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Project Noah Nature School
Scolopocryptops sexspinosus
Bright red centipede of some kind. Yellow-orange underbelly, legs, and antannaes.
Very agressive if aggitated. Big set of pinchers around its mouth.
Spotted on Jun 28, 2011
Submitted on Jun 30, 2011
11 Comments
Oh interesting. I knew they could bite, but I had no idea they could be venomous. It's cool to learn something new everyday!
And as for the centipede's venom--our North American species probably aren't big enough to do much harm to humans, so no worries there. It's the tropical species that are more of a danger, as Scott hinted at.
Great find! I've been learning about the Myriapods lately and went out the other day and collected about six millipedes and centipedes, I can't wait to identify them all.
I find last picture very sensitive...!!
I live with someone who studies critters like this and keeps a giant venomous Scolopendra, so your photos looked familiar.
Very tough to identify old age creatures..!!
I believe your right. Scolopocryptops sexspinosus looks to be the right identification. Thank you both!
Not very long. I'd say about 2-2.5 inches.
That's a pretty impressive centipede. How big was it? It looks like a Scolopendra-type centipede, maybe Scolopocryptops sexspinosus. Here's a BugGuide page that might help: http://bugguide.net/node/view/97562/bgim.... Some of the tropical Scolopendra centipedes are dangerously venomous.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centipede
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millipede