Newbie Questions (excuse my ignorance)

[RazorRipley]

I know lil to nothing about centipedes, and just have a few basic questions:
1)Do adult pedes molt? if so, how often (I have 5 centipedes, and have never witnessed a molt.

2)How does one tell a male from female?

3)Whats the proper way to state a centipede measurement?

4)How big do heros get? What is the largest N. American pede?

5)How often, and how much does a healty one typically eat?

Thanks for taking a look at my elementary questions.

 

[Randolph XX()]

Hi Razor
1.Neither do i, but they do. They just eat their molt, and usually dig a hole or hide during the moltig period

2 you'll need several to compare, usually males have longer legs
http://homepage3.nifty.com/petspets/pede/centipede-breeding1.htm
here are a pair of S.s.multilans from a Japanese wesite. It's always hard to tell for some leggy pedes, house centipedes or giganteas.
Thus, the most accurate way is to examine their sexual organs when thy're dead
http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/...902102-113452&filename=etd-0902102-113452.pdf
here is the Revision on Scolopendromorpha (Chilopoda) from Taiwan by Dr. Jiu
check p49-p56, photo section

3 head to tail, not including anteanas, you can exclude terminal leggs if stated

4 heros are the largest, but there are several records of subspinipes in N.america
http://myriapoda.org/
heros get 8"-9", but i am not sure

5 less than Ts, once a month for larger ones, once a week for pedelings
if you want to see your pedes more often better under feed them

cheers

 

[cacoseraph]

pede page

dude!
some of those centipedes on the top link randolph supplied look like they are made out of metal! completely unreal looking... i bet they look even better in real life!
awesome links

oh, and my S. polymorphas all seem to go underground for the winter... i'm so happy a couple weeks ago my ~6", Mortal Sin, is in spring time mode again!

oh, and an interesting fact i've come across in convos/boards/and books: some centis seem to be "more" venomous in spring time... and less so in winter... 'pedes that can swell a limb (like my polys) in spring might only leave a dimple or pimple in winter. of course, i wouldn't say this means rub your body with scolos in winter... but maybe just be a little more careful in spring