Physical Anatomy of Centipedes

Believe it or not, centipedes are not just composed of body segments, multiple legs and forcipules which are clearly visible on their physical appearance. Centipedes may seem like simple creatures but they are not. They actually have an interesting and complex "anatomy".

Similar to the arthropods, centipedes do not have an internal skeleton which explains why they feel "squishy" when held by hand. Instead of an internal skeleton, they have a "cuticle exoskeleton" which usually protects their vulnerable organs and soft bodies.

Their exoskeleton has something called "chitin" which can be found in the shells of the sea creatures such as crab shell. In addition, centipedes have multiple cuticle layers. The first layer is the skin (in scientific term, it's called "epidermis"). But unlike other arthropods, centipedes do not have a waxy outer cuticle.

Since the body of a centipede lacks a waxy cuticle, it is common for them to die from dehydration. It is due to this reason why they joyfully inhabit hot climates. They actually reside under rocks, in soil and near the water as it allows them to conserve water and prevents them from dehydration.

Going back into the exoskeleton of a centipede, scientists had discovered it as "non-living" which means, it does not grow. Thus, when the centipede grow, its exoskeleton stays the same exact size from the time that the creature was hatched. As a result, the exoskeleton can get extremely tight that the centipedes may need to shed their exoskeleton to grow a new one. In fact, this process is referred by researchers as "molting".

The other parts of the centipede body include a long antennae (most species has an average length of 1 to 2 inches long) and many pairs of legs. Depending on the type of centipede specie, they can have anywhere between 15 pairs of legs to a whopping 141 pairs of legs. Additionally, centipedes possess a head and a pseudo-head (which is a sort of defense mechanism).

It is known that all species of centipedes choose to prey on insects. Their strategic hunting style is to surprise attack their prey using their forcipules attached into their real head. If they managed to successfully embed their jaws and delivered some amount of venom, this causes an immediate effect which paralyze their prey.

Centipedes actually have multi-jointed antennae and jaws that are connected into their forcipules which are filled with poison. And above all, their jaw is located behind their head which they use to kill their prey.

Anamorphy and Epimorphy of Centipedes Legs

Everybody know that it is common to all kinds of centipedes that they have dozen pairs of legs. One interesting fact about their legs is that, most of them actually grow their legs at different rates. These rates has been classified by the scientists as "Anamorphic" and "Epimorphic".

The growth rate of centipedes depends on several factors which include their class, age and status of their evolution. But in general, any centipedes that almost complete the number of their legs during their molting period is categorized as anamorphic. As for those who almost complete their legs before they go through their molting period is categorized as epimosphic. Newly hatched centipedes start off with only a dozen pair of legs or less. Usually they have no more than 4 or 10 legs and no more than 12 or 15 legs.

Anamorphy

There are two common species of centipedes that undergoes anamorphic growth rate of their legs. They are the Scutigera Coleoptrata (commonly known as the "American House Centipede") and Craterostigmomorpha. On their early stage of being hatched, they have 4 to 6 legs. And once they go through their first molt, they grow another four legs.

When they reached an age of 6 months to 1 year-old, they have completed all of their legs. Female centipedes with up to 15 legs are considered as sexually mature adult which they are ready to produce their own young.

Epimorphy

Just like anamorphy, epimorphy is also commonly observed from two species which are the Geophilomorpha and Scolopendromorpha. Surprisingly, these two kinds of centipedes already have their complete set of legs when they are embryos. They got up to 12 or more legs and once born, they have their complete legs.

Females actually have some slight differences to the males. It's because female centipedes usually have more number of legs than the males. To be more specific, the females can have over 15 total number of legs while the males can only have between 8 to 12 legs.

Overall, despite of the simple appearance of centipedes, the anatomy of their body are composed of interesting parts which are a lot more than meets the eye.

Wild or Giant Centipedes versus Other Predators

Wild or Giant Centipedes proves to be at the "top of the food-chain" (specifically in the world of the insect) because they can actually prey on any kind of insects that they can come across around. To confirm their supremacy among other predatory insects, I have conducted further researches and found several interesting results at YouTube.

Here are the following results of my research which confirms that centipedes are the kings and queens of the insects:

Giant Centipede versus Giant Tarantula

If a giant centipede goes against a giant tarantula, who do you think is going to win?

First, let's discuss both qualities of the two predators regarding on how they attack and defend themselves. Through their attacks and defensive mechanisms, we can derive our speculation on who will gain the glory of supremacy against one another.

