# what are some must have centipedes?



## neubii18 (Jul 9, 2010)

what sp. of centipedes do you think are must haves?


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## Galapoheros (Jul 10, 2010)

Well "must haves" and getting my hands on the ones I want can be a challenge, but 4 I'd be happy to have as a package are Scolopendra heros, Sc. gigantea(or galapagoensis, at least one of those big pedes), Sc hardwickei and I also like Sc. alternans.  Others would be extras, I would be fine with just those four though.  But I don't like having 'one" of anything since I get the most satisfaction out of breeding inverts if I can.  Just having one seems like a dead end to me.


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## neubii18 (Jul 10, 2010)

what are some like must haves that are pretty easily obtained.i defineately want a sc.heroes.how much do they usually cost?


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## Inverts4life (Jul 10, 2010)

Im in San Diego. I will be heading to southern AZ to collect, and maybe get some heros. I might be able to hook you up with one or two.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Galapoheros (Jul 10, 2010)

Imo if you haven't had pedes, I'd be happy to get Sc. polymorpha, subspinipes and alternans, all pretty hardy and can get a decent size.  Subspinipes and alternans tend to not get health problems so easily if you get it a little to wet ime.  I'd get alternans before I got a subspinipes but that's just me.  Some subspinipes are really cool looking though, Tiger legs is one of my fav looking sub but I've never had one, I'd go for that one though if I decided to get a sub that comes up for sale now and then in the US.


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## snappleWhiteTea (Jul 10, 2010)

Inverts4life said:


> Im in San Diego. I will be heading to southern AZ to collect, and maybe get some heros. I might be able to hook you up with one or two.


when are you coming, we should be having rain here any time now.


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## Quixtar (Jul 10, 2010)

Scolopendra galapagoensis
Scolopendra gigantea
Scolopendra hardwickei
Scolopendra viridicornis
Scolopendra sp. "Malaysian Jewel"


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## Cirith Ungol (Jul 10, 2010)

Kevbug said:


> Hi, I'm soon to decide to buy a centipede. and i need help on some beginner centipedes. I've had reptiles and I've looked up on caring for these gorgeous insects i just need help to decide a good starter please help me!


You already have your thread. It will be noticed and responded to by those knowledgeable, no need to go posting your topic in other people's threads.


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## Kevbug (Jul 10, 2010)

Cirith Ungol said:


> You already have your thread. It will be noticed and responded to by those knowledgeable, no need to go posting your topic in other people's threads.


Sorry again i figured out how to create thread not too long ago


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## xenesthis (Jul 10, 2010)

*top pedes*

Having seen many different centipedes over the last two decades in the hobby/trade, my personal favorites for the overall appearance are:

Scolopendra s. subspinipes "Chinese Tiger Leg"
Scolopendra gigantea "black form"
Scolopendra s. subspinipes "Malaysian Jewel"
Scolopendra hardwicki
Scolopendra heros "arizonensis" (banded form)

...I haven't seen them yet with my own eyes, but some forms of S. mortisans from South Africa and West Africa look awesome from the pics that I've seen.


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## neubii18 (Jul 10, 2010)

Inverts4life said:


> Im in San Diego. I will be heading to southern AZ to collect, and maybe get some heros. I might be able to hook you up with one or two.


that would be awesome!i would prefer smaller specimens,but i really don't care.how much would you charge?pm me to further discuss this please.thanks!


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## ragnew (Jul 11, 2010)

I'd love the following...

S. hardwickei
S. gigantea "black"
S. viridicornis
S. morsitans (color variants from S and W Africa)
S. subspinipes "malaysian jewel"
Buton Island Giant Black

I'd love any of the above. But I'd really like to have the S. morsitans and Buton Islands above all else!


