Ethmostigmus trigonopodus "Yellow Legs" Observations

[BobBarley]

To start off, I currently keep a 1.3 group of Ethmostigmus trigonopodus. This species is being imported as "Scolopendra mirabilis". However, they are obviously not Scolopendra as evidenced by the enlarged spiracles. I deduced that they are E. trigonopodus based on their location (Africa) & based on the occurence of 4 teeth on each toothplate.
https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/ANNA_105B_0067-0137.pdf

This species is said to have venom around the level of S. heros, however, I have not tested this myself.





Here are my specimens:


(0.1 specimen #1 "normal morph")


(0.1 specimen #2 "dark morph")


(0.1 specimen #3 "striped legs")


(1.0 specimen #4 "normal morph)



It appears that this species has variable coloration and patterning. I am currently pairing specimens #2 & #4. Hopefully, they make babies. I will use this thread to update on the pairing of this species. Thank you to @Curiosipede for his help on sexing these. If any of you have any further observations or thoughts you'd like to talk about regarding this species, here is the place to do it.

 

[BobBarley]

Pairing between #2 & #4 seemed to have been successful!
As @Curiosipede and I have seemingly noticed, Ethmostigmus trigonopodus don’t necessarily build sperm webs. I’m unsure if the species is even capable of building sperm webs. He has seen males drop spermatophores and females pick them up without any sort of webbing. @Curiosipede has noted this behavior in multiple species, but this is my first time seeing it.

Next pairing will be between #4 & #1.





Here is a photo of specimen #2:

As you can see, she is much darker with thicker banding than normal yellow legged E. trigs.

 

[BobBarley]

Specimen #3 is on eggs!!

I paired #3 with #4 on 2/20/19 I believe. That’s a quick gestation period!

 

[BobBarley]

Not the best photo, but I didn’t want to disturb her tooooo much.

 

[REEFSPIDER]

Nice work, hoping to have ethmo babies sometime this month myself.

 

[BobBarley]

Nice work, hoping to have ethmo babies sometime this month myself.

Best of luck with your sp. “Thailand”!

 

[BobBarley]

Specimen #3 ate her eggs :-(


Specimen #1 has since laid a brood!! Much bigger than #3’s brood, so I’m hopeful that it’ll be successful.

 

[Ratmosphere]

Sorry to hear about #3 and wish you the best of luck with #1!

 

[BobBarley]

Whoaaa, specimen #2 just laid!

Fingers crossed they’re both successful!

 

[vyadha]

Nice!!

 

[BobBarley]

Specimen #2

 

[BobBarley]

2nd instars left moms today! (#2 & #4)

#2 is significantly darker than #4. I will see if I can photograph any pigmentation differences in the babies.

 

[BobBarley]

1st instars (June 8th, 2019)


2nd instars (July 1st, 2019)

 

[Liquifin]

View attachment 313493
1st instars (June 8th, 2019)

View attachment 313494
2nd instars (July 1st, 2019)

Congrats!! Nice pedelings

 

[neubii18]

What was your process for pairing them? I have a trio of yellow legs that are very different looking than yours, also imported as S. mirabilis.

Congrats on the successful breeding!

 

[BobBarley]

I have a trio of yellow legs that are very different looking than yours, also imported as S. mirabilis.

Post photos. There are at least three different morphotypes being regularly imported.

What was your process for pairing them?

I just put them together haha. They were very receptive and non-aggressive with one another. I suspect that Otostigminae in general have communalistic tendencies.

 

[neubii18]

Post photos. There are at least three different morphotypes being regularly imported.


I just put them together haha. They were very receptive and non-aggressive with one another. I suspect that Otostigminae in general have communalistic tendencies.

I’ll grab some in the next couple days!

Did you put the male in the females’s, Vice versa, or a neutral cage? And were there any rocks or wood in the cage? Did you witness courtship, or were they left undisturbed for a period of time?

 

[REEFSPIDER]

I’ll grab some in the next couple days!

Did you put the male in the females’s, Vice versa, or a neutral cage? And were there any rocks or wood in the cage? Did you witness courtship, or were they left undisturbed for a period of time?

It's usually easier to introduce the female to the males enclosure with centipedes, males atleast in my experience seem to be more spastic and irate when you disturb them or move them, females tend to be more relaxed in general, so keeping the male calm in it's home enclosure is probably best. When you introduce them you will need to jusge their interactions with eachother for the first few moments or hours depending on how it goes, obviously if things look like they're not going well, i.e. you see any type of physical aggression you should probably seperate them, even if they're receptive of eachothers presence you still want to keep an eye on things.

 

[BobBarley]

I’ll grab some in the next couple days!

Did you put the male in the females’s, Vice versa, or a neutral cage? And were there any rocks or wood in the cage? Did you witness courtship, or were they left undisturbed for a period of time?

I used a neutral cage and left them undisturbed overnight (or longer) with water. Less than an inch of sub and lots of random hides.

 

[neubii18]

I used a neutral cage and left them undisturbed overnight (or longer) with water. Less than an inch of sub and lots of random hides.

I did the same with a pair last night. They didn’t show any noticeable signs of courting, however they showed no signs of aggression, and even burrowed right next to each other, so I am hopeful! I will separate them shortly. Thanks for sharing your experience! I hope to be as successful as you.