The Giant Centipede

Giant Centipede Attacking Mechanism

Common to all kinds or species of centipedes are their fearsome "poison claws". Scientists identified them as "toxicognaths" (which is like a pincer) located at the adjacent part of their head.

As compared to other venomous insects that stings, centipedes does not inject their poison but they do deliver it right into their victims through their bites. When a centipede is going to attack its prey, it will grab its target followed by a quick bite and at the same time releases its toxic venom. The poison will immediately take effect paralyzing the victim making it unable to move.

Giant Centipede Defensive Mechanism

No matter how fierce the centipedes as predators, they can also end up as prey against other more superior creatures in the forest. In order to defend themselves, centipedes has the ability to "camouflage" (conceal or hid themselves). But their most interesting defensive mechanism is that, if a tougher predator managed to grasp a centipede's leg, the centipede can actually drop or release its leg off from its body to flee itself.

The Giant Tarantula

A giant tarantula is a spider-specie that is feared by many individuals especially in the US. The size of this spider alone is very frightening and the threat of their bite to humans is also similar to the centipedes. Tarantulas also possess "neurotoxic venoms". According to some scientific studies, a tarantula's venom isn't good enough to kill humans or animals. In fact, there weren't any recorded incidents or verified cases of human death concerning about a tarantula bite.

Giant Tarantula Attacking Mechanism

A tarantula's main offensive weapon is its pair of fangs. The fangs posses muscular base that is attached from the head. It can be described as a "backward-pointing" fang in which the venom comes out (secreted from the glands inside the basal part).

When a giant tarantula attacks its prey, it will aggressively drive its fangs right into the body of its victim. At the same time, the venom is injected causing its prey to be completely paralyzed.

Giant Tarantula Defensive Mechanism

According to some scientific research, the hairs of a giant tarantula spider can penetrate through the soft skin tissues of your skin. This can result into "urtication" or "irritation".

Who do you think will win the match between a giant centipede against a giant tarantula?

Before you derive on your own conclusion, you may first want to watch this short video of an actual battle of the two competitors above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf8pAwGsuF4

Based from the video, the giant centipede easily preyed on the unsuspecting giant tarantula. The spider got bitten from behind (or ambushed) making it unable to fight back and defend itself. If it happens that the tarantula managed to avoid the centipede's sneaky attack, do you think that the spider have the chance of beating the centipede?

The answer is "No". If the tarantula will simply run away then it will have better chances of surviving but if not, the giant centipede can still take the spider down. It's because the giant centipede has tougher armor and equipped with more legs that can easily out-power the pitiful tarantula.

Giant Centipede versus Giant Hornet/Wasp

When a giant centipede will aggressively attack its prey, you will be surprised by its fast and very speedy crawling prowess. When you see one coming or charging towards you, you can actually outrun it provided that you are a good runner. But, not for the case of a flying giant hornet.

Giant hornets actually belong to the "Wasp" family. They are flying insects with large, fat rounded bodies and they do emit a noisier sound as compared to their ordinary species. The most fearsome about them is their powerful sting filled with high-volume of venom that they use as defensive mechanism.

Despite of the hornet's fearsome appearance and annoying vibrating sound, they are not aggressive to anyone. To tell you something interesting, there were already several stunts performed by different individuals allowing themselves to be crawled by a large number of hornets all over their bodies. As a result, no harm was done to them by this kind of friendly wasps.

Is the hornet venom dangerous to human?

Unfortunately, there were a few records of individuals who died from wasps sting. Most of these individuals were those with allergic-reaction to the flying insect's venom. Hornet's sting can be really painful where the damage or harm that it can bring to their human victim is comparable to the Yellow Jacket or Bee.

As mentioned above, hornets are not aggressive type of insects but they won't hesitate to attack anyone who are blocking their flight-path or moving rapidly towards their nests.

Common to all wasps, a hornet's stinging apparatus consists of a "sac" which contains the venom. Along with the sac is a sharp injection-tube which they use to penetrate their victim's flesh before extracting the venom in.

According to some scientists, a hornet's venom sac contains around 50 mg of venom. And when they do sting their prey, they usually inject about 10/15 mg of their venom which means that they can sting up to 3 to 5 five times before their sac of venom is emptied. Once their sac got completely depleted, it may take some time before it gets to be filled up again.

