# Measure your centipede thread !



## Bob (Apr 2, 2004)

Okay folkes !
I'm tired of all the hype on how big certain centipedes are claimed to reach. I am interested in the big guys. Due to the fact that Gigantea is not available to us US collectors please post some photos of the biggest you have !! I would be curious to who has the biggest in body diameter too!!

diggem out and show their stuff........don't get bit.

Thanks !!


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## BigBadConrad (Apr 2, 2004)

Hmmm, who has brass ones big enough to throw a tape measure around a large pede? That I'd like to see (I think).


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## Wade (Apr 2, 2004)

Maybe pictures that include objects that are of known size for comparison, like a pencil, etc. Or just have a ruler in the cage so we can visually estimate the size. 

Wade


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## Steven (Apr 2, 2004)

Wade said:
			
		

> Maybe pictures that include objects that are of known size for comparison, like a pencil, etc. Or just have a ruler in the cage so we can visually estimate the size.
> Wade


What's wrong with holding your pede against a ruler ?


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## Wade (Apr 2, 2004)

Hey, you're the one with giganteas, try it and let us know how it goes 

Wadew


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## Bob (Apr 2, 2004)

Thanks guys.....I just wanted proof that they have a large one with a photo next to something with scale. I did not anyone to do something foolish and get bit. I saw a large Gigantea at a Portland show in February. It was about 9 inches not counting the rear legs and antennas but was not big in diameter....about the size of a lead pencel.
I saw a photo of a huge virnicornis in someone's hand on Mark Lucas' web site.....never seen one that big.

Bob


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## Steven (Apr 2, 2004)

Wade said:
			
		

> Hey, you're the one with giganteas, try it and let us know how it goes
> Wadew


i'll post pictures next week (if i survive  )





PS: i don't have adults,... 
all are still subadults,.. so it won't be a prob.


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## scarypoppins (Apr 2, 2004)

i have a chinese giant that is 100% 13 inches or more now she is on eggs now but when shes off them i will get a good pic for you guys there is a pic of her on my site shes the purpel one with red legs


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## Mendi (Apr 3, 2004)

I've heard conflicting things about that picture you are talking about on Mark Lucas' web site on the yahoo millipede & ATS groups. Many feel it's a very well done hoax by the shadows and grip it appears to have on his fingertip. Things like how very costly a beast of that size would be etc cause doubts.

I personally only know that no way would I ever be that brave, even if under the influence of extremely potent chemicals.   


Oh, in case anyones not seen the pic...

http://markmlucas.com/images/invertabrates/amazon giant 1.jpg



BTW... why is this side of the hobby considered the darkside? Millipedes aren't intimidating at all, and centipedes are only a little more "creepy/weird" than keeping tarantulas and scorpions


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## J Morningstar (Apr 3, 2004)

Mendi,
 I think the Darkside reference comes from the fact that if you are bit and envenomated by a large centipede the usuall reaction is one of wishing you'd never been born. Or worse yet the thought enters your mind to cut off the offending and damaged limb. Also the pain is not controlable by even large amounts of morphine and there have been a few trustworthy stories to coroberate this.
 Now I am not trying to scare any one away from the hobby but every one should keep this in mind with the larger species and act accordingly.
 I love my 10" Dr. Evil but do I pet him? NO! I don't even ever try to have my hand within 11"s of him. That's what tongs are for.  
 Lastly, millipedes are in my opinion the nicest most harmless of the giant insects. I love mine to death and do hold one or two when the occasion arises. Even my wife is willing to hold one every so often. They are in a word awsome.


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## oblivion56 (Apr 3, 2004)

everytime i try to measure my pedes they go berzerk!


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## LaRiz (Apr 3, 2004)

The first pic is of a female Scolopendra heros castaneiceps.  
The second pic is of a baby from that above female.  Baby is nearly two years old.


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## LaRiz (Apr 3, 2004)

Here is a Scolopendra sp. "Peru".  Not so big, next to a scale.


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## Bob (Apr 3, 2004)

Thanks LaRiz.......that's what daddy likes !!!!


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## J Morningstar (Apr 3, 2004)

Yea Lariz,
In the hand, it does look like quite a different story!


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## oblivion56 (Apr 3, 2004)

gigantea  i want one!i hate you guys! jus kidding


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## Mendi (Apr 4, 2004)

Thanks J, for helping me understand why centopedes are on darkside. I still have a tendancy to feel the darkside would be keeping creatures that actually can kill, but a pain level of 13 on a scale of 1-10 can also lead to that. I've made sure that my fingers stay way away from mine and all I've got at the moment is an S.heros castaniceps... with 16" tongs and a mini snake hook. Should be fine unless it decides to run up either of them


@Lariz  it surely looks many times more imposing while you held the tube, where it didn't seem that impressive by the rule. What a great way to show it. I'm gonna have to get me a tube like that so I can see just how big "nightmare" is

I might have to get me another pede sometime soon


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## danread (Apr 6, 2004)

Here's a photo you have seen before, but i thought i'd post it again. It is a pic of my deceased vietnamese subspinipes, it measured about 9" at the time of its death.

