| Archive for scabies.myfreeforum.org Southern California Arachnid, Bug, Invertebrate, Entomological Society |
| Celeste |
House CentipedeMy son spotted an enormous House Centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) in the bathroom yesterday -- will try to post a picture here when I get a chance. So beautiful!I find them in our bathroom a lot. Unfortunately, I usually find them drowned in the tub in the morning... (I leave water in the tub at night to try to keep the humidity up). -- Celeste |
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| Pulk |
hey, if you find any large ones (1.25" bl +) I'm interested 
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| cacoseraph |
i like these
occasionally i find couples together in situ. the strange thing is that they are either super midgets, a dif species, or way immature |
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| TheJackal |
::lol:: I can remember when I was living at a place that had these, my sis would see one and loose it   
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| Celeste |
Yes, the one we have is large (at least 1.25"). It appears to be missing at least one of the long legs in the back, however. I *think* it's a female, though (last pair of legs, of which one is missing, is very long). I'll hang onto it for you. -- Celeste |
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| cacoseraph |
house centipedes (well, their order Scutigeromorpha) are unique among centipededom for a coupel few reasons
they have the most highly evolved "feet" they are the only order to have COMPOUND eyes (all the rest have simple ocelli) they are the only order to have single, middorsal spiracles. all the rest have paired lateral spiracles. i have read that the lateral (on the sides) spiracles help the centipedes to burrow without getting dirt/stuff in their breathing holes. they are among the quickest and fastest terrestrial bugs known. they can do an amazing 22 inches per second! |
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| Pulk |
awesome, do you want anything for it? |
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| Celeste |
I apologize -- I have to retract that previous estimate. I measured it (her?) and her body is actually only 1.0" in length. (She just looked so much bigger on the wall! Guess it was just the legs...)
You can have her for free if you're going to try to breed her. Check her out at the BBQ (and make sure she's a "she") and decide. -- Celeste |
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| Pulk |
well I have no idea how to sex them, but I guess it's a lot easier than for scolopendras.
I can't try to breed (her), as I don't have any others of this species yet... |
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| Celeste |
My guide book says the last pair of legs is elongated in the female, and is twice the length of the body. S/he is missing one of that pair of legs, but the single last leg on one side *is* pretty long... (If there isn't someone at the BBQ who could positively sex it, I'd be very surprised!)
-- Celeste |
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| cacoseraph |
good info, C
what guide book is that? we need to make a literature review area |
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| Pulk |
i don't know if this is the book she used, but i just found this. there's a very decent preview. | ||
| Celeste |
It's "Insects of the Los Angeles Basin", by Dr. Charles L. Hogue -- published by the Natural History Museum of L.A.:
http://www.nhm.org/research/publications/Misc_Pubs/insects.html But obviously it has Arachnids and other stuff as well... Wonderful book! -- Celeste |
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| cacoseraph |
man, i keep running into refs to that. guess i got to get it! | ||
| Celeste |
You can take a look at mine next Saturday and see if you like it. | ||
| crash714 |
It is a good book! I got a copy at the Cal Poly show from BioQuip. I think Francisco recommended it to me. It is the only one on local species I have found that is worth buying. Eric |
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