Here is an interesting video that I found about a giant centipede preying on a giant hornet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZZE_Trw5zE

Based on my observation, the battle between the giant centipede against the giant hornet was a "slaughter". If you are going to take a close look, you will realize that the two contenders were enclosed inside a glass-cage. With such battleground, the giant centipede surely does have the upper hand.

Hornets actually rely on their flying capability to hunt down their prey (usually by surprise). But with an enclosed environment, the hornet cannot barely fly around until it got tired and was caught by the giant centipede.

Giant Centipede versus Giant Scorpion

Scorpions are just like crabs where they posses two-large pincers which they use to grab and wrestle their prey. They also have eight pairs of legs which allow them to move quick enough to catch their food. However, the most dangerous part of a scorpion's attacking mechanism are their tails.

A scorpion's tail actually consists of several segments with an average length that ranges from 9 to 21 cm. At the end or tip of their tail is called the "stinger" or "telson". This stinger or telson is a very sharp needle in which they use to sting into their prey and at the same time, apply their venomous toxins.

Are scorpions dangerous to humans?

There is actually a very large number of scorpions belonging to different species. But, most of their species are harmless to both humans and animals. According to some researchers, they had an estimate of about 2000 species of scorpions that currently exists on this period of our time. In addition, there are only 25 to 40 unique species that has the capability to inject potent venom to kill their human or animal victims.

Here's a video owned by "Monster Bug Wars" where they had featured a fierce battle of survival between a giant centipede and a giant scorpion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE-LMPHR_TY

As shown on the video, the giant centipede was the aggressor. It keeps on attacking the scorpion that was simply waiting and trying to defend itself. At first, the giant centipede was having a hard time on its attempt to grab the giant scorpion. This was because of the scorpion's large and strong pincers that prevents the many-legged creature from getting close to it.

After several engagements, the centipede was finally able to grab the tail of the scorpion. It then bit off the scorpion's tail to disable it from delivering or injecting its poison.

With the scorpion's tail disabled, all it can do now was to rely on its pair of pincers. Unfortunately, the giant centipede has a bigger size body with more number of legs which makes it impossible for the scorpion to out-wrestle it. As a result, the scorpion was defeated.

Centipede versus Grasshopper Mouse

Normally, centipedes only prey on small sized insects such as bugs, spiders and cockroaches. Interestingly, giant centipedes can also hunt larger-sized prey such as the "Grasshopper Mouse".

National Geographic Channel have a wonderful discovery about the outcome of a giant centipede battling a grasshopper mouse. You can watch the video on the link provided below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOsmeOceOsg

As shown on the video, the giant centipede had aggressively invaded the mouse's nest without fear. Those new born babies of the mother grasshopper mouse can easily be devoured by the giant centipede.

An interesting fact about a grasshopper mouse (especially females or mothers) is that, they won't back out from any challenge that involves threat to their offspring. And the most interesting fact is that, the females are the main combatants while the male goes to hide.

Going back into the video, the mother mouse went to confront the giant centipede. Their battle involves lightning-reflexes that when one of them receives a "vital hit", surely the creature that got hit will be the end of it. Fortunately, the grasshopper mouse was able to pin and disable the giant centipede saving its young from the unwary predator.

Snake versus Giant Centipede

Snake do belong into the "reptilian" world of creatures (while centipedes into the world of insects), but do you know that some giant centipede can go over-board by also attacking snakes as their prey?

The majority of individuals claim that there is no way for a snake to fall as prey by any giant centipedes. It's because any snake can easily crush the centipede with their constricting-body (or inject their poisonous venom with their fangs). However, this was not the case from an interesting encounter between a giant centipede and snake in the plantation area in Penang, Malaysia.

Here's the video that went viral around the web which was about a giant centipede feeding on its snake prey:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooFSFR2s7Ig

As shown on the video, you can see that the giant centipede had genuinely grabbed the lower-half portion of the snake's body. The snake seem to panicked probably it doesn't know what to do. Suddenly, the snake rolled and twisted around showing some kind of painful struggle. At this point, the giant centipede had actually embedded its fangs deep into the snake's flesh.

After a few more minutes, the centipede's venom finally took effect where the snake can no longer move.

Giant Centipede versus a Young Viper Snake

In the Island of Macedonia, Golem Grad which is also known as "Snake Island", a group of scientists were surprised on what they had found on their exploration around the island. They had surprising encountered a young dead viper snake with a head and nose of a giant centipede sticking out from its stomach.

