What's the difference?

[Ghost in Souls]

Hey guys! Does anyone know what the difference is between Scolopendra Gigantea and Scolopendra Gigantea Robusta

 

[Teds ts and Inverts]

Depends on the locality you’re referring to, in terms of gigantea. There is a “White Legs” morph from Peru, which may be its own species and not gigantea. There is also a “Dark Morph” from Trinidad and Venezuela. The “Dark Morph” gigantea is (in terms of taxonomy) a true gigantea, but they haven’t made their way into the hobby yet. The S. gigantea “White Legs” is a dark-reddish hue, with red antenna and yellow/white legs. Scolopendra gigantea “robusta” is a dark orange hue, with yellow legs. In terms of appearance/body composition, the gigantea “robusta” looks just like what’s being sold as S. galapoegensis from Peru, even though there is confusion of whether these are even galapagoensis. SA Giant pedes are a huge taxonomic train wreck. I’m in no way an expert on pede taxonomy, this is going off of observation and information from other keepers, hope this helps!

 

[Teds ts and Inverts]

Here are some pics too, for a better visual. (Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these images)

First: S. gigantea “White Legs” (from Peru)
Second: S. galapagoensis (from Peru)
Third: S. gigantea “robusta” (from Peru)
Fourth: S. gigantea “Dark Morph” (from Trinidad and Venezuela)

 

[NYAN]

One exists and the other doesn’t. I’ve never heard of someone labeling a pede as gigantea robusta.

 

[Teds ts and Inverts]

One exists and the other doesn’t. I’ve never heard of someone labeling a pede as gigantea robusta.

Yeah usually what I call gigantea “robusta” is labeled as robusta, gigantea, galapagoensis, or gigantea/galapagoensis. I think tspiders.com labels them as gigantea “Yellow Legs”/gigantea “robusta”, and that’s where I got it from.

 

[NYAN]

Yeah usually what I call gigantea “robusta” is labeled as robusta, gigantea, galapagoensis, or gigantea/galapagoensis. I think tspiders.com labels them as gigantea “Yellow Legs”/gigantea “robusta”, and that’s where I got it from.

I really dislike all of these fancy names. People really shouldn’t be saying any of those are the species they are called now.

Gigantea isn’t really gigantea probably, as you pointed out.

What’s called viridicornis/ robusta is the same species as what’s called galapagoensis

Galapagoensis isn’t the true galapagoensis. It comes from Peru.

I think the only giant pede that is labelled correctly is the red giant, which is alternans.

 

[Teds ts and Inverts]

I really dislike all of these fancy names. People really shouldn’t be saying any of those are the species they are called now.

Gigantea isn’t really gigantea probably, as you pointed out.

What’s called viridicornis/ robusta is the same species as what’s called galapagoensis

Galapagoensis isn’t the true galapagoensis. It comes from Peru.

I think the only giant pede that is labelled correctly is the red giant, which is alternans.

Agree completely. Like I said, the taxonomy for these pedes is all out of whack, and unfortunately there’s not much anyone can do about it, besides keep on researching these animals, and that doesn’t seem to be a huge priority right now.