Scolopendra gigantea, Peruvian giant centipede hifi

Scolopendra gigantea, Peruvian giant centipede is one of the largest species of centipedes in the world. It has reliably obtained 9-10"/22-25cm body length and reputably achieved 12-14"/30-35cm!

As the name implies, this centipede can be found in Peru and in other parts of the Amazon. Heavy restrictions on the invertebrate trade from most/all of the countries of origin of the beautiful species ensure that they remain rare in USA collections... but when you can find one to view they are simply amazing!

This centipede is at least 9"/22cm long in the body. If you count its antenna and long hind legs this centipede can stretch an amazing 14"/36cm!

A fellow local bughead was kind enough to let me play with his gigantea, which is very fortunate for me as i will likely never be able to afford the $300+ (USD2007) that this specimen would go for on the open USA market.

The bite of this species is likely very unpleasant, but in no way deadly to humans. There is not a lot written about centipede envenomations and even less about envenomations by this pracking huge species. I was very tempted to test this venom on myself... but the large unknown factor and the fact i drove myself to the Bugfair where i handled this pede convinced me that discretion is probably the better part of valor... for now!

n.b. there is some confusion in the hobby world about just what exactly to call this species, scientifically. For a while there were VERY large centipedes from South America being sold variously as Scolopendra gigantea, S. robusta, or S. gigantea robusta. Officially the trinomial S. gigantea robusta has been busted (heh, boy its so late for me right now, it is early... can you tell?) by the noted myriapodologist Rowland Shelley. Officially S. robusta are a similar looking, though much smaller (though still largeish in the grand scheme) species from Mexico and S. gigantea are a HUGE centipedes from the Amazon... so i *think* this is S. gigantea, even though it was sold to its current owner as S. robusta.

[THIS MOVIE WAS UPLOADED FROM A 40MB WMV FILE]

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Scolopendra
• gigantea
• Peruvian
• giant
• centipede
• robusta
• bugfair
• LA
• Natural
• history
• museum

[4395tjh]

scolopendra gigantea is the worlds biggest and most dangerous centipede in the world, you've got some big big BIG! stones letting it crawl on you like that, was that an exotic pet sale or something?

[cacoseraph]

they aren't that dangerous. no kills in medical records. this was at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum Bugfair

[Darky0443]

they have venomous toxins or something similar? or they just bite when they`re annoyed. If it`s this big I don`t suppose it has to be venomous. maybe the fact that it`s tis large is enough to be a good predator. so is this thing biting?

[cacoseraph]

they inject venom through the first pair of legs, which are modified into almost fangs. as far as i know, all centipedes are venomous and this species certainly is. their venom almost certainly would not kill me but i'm guessing it would feel like a very bad sprain or broken bone from a critter this size

[vitalalive69]

I cant see its huge fangs, they should be dark red color and right below its head, they were most surely removed

[cacoseraph]

the fangs themselves are always black and very definitely still there. there is even a point in the video where they are visible. the fangs on this specimen were around 1cm long

[unknown19811]

kill it with fire

[cacoseraph]

definitely not. i don't buy or support/feature any animals that have been modified by humans like that. every once in a while i have seen scorpions that shed their skin incorrectly and loose their stinger and am fine with that, but not cutting the stinger off to play with

[HybridLibrarian]

Big ? Haha. One of its ancestors, Arthropleura, was 2,5 meters long (8.5 feet), more than 50 cm wide (1.7 feet) and weighted around 500 kg (1100 pounds)... Check my vids if you want to know more about it !

[Peppergon]

but the bit hurts like fuck!

[0reamwallker]

How big teeth this have? It eats cockroaches eh?

[0reamwallker]

OMG , I have from that bigger respect than spiders. I realy fear that, I saw movie the new King kong. But they are beautiful.

[MrCosmin94]

1:40 big big ballz

[ThisPageStaysREAL]

Im at this video because i just saw a monster of a centipede crawling up the wall outside while i was hanging wet clothes to dry.. it was out of killing range or i would have ended his creepy ass for sure.. in the wild, I'm all for live and let live, but if i open my balcony door and see something moving other than a moth or ant, its history.

[frozzytoobz]

Although you have no problem handling this one I'm curious to know if you would let a wild "untamed' one scuttle about on your hands and arms or on your face. That pede is very slow moving and docile. Is it because it's cold or do they settle down after there captured.

Normally they are seen scurrying about very quickly, which is part why I guess they have their scary monster tag.

[KouroshKabir123x]

Cant wait til BugFair in 2 weeks from now!!!

[Lemmetry1234]

Awesome creatures.

[lito21]

Lo que no entiendo es con lo doloroso que puede ser un picotazo de esas escalopendras, estos señores la cojan y la manoseen como si fuese un inofensivo hamster, la han domesticado ?? o como es eso??