The scientists took both of the creatures in an attempt to solve the mystery. To find out the answer, they had dissected the snake's body to take the centipede out.

According to the scientists' speculations, both creatures had a duel and at some point, the viper managed to devour the centipede as a whole but still remained alive. Since the giant centipede was still alive, it chewed and ate the inside tissues of the snake. This was due to the findings of the scientists that the internal organs of the snake got dissolved and what only remains were the snake's stomach-wall. As a result, the snake died while the giant centipede died from suffocation or got poisoned by the snake's deadly venom.

The young snake viper measures exactly 20 centipedes in length while the giant centipede was about 16 centimeters. Thus, their difference in length is only 4 centimeters.

Overall, wild or giant centipedes have proven that they are indeed at the top of the food-chain specifically in the world of small creatures.

Where Do House Centipedes Go During Winter?

If your house or surrounding environment has been infested by centipedes, you might have already experienced noticing them missing during the cold winter season.

Where did they go?

The answer into this question is all about their habitat. You have to know that centipedes can only propagate on places that offers warmth, moist and damp areas. This means that they cannot live on dry places or on extremely cold environments. If they insists of going out hunting for their food during winter, they will eventually won't survive long enough.

Speaking about survival, what do they exactly do during winder in order to survive this type of extreme condition of the weather?

Centipedes Do Hibernate During Winter

Centipedes actually do hibernate throughout the winter season for their survival.

What is hibernation?

For a centipede to go under hibernation, it needs to find a perfect suitable place to stay for the whole winter. In addition to this, it also needs to conserve most of its energy and store sufficient food to eat. Although, centipedes won't actually be eating a lot because of the effect of the cold temperature which slow down the rate of their metabolism. Thus, they won't be eating much food as compared to their normal appetite.

The winter season in the United States actually starts in the month of December until the month of March. That's 4 months of hibernation period for the centipedes staying inside their lair unbothered.

But, how come that there are still house centipedes running around inside your house even during the winter season?

House centipedes are one of the few species that can thrive on habitat that offers them warmth and food. This is the reason why house centipedes can still be observed even during winter but only inside homes or shelters. If you are suffering from a house centipede infestation then you may want to consider reading this topic:

Tips On How to Get Rid of House Centipedes

Once the winter is finally over, expect that centipedes will be all over various places to hunt for their food because they are surely hungry and exhausted.

How about the millipedes?

Some individuals has the wrong notion that centipedes and millipedes are the same type of creature. Well, they are not.

In terms of hibernation, millipedes also do hibernate during the winter season. I have been researching on various communities regarding about this subject where there are many pet owners who were able to closely observed how they hibernate. There was even one pet owner who claimed that he left his "African Millipede" pet outside on a branch of a tree. It was there for the whole period of the winter season.

When winter was finally over, the pet owner of the millipede went to check on it. At first, he thought that his pet was dead because it wasn't moving at all. But after further inspecting the creature, it surprisingly moved giving him a sign of life that it was pretty much alive.

Perhaps, the main difference between a centipede from a millipede when it comes to their hibernation is that, millipedes can simply hibernate at any places whereas centipedes needs to look for the perfect and suitable place to settle down.

Overall, centipedes that lives in the wild goes to hibernation during winter. But for the house centipedes, they won't be going nowhere provided that they have a warm environment and food to eat inside the house or shelter.

Scientific Discovery and Study of Centipedes

The study of centipedes is actually very complex that really challenges most researchers about uncovering information about them. But despite of the complexity involve, discovering and studying various species of centipedes are also quite very fascinating.

For years, the centipede (also referred by some as the "100 legged worm or insect") has frightened but intrigued a lot of people throughout the world. Due to their existence, "Biologist" (scientists that studies centipedes and other various life forms on Earth) has been studying these particular arthropod for decades.

Throughout the years of studying the centipedes, scientists came to discover the most important thing to know about them. Most scientists had actually focused their research on the specie called "Scutigera Coleoptrata" where they were able to learn their biology especially on how their venom works.

The importance of studying centipedes is actually for the benefit of everyone. By understanding them, the general public will be able to know, how or what precautions to take when in contact with a centipede. And also, how to eliminate them and to know the benefits that they do bring to us.

Biology of Centipedes

A centipede's biology is fairly simple where scientists had classified them under the arthropod category. Since the most commonly seen specie of centipedes around are the scutigera coleoptrata, they are the favorite test subjects by most researchers.

