is reckoned to be the quickest of all arthropods, with a most pace of greater than a foot per second. (That’s lower than 1mph, however nonetheless loads quick for one thing so small.)
One secret to the centipede’s pace is the association of its legs: the legs get longer as you progress again on the centipede’s physique, which retains the centipede from tripping over itself.
Are Centipedes Harmful?
Most centipedes use venom to kill their prey. As a result of centipede bites aren’t notably critical and never notably frequent, there was much less analysis into their venom than into the venom of snakes or bees, that are thought of extra medically related.
We do know that centipede venom is a neurotoxin, like scorpion venom however not like bee venom. And a 2018 paper means that the bigger centipedes have a singular, fast-acting compound of their venom that helps them immobilize massive and probably harmful prey akin to rodents.
Home centipedes are a typical sight in American houses, although usually an unwelcome one. They’re ugly, with wide-splayed legs and lengthy antennae, and their fast actions freak folks out. However they’re innocent, and in reality could also be useful: by searching cockroaches, moths, termites, and different pests, they’ll really forestall harm to homes. They’re like tiny, creepy little exterminators.
Nevertheless, although the centipedes themselves are innocent, a big inhabitants of home centipedes may be a sign of underlying issues. Simply because the presence of lions signifies a wholesome inhabitants of enormous herbivores, having home centipedes in all probability means there are many different bugs round for them to feed on.
Additional Studying And References
‘Horrific’ First Amphibious Centipede Found (nationalgeographic.com)
Luminous Magnificence: The Secret World of Fluorescent Arthropods | WIRED
Centipede or Millipede? What’s the Distinction? – Carnegie Museum of Pure Historical past (carnegiemnh.org)
Home Centipede | Workplace for Environmental Packages Outreach Companies (uky.edu)
Lethal element of centipede venom recognized | Analysis | Chemistry World
Adis, J., & Harvey, M. S. (2000). What number of Arachnida and Myriapoda are there world-wide and in Amazonia? Research on Neotropical Fauna and Surroundings, 35(2), 139–141. https://doi.org/10.1076/0165-0521(200008)35:2;1-9;FT139
Lewis, J. G. E. (2006). The Biology of Centipedes. Cambridge College Press.
Molinari, J., Gutiérrez, E., De Ascencao, A., Sar, M., Arends, A., & Már-Quez, R. (2005). Predation by big centipedes, Scolopendra gigantea, on three species of bats in a Venezuelan cave. Caribbean Journal of Science, 41, 340–346.
Shelley, R., & Kiser, S. (2000). Neotype designation and a diagnostic account for the centipede, Scolopendra gigantea L. 1758, with an account of S. galapagoensis Bollman 1889 (Chilopoda Scolopendromorpha Scolopendridae). Tropical Zoology – TROP ZOOL, 13, 159–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/03946975.2000.10531129
Stewart, B. (2002, July 24). A New Sort of New Yorker, One With 82 Legs (Printed 2002). The New York Instances. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/24/nyregion/a-new-kind-of-new-yorker-one-with-82-legs.html