Lost a Kuranda rubripes...

[Staehilomyces]

They definitely move, albeit not much unless disturbed. Those brownish mites are in most of my pedes' substrate, and I rarely see them on the pedes themselves.

 

[Galapoheros]

That's the typical behavior in my terrs also. The brown ones generally stay in the sub but aren't shy about running across an invert. It looks like they're checking between joints and other places for prey. I'm going to guess those white ones are grain mites attracted to death and in the roaming stage. They are slow and clumsy looking. They out-produce pred mites in a hurry. If those brown ones are pred mites, you will get population explosions of those now and then also but it's not as noticeable because they aren't interested in staying on inverts. But I have seen 3-5 huddled up where the hypopus stage grain mites go, my guess is that they are feeding on or trying to feed on the grain mites there when that happens.

 

[Staehilomyces]

Just had a tiger rubripes die as well, and it also had a similarly severe infestation of the same mites. Is that too much of a coincidence?

 

[TristanW]

I came home from school today to find the smaller of my two Kuranda rubripes dead. I'm pretty gutted - quite aside from the fact that it was a stunning pede, I was hoping to breed it.
Now, I'm stuck wondering what killed it.
I fed it, and several other pedes, a grape slice a couple days ago. They're all fine, and many have eaten grapes a couple times before, so I presume the grape wasn't the problem.
However, the pede also had a very severe mite infestation, which can be seen in one of the pics below (look at the pleural membrane). These aren't the typical centipede mites; they're larger, and they move around a lot. I've not seen evidence that they actually feed on the pedes, but could the mites have caused it a lethal amount of stress in those numbers?
I also noticed that the foremost few legs have lost their coloration. Does that indicate anything, or is it merely due to the pede rotting?
Here's some pics - maybe you can get something out of them.
View attachment 275447 View attachment 275448 View attachment 275449 View attachment 275450

Hello, I have a Scolopendra Polymorpha that has stopped burrowing, and has been on the surface of the soil recently. He has mites similar to the ones yours had, and little white beads. Any Ideas? I also noticed that wherever the mites are, he is paralyzed.

My condolences on your Pede.

 

[StampFan]

@boina to the rescue please. Need a mite expert on this one.

Good chance the mites were just in the enclosure and once the 'pede died they took residence on the remains.

 

[NYAN]

@HunterScolo knows about pede mites also. Post a pic for us and describe the behavior.

 

[boina]

Disclaimer: I don't know a thing about pedes.

I know about mites, however. First of all, there are plenty of different species of detrivorous mites or 'grain mites' and they don't all look the same. It's pretty impossible to tell from a pic what kind of mite you have.

Detrivorous mites will gather in masses around sick and dying animals. Could be that your pede was sick to begin with since the mites gathered on and around it. Another possibility is that they had plenty of food and no competition. What do you use for substrate? I'd add springtails and similar (e.g. soil nematodes) to compete with the mites for food.

 

[StampFan]

Disclaimer: I don't know a thing about pedes.

I know about mites, however. First of all, there are plenty of different species of detrivorous mites or 'grain mites' and they don't all look the same. It's pretty impossible to tell from a pic what kind of mite you have.

Detrivorous mites will gather in masses around sick and dying animals. Could be that your pede was sick to begin with since the mites gathered on and around it. Another possibility is that they had plenty of food and no competition. What do you use for substrate? I'd add springtails and similar (e.g. soil nematodes) to compete with the mites for food.

Thanks buddy, you're the best. 'pedes are always kept moist so springtails are an excellent idea.

 

[Staehilomyces]

I do think it was the mites - a couple weeks after I posted this, a similarly severe infestation of identical mites killed one of my tiger rubripes. Like I said, these were different to the usual centipede mites, and were visibly irritating the pede.

 

[TristanW]

@boina to the rescue please. Need a mite expert on this one.

Good chance the mites were just in the enclosure and once the 'pede died they took residence on the remains.

Whats odd is that he was still alive, and could move the parts of his body where there werent mites... :/

 

[TristanW]

@HunterScolo knows about pede mites also. Post a pic for us and describe the behavior.

Ok, thank you very much.

 

[patrick nimbs]

I came home from school today to find the smaller of my two Kuranda rubripes dead. I'm pretty gutted - quite aside from the fact that it was a stunning pede, I was hoping to breed it.
Now, I'm stuck wondering what killed it.
I fed it, and several other pedes, a grape slice a couple days ago. They're all fine, and many have eaten grapes a couple times before, so I presume the grape wasn't the problem.
However, the pede also had a very severe mite infestation, which can be seen in one of the pics below (look at the pleural membrane). These aren't the typical centipede mites; they're larger, and they move around a lot. I've not seen evidence that they actually feed on the pedes, but could the mites have caused it a lethal amount of stress in those numbers?
I also noticed that the foremost few legs have lost their coloration. Does that indicate anything, or is it merely due to the pede rotting?
Here's some pics - maybe you can get something out of them.
View attachment 275447 View attachment 275448 View attachment 275449 View attachment 275450

I came home from school today to find the smaller of my two Kuranda rubripes dead. I'm pretty gutted - quite aside from the fact that it was a stunning pede, I was hoping to breed it.
Now, I'm stuck wondering what killed it.
I fed it, and several other pedes, a grape slice a couple days ago. They're all fine, and many have eaten grapes a couple times before, so I presume the grape wasn't the problem.
However, the pede also had a very severe mite infestation, which can be seen in one of the pics below (look at the pleural membrane). These aren't the typical centipede mites; they're larger, and they move around a lot. I've not seen evidence that they actually feed on the pedes, but could the mites have caused it a lethal amount of stress in those numbers?
I also noticed that the foremost few legs have lost their coloration. Does that indicate anything, or is it merely due to the pede rotting?
Here's some pics - maybe you can get something out of them.
View attachment 275447 View attachment 275448 View attachment 275449 View attachment 275450

I reckon, if the legs are discoloured then it could probably be mycosis. Mycosis in centipedes is a fungal disease which occurs when the enclosure is too damp. The centipede bites off its legs (because that is where the disease first takes hold) in an effort to stop the spreading of the disease. If the fungus manages to reach its spiracles, there is no hope! The pede will inevitably eventually die! I had the same problem when I came back from school and my first centipede (cormocephalus westwoodi) died from heat stroke (I mean by that desiccation), so sorry for your loss on such a stunning centipede!!!