ID South Africa Centipedes please

[aquadementia]

HI guys

Herewith two centipedes I found while rock flipping around Pretoria, Gauteng province, South Africa

Is this Scolopendra heros?

and I think this is Cormocephalus nitidus?

and here is a local snake that only eats centipedes - Apparalactus capensis (Black Headed Centipede Eater). They are mildly venomous, and max out around 40cm. Sometimes they get eaten by centipedes! This particular specimen was found in the same area as the centipede above

Found a ton of big blue centipedes further north a few months ago. miraculously failed to photograph them! :'(

thanks!

 

[Staehilomyces]

Very cool! While unsure of the identity of the first one, I can be pretty sure that isn't S. Heros. As for the second one, it certainly fits the Cormocephalus genus in my eyes, but don't bet the house on my identification.

 

[Mastigoproctus]

Yeah @Staehilomyces is right, defiantly not S. Heros as they are absent in your neck of the woods. It's a strange CF of Scolopendra Morsitans 100% for sure, the terminal legs build and absences of a ring furrow give it away. Never seen anything like it, I would love to import some of these! Both species actually. You mention a big blue one, how big is it by chance? 15-20cm? Real interested in seeing that species, I suspect you are speaking of a rather rare giant Ethmostigmus sp., well rare in the hobby if not all together absent like these 2 you have here.

 

[aquadementia]

thanks guys! Very interesting, I'll search the forum for the species mentioned.

Guess what I found some snapshots on my phone
Yeah they were in that 15-20cm+ range.
They were VERY prolific where we found them. Literally hand to mind your step at night

 

[Mastigoproctus]

Omg! That's the most amazing Ethmostigmus I've ever seen!

 

[Mastigoproctus]

I've been looking for a centipede like that for a longgg time, no current exporters ever have them or even know where to get them.

 

[Staehilomyces]

That is one of the coolest centipedes I have ever seen.

 

[beetleman]

well, back in 2000 they were very plentyful in the bug trade,and yeah they were good sized ive kept many,and ofcourse had lots of babies from them, but after about a year from that, that was it they vanished from the trade. kept all of mine,babies then sold.traded etc,thinking oh yeah they'll be around for awhile.............nope that was it,wish i kept them and all.

 

[Staehilomyces]

What were they like temperament wise? Also, do you know the scientific name of this beautiful species?

 

[aquadementia]

they werent too aggressive, I kept two adults together for a few days with no issues. They fed well and I could touch them without much hassle

Are there exporters from Africa or rather mostly European breeders?

 

[Mastigoproctus]

There are plenty of exporters in Africa, mostly Tanzania to my knowledge though and they all have common, plain stuff.

 

[Staehilomyces]

One question, how big was that Cormocephalus nitidus?

Edit: You also said that sometimes those snakes get eaten by centipedes. Have you ever seen this happen? If so, I'm sure we'd all love to see some photographs.

 

[aquadementia]

it was 5 - 6 inches, I didnt actually take photos for scale but it was in that range

Couldnt find the photos I've seen with the centipede actually eating the snake, but I did find the following:

A guy reversed over both in his garage

and here the snake won

 

[Staehilomyces]

The second one looks like that big blue Ethmostigmus

 

[F1refly]

Well well well, fancy seeing you here. I've actually been looking for Ethnostigmus for a while but all we get here are small blue centipedes with red heads, and some sort of Caramel coloured one with a black lateral stripe.

 

[Mastigoproctus]

Well well well, fancy seeing you here. I've actually been looking for Ethnostigmus for a while but all we get here are small blue centipedes with red heads, and some sort of Caramel coloured one with a black lateral stripe.

Pics of these pedes you speak of?

 

[F1refly]

Pics of these pedes you speak of?

I'll see what I can manage, they don't like staying still

 

[F1refly]

I apologise for the quality, I had to resize each image so I hope not too much detail has been lost
The locality details for the first 2
Smithfield
Free State
South Africa
don't have the GPS yet
And both were found under cow dung

Blue



Caramel with Lateral Stripe



And these 2 should be different forms of S. morsitans right? Not sure where exactly these were collected



This one ^ is actually smaller than the one just before, which is why its in a smaller tub. Its actually very deep

 

[Staehilomyces]

Very attractive creatures! The blue one looks like a Cormocephalus, to judge from the terminal legs. In Australia, there are many representatives of that genus, and they are quite colourful little characters.

 

[zonbonzovi]

I can't remember, is Cormocephalus missing spiracles on sements 6 & 7? Looks like it in the first pic. Looks like westwoodi. I think they also have S. African distribution? I wish I could make caramel guy out better.