Dan.


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## J Morningstar (Apr 7, 2004)

Here is a pic of Dr. Evil eating a large cricket next to a U.S. penny. The cricket is obscoured but I love the pose he takes when really eating fast and furious.  
 The pic with the penny is not quite true color as I changed it slightly to get rid of some glare but the other is as good as my camera gets through glass. As you can see he is as thick in the middle as the penny. As far as getting him into  a tube? I don't think so. But the measure is about 10".  :}


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## Melmoth (Apr 7, 2004)

Hells Teeth J !!!
                     Are you lacing the Dr's chow with steriods?He just gets bigger and bigger.Thought he looked big and bulky last time you posted pics of him.That is one happy,healthy looking subspinipes.  
                       George


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## Nich (Apr 7, 2004)

*I vote very real*

My friend takes courses on digital photography at Acedeny of intsutue of sanfrasico and he say its real. I showed him the pic and he said it would be very difficult for anyone to blend the image that perfectly where the pede is gripping his finger. Also that if you compare the reflection on the pedes backend and head section to the shadows on his shirt the the angles match up as if they came from the same light source, the way the light trasfers from the rear of the to the tip of his index, and the shadow between the index and thumb would also be very hard to fake. And he says the final indication it is real is that the grain of the image on the pede and the grain of the rest of the image is very consistant. But there are two spots where it looks blurred: one with a blurry patch between the third and fourth leg, and the blurryness of the middle finger under the pede. All in all he sad it is much more likley to be real then fake, but if it is fake it's a damn good one.


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## Bob (Apr 7, 2004)

Hey Dan,
I had a monster Subspinipes a few years ago about as big as yours. I noticed mine is about 7 inches now but no where near as wide. They must stop growing in length at some point and then get wider?

Bob


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## J Morningstar (Apr 7, 2004)

I know some one had claimed to get a message from the originator of the photo saying it was a fake but, 
 I think it is real as well. I don't know why anyone would be that insane putting that big a pede on the other hand. I am pretty good at spotting a fake when I see one. I also believe the small blurr may have been caused by movement.
 In any case wholly sh*t is it exists. :} 
By the way your quote is absoloutly Awsome!


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## Steven (Apr 7, 2004)

Yow Jason,... indeed !!!! 
dr.Evil looks quite happy and fat   
any secret ingredient you're giving it ?


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## danread (Apr 7, 2004)

Bob, 

mine only molted twice i the time i had it, and it went from about 8" to about 9", but it did indeed get noticably fatter. Mind you, a lot of the girth depended on how much it had eaten, the time i gave it a load of bacon increased its size considerably! 

Cheers,

Dan.


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## J Morningstar (Apr 7, 2004)

Steven, 
 I don't feed him anything special but he gets 7 or 8 large crickets a week and he ate some Mango for the first time last month. :} 
Other than that he gets a super worm from time to time and maybe a wax worm every so often.


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## Nich (Apr 7, 2004)

That pede does have some extreme girth to it!!! Its a monster indeed. Very nice jay


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## Steven (Jun 8, 2004)

*Ugly guy with beautifull pede*

it's me holding my friend's Peruvian (original !!! 100% Peru)
he had this pede since it was a pedeling of 6cm,... 
it has grown a few inches in the last years  :} 


me checking it out


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## danread (Jun 8, 2004)

Very nice pede Steven. I have a couple of questions; Roughly how long has he had the pede, i can imagine its a great feeling having grown one up from a little pedeling to that size. Is that a custom made enclosure, or is it just a critter keeper with a clear lid on it? Either way, it looks very nice.
Have you noticed a dfference between the original S.gigantea "Peru" that were around a good few years ago, and the new S.gigantea "Venezuela" that are around at the moment? From all the pictures i've seen the "peru" seem to have more yellow in the banding, whereas if i compare it to the Venezuelan pedes that i have, they have more dark in the banding. Any idea if this is just a different colour morph, or maybe a subspecies?

Cheers,


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## Steven (Jun 8, 2004)

danread said:
			
		

> Very nice pede Steven. I have a couple of questions; Roughly how long has he had the pede, i can imagine its a great feeling having grown one up from a little pedeling to that size. Is that a custom made enclosure, or is it just a critter keeper with a clear lid on it? Either way, it looks very nice.
> Have you noticed a dfference between the original S.gigantea "Peru" that were around a good few years ago, and the new S.gigantea "Venezuela" that are around at the moment? From all the pictures i've seen the "peru" seem to have more yellow in the banding, whereas if i compare it to the Venezuelan pedes that i have, they have more dark in the banding. Any idea if this is just a different colour morph, or maybe a subspecies?
> 
> Cheers,


- about 4 years as i remember
- custom made enclosures,... 
only this one was put in a smaller tank for better observation   
- together with my buddy we have Gigantea's from Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela,... all slighty different in coloration,... guess no subspecies,. only colormorphs (you are talking about the "Gigantea Robusta's",... right  :? ,... cause the "classic" Gigantea are to what i think indeed a different specie or subspecie.

hope to have answered your Q's ?