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## thebugfreak (Jul 14, 2010)

id love to get these:

scolopendra hardwicki
scolopendra sp. malaysian jewel centipede
scolopendra gigantea 
and i dont know what this pede is called, and ive asked a lot of people and they dont know either. its a picture i found while surfing the web:

http://www.kerrykriger.com/travel/images/papua-new-guinea/Cool-Centipede.JPG

if anyone knows, please let me know what sp. it is


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## fangsalot (Jul 14, 2010)

thebugfreak said:


> id love to get these:
> 
> scolopendra hardwicki
> scolopendra sp. malaysian jewel centipede
> ...


yes..WHAT IS THAT!!?:drool:


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## xenesthis (Jul 14, 2010)

*pic ID*

Your pic "looks" like a baby of Scolopendra s. subspinipes like the South Pacific form and/or Caribbean form. They lose those vivid blue legs around 2.25"


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## peterbourbon (Jul 14, 2010)

Hi,

the centipede on the pic is from Papua - and as far as I know only this picture is existing in the WWW. Hence it hasn't been properly IDed until yet.

It's therefore not possible to say if it's a juvenile subspinipes or something else.
It's even not possible to ID it as subspinipes with only this picture.

If you have pictures of this centipede e.g. in captive raising and color change documentation in molts plus pictures to ID this centipede properly, feel free to share.

Cheers
Turgut


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## xenesthis (Jul 14, 2010)

*pic ID*

O.k. For now, it's the "beautiful,blue-legged centipede from Papua", but would you agree baby Scolopendra s. subspinipes looks pretty much like that pic then and it's most likely that species since S. s. subspinipes in the Solomon Islands sports babies just like that pic and it's in the same South Pacific area?


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## peterbourbon (Jul 14, 2010)

Hi,

taxonomical IDing is different from how babies resemble in coloration.
Papua has a very endemic fauna (even more than Solomon in centipedes), that's why I'm careful with IDing by coloration in that case.

But regarding Solomon subspinipes:
Can you share a picture of those babies?
I only know how Vanuatu-babies look like, so pictures could be helpful.

Cheers
Turgut


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## thebugfreak (Jul 14, 2010)

i had a post regarding that link i shared with everyone. and noone was able to identify it. sadly. i tried contacting this person on a different boards who was an expert in pedes, but no luck either. (the person hasen't replied)

yes, the pede is from papua. the milne bay to be exact. from the picture, the person who took it wrote "milne bay centipede" so im assuming its from the milne bay area. 

this is the guy that posted the pics. he has other cool animals/inverts in his colllection. the picture of the pede is near the bottom of the page.

http://www.kerrykriger.com/travel/papua-new-guinea.html


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## xenesthis (Jul 14, 2010)

*pics of the Solomon Islands pedes*

Solomon Islands Centipede:
www.flickr.com/photos/14734284@N02/4795271448/

1st instar baby:
www.flickr.com/photos/14734284@N02/4795271404/in/photostream/

NOTE: As these babies molted into 2nd, 3rd and 4th instar, they looked identical to the Papau pede pic.

I'm saying they "looked". They might be 100% taxonomically Scolopendra s. subspinipes or they might be a different species. This needs to be studied and confirmed, which, nobody is currently doing that, so in the mean time for Joe the hobbyist, Steve the importer and John the pet store owner, we can call it Scolopendra sp. "Papua". (Some of us can hedge our bets in the background though and bet it's a geographic variant of Scolopendra s. subspinipes though. 

This threads reminds me of the old debate between splitters and lumpers.


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## thebugfreak (Jul 14, 2010)

xenesthis said:


> Solomon Islands Centipede:
> www.flickr.com/photos/14734284@N02/4795271448/
> 
> 1st instar baby:
> ...


what ARE splitters and lumpers? never herd of those. haha.. 

thanks for clearing it up for me. its a pity that they dont stay like that throughout. sometimes, i wish the colors for when some Ts and pedes are slings and the colors when they turn to an adult were reversed.


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## xenesthis (Jul 14, 2010)

*Scolopendra "splitter" and Scolopendra "lumper"*

>what ARE splitters and lumpers? never herd of those.

Scolopendra "splitter" is HUGE and Scolopendra "lumper" has amazing color. 

Haha...nah, splitter and lumper is a reference to those you debate in taxonomy about what is a species, sub-species and geographic variant. Splitters like to make everything newly discovered into a new species. Lumpers prefer to make the same into geographic variants unless their are some major taxonomic differences. I follow the lumper philosophy. This topic has been argued on AB many times. Review the archives.


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