Scutigera coleoptrata possess a long and soft body with anywhere between 15 to 100 pairs of legs. They have small claws (also known as "pincers") that they use to either defend themselves or to catch their prey. On top of their tiny heads, they have antennas.

As one of the top predators, wild centipedes are quite good at camouflaging themselves especially when they are in the forests or near the water. To be more specific, they generally love the tropics, parks that feature small rivers or beaches that have rock formations gathered near the ocean.

When Centipede Bite a Human Victim

Centipedes only use their venom in catching their prey but they won't hesitate to use it against human when they feel threatened. The good thing is that, centipede venom is not dangerous to human unless the person is allergic to the bite. However, their venom is deadly to their prey especially those insects that are beneath them in the "Food Chain".

If it happens that you got bitten by a wild centipede (assuming that it's a Scolopendra), it's venom will work on you where you will be suffering an unbearable or excruciating pain that could last for an hour. The bitten area will then leave a red bump that will itch and swell for up to three days or more. And for the good news, there have been no recorded human deaths from centipede bites due to their venom.

On the other hand, if the centipede bit its prey, it will paralyze them to the extent that they are unable to move and defend themselves. This makes their prey an easy target and meal for the centipede.

Their venom is very effective on any insects regardless of their size. They can easily take down ants or even bees!

Study of Centipedes for Preventing Centipede Infestation

Scientists or biologists aren't studying centipedes just for the sole purpose of being fascinated about them. The main objective of their studies is to discover the best and effective method on how to prevent centipede infestation especially around your home. So far, they have found out that home owners should always keep their homes dry and clean (a habitat in which centipedes cannot thrive in).

Without the study of centipedes, people may see them as a threat that needs to be completely terminated. It is very important that you have to know the fact that centipedes do have a major importance in the ecosystem. They are the once responsible for controlling the numbers of other insects especially pests such as ants, termites, bed bugs, cockroaches and etc...

If it happens that centipedes are all wiped out of their existence, this will cause chaos in the ecosystem allowing over population of other tiny insects which the centipedes preys on. Some scientists speculates that spiders may take the place of the centipedes if they are gone.

As a result of the study, centipedes plays a very important role in the ecosystem. Other than their importance, scientists have also discovered hundreds of different species around the world. To tell you, they even keep on discovering new species every year that probably undergone the process of evolution.

Regardless of the ongoing studies about centipedes, scientists have not yet learned everything there is to know about them where some aspects of their lifestyle remains to be a mystery.

The Life Cycle of Centipedes

The life cycle of centipedes is quite intriguing because their reproduction does not involve mating. What actually happens is that, male centipedes simply deposits their "spermatophore" for the female centipedes to take. So when a female centipede took a spermatophore, she will place them into her web.

At some instances, some male centipedes does a courtship dance which is to encourage the female centipedes to take their sperm. But sometimes, some male centipedes would just simply leave their spermatophore for the female centipedes to find.

Female Centipedes' Care for their Eggs

After a female centipede took in the spermatophore that she needs, she will deposit the eggs into the small holes in the soil that she made. The next step is for her to cover those holes (with eggs) with soil to insure their protection against other predators.

Female centipedes can take care a number of eggs ranging from a minimum of ten to a maximum of fifty eggs. And depending on the embryo, it can take them one to three months period to hatch.

Centipedes are very maternal and paternal. After the female centipede lay her eggs and bury them into the soil, she will frequently check on them to keep them safe from predators or other insects. She will also often lick her eggs to prevent the growth of fungi.

Once the eggs have hatched, the mother centipede will stay to protect her young until they are ready to leave on their own survival.

If it happens that the mother centipede has been interrupted by someone or something in the process of burying her eggs, she will either eat them all or leave them on their own demise. In most cases, they get rotten by fungi.

Centipede Reproduction

Centipedes have a pretty short reproductive life. They are only able to reproduce for a year. Sometimes, they can reproduce up to two years but generally, most centipedes are able to reproduce for up to 12 months period.

(At four months old, centipedes tends to become sexually matured.)

Unlike other common insects, centipedes have a lifespan of five to six years of age making them as one of the longest living species of insect around the world. And, it's also the reason why centipedes makes a good pet.

Moreover, the life cycle of centipedes may change as some scientists has confirmed that they are still undergoing a process of evolution. They are actually discovering newly evolve species of centipedes on a yearly basis.