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## danread (Jun 10, 2004)

gongyles said:
			
		

> - about 4 years as i remember
> - custom made enclosures,...
> only this one was put in a smaller tank for better observation
> - together with my buddy we have Gigantea's from Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela,... all slighty different in coloration,... guess no subspecies,. only colormorphs (you are talking about the "Gigantea Robusta's",... right  :? ,... cause the "classic" Gigantea are to what i think indeed a different specie or subspecie.
> ...


Yes, that has answered my questions thanks. Between the two of you, you have got a good collection of gigantea! When you have time, it would be nice to see photos of all the different colour morphs next to each other, it is interesting to see the differences that occur over geographical distance. I'm not entirely sure where my "robusta" came from, although i suspect venezuela.

Cheers,


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## Steven (Jun 10, 2004)

> Yes, that has answered my questions thanks. Between the two of you, you have got a good collection of gigantea! When you have time, it would be nice to see photos of all the different colour morphs next to each other


yep i know,... we're gonna have to make time for that once   :8o 

at the moment i only have 6 gigantea's,... my friend 4,... 
nice little gigantea-collection   ;P 

ps/ we have given up the "rotating-methode" cause i'm not really buying that anymore (untill proven otherwise   )


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## Midwest Art (Jun 10, 2004)

*Scolopendra*

The Scolopendra sp. from China measured out at 9 inches.

N-Joy
Art


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## cacoseraph (Mar 7, 2006)

LaRiz said:
			
		

> Here is a Scolopendra sp. "Peru".  Not so big, next to a scale.


oooh crazy pics


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## JIMSONWEED (Mar 8, 2006)

...some photos next week, i've to by a new camera....


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## Androctonus_bic (Mar 8, 2006)

Just a question: Except crabs, are the scolopendra the big atrophods over the earth? Not counting sea artrophods.


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## cacoseraph (Mar 8, 2006)

Androctonus_bic said:
			
		

> Just a question: Except crabs, are the scolopendra the big atrophods over the earth? Not counting sea artrophods.



that all depends how you measure things.

just talking about land animals...

there are whip spiders (Ambylpygi or whatever) who have GIANT whip-spans. i can't dredge the number up, but i want to say their whip-span can reach 36"(like 1m)!

but for body length, i would say scolopendra genus might be the "longest thick bodied terrestrial arthropod" if you see what i mean?

edit:
i don't think stick insects can get to 13+" (33+cm) in their three body segments (head+thorax+abdomen), so i think centipedes beat them out

edit2:

also, i believe the longest scorp measurement is ~11.5" from "face" to end of extended tail/metasoma for Heterometrus swammerdammi(spelling)


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## Androctonus_bic (Mar 8, 2006)

Hi; in weight it is for sure the greatest! 
But i'm not agree with what you said whit this Heterometrus swammerdami, The longest one i think is male of hadogenes troglodytes; after that swammerdami and imperator.
But like in all there are redcords, extrange giant forms etc.


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## azra3l (Mar 8, 2006)

Bob said:
			
		

> Thanks guys.....I just wanted proof that they have a large one with a photo next to something with scale......never seen one that big.
> 
> Bob


...........

wtf?


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## dirtborder4life (Mar 9, 2006)

*whoa*

Awesome pics:worship: :clap: .Keep em coming. 
Man, i wish we could get gigantea's in the u.s.


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## iturnrocks (Mar 11, 2006)

Heres a pic of a Kansas S. heros taking on an adult mouse.  This was taken a few years ago, sorry I dont have any recent pics.  He was about 8 inches long.


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## dirtborder4life (Mar 12, 2006)

*centipede vs. mouse*

Whoa............


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## Since I was 5 (Mar 14, 2006)

iturnrocks said:
			
		

> Heres a pic of a Kansas S. heros taking on an adult mouse.  This was taken a few years ago, sorry I dont have any recent pics.  He was about 8 inches long.



I just hope that the mouse was consumed 100% and it wasnt for some sick viewing pleasure of an audience, im really sure this isnt the case tho. I mean, i kill 5 mice a week feeding my snakes and soon to be 6 everyother if my Salom Pink Birdeater truly desires. I feel so bad for the mice but its part of the circle of life i suppose. did that thing really eat the whole mouse?


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## Runaway987 (Mar 16, 2006)

I would figure the giant giant giant giant giant millipedes in australia or wherever would be the largest [mass] arthropod.


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## cacoseraph (Mar 17, 2006)

Runaway987 said:
			
		

> I would figure the giant giant giant giant giant millipedes in australia or wherever would be the largