This is a specimen I found while cleaning up dead leaves in a recessed entry to our basement. It is a 1" chilopoda lithobiomorpha - a species indigenous to the Pacific Northwest.
These are the small temperate cousins to the much-celebrated Scolopendra sp. Committed hobbiests will immediately recognize at least a superficial semblance to larger tropical cousins, such as S. Subspinipes. Living here for many years, I have seen them grow as large as 3".
Like the rest of you wierdos ;-) I too have an odd fascination for these hideous yet interesting wormlike creatures. My wife won't let me get a large tropical species, and with a two-year-old child in the house that would not be wise anyways. So I've settled for this little fellow I found yesterday quite by accident. I hope my meager presentation and photos can make up for the nonexotic nature of the little creature in question.
I apologize for the large size of these photos. The nonstandard markup language does not allow:
width=800 height=600
in the tags.
(taken with Olympus C-770)
First meal in captivity - going to town on a pinch of hamburger.
(taken with Sony Cybershot DSC-75)
Hungry little bug.
Movie of the little pede eating its first meal in captivity
These are the small temperate cousins to the much-celebrated Scolopendra sp. Committed hobbiests will immediately recognize at least a superficial semblance to larger tropical cousins, such as S. Subspinipes. Living here for many years, I have seen them grow as large as 3".
Like the rest of you wierdos ;-) I too have an odd fascination for these hideous yet interesting wormlike creatures. My wife won't let me get a large tropical species, and with a two-year-old child in the house that would not be wise anyways. So I've settled for this little fellow I found yesterday quite by accident. I hope my meager presentation and photos can make up for the nonexotic nature of the little creature in question.
I apologize for the large size of these photos. The nonstandard markup language does not allow:
width=800 height=600
in the tags.
(taken with Olympus C-770)
First meal in captivity - going to town on a pinch of hamburger.
(taken with Sony Cybershot DSC-75)
Hungry little bug.
Movie of the little pede eating its first meal in captivity