Scolopendra subspinipes
Encyclopedia
Scolopendra subspinipes is a species of centipede
occasionally reaching 19 cm in length. This is large for a centipede, but there are several larger species. It is found throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world, and is one of only three species of centipedes in Hawaii
. It is dark in color and has 21 body segments. It has one pair of legs per segment, a characteristic of centipedes. It is often sold as a terrarium animal and called the Vietnamese Centipede.
s and other smaller invertebrate
s. It generally feeds by grasping its prey with a pair of legs and injecting a venom
with its front legs, which are modified for this purpose. It can then feed off the immobilized or dead prey. The venom of Scolopendra subspinipes can cause pain and serious swelling in humans, as well as systemic effects such as nausea and fever in some cases, or rarely, death.
Centipede
Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric animals with one pair of legs per body segment. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of...
occasionally reaching 19 cm in length. This is large for a centipede, but there are several larger species. It is found throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world, and is one of only three species of centipedes in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. It is dark in color and has 21 body segments. It has one pair of legs per segment, a characteristic of centipedes. It is often sold as a terrarium animal and called the Vietnamese Centipede.
Life cycle
The female protects her eggs until they hatch. The centipedes molt once each year, and take three to four years to attain full adult size. They may live for 10 years or more.Feeding and venom
This centipede is a predator. It feeds on arthropodArthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s and other smaller invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s. It generally feeds by grasping its prey with a pair of legs and injecting a venom
Venom
Venom is the general term referring to any variety of toxins used by certain types of animals that inject it into their victims by the means of a bite or a sting...
with its front legs, which are modified for this purpose. It can then feed off the immobilized or dead prey. The venom of Scolopendra subspinipes can cause pain and serious swelling in humans, as well as systemic effects such as nausea and fever in some cases, or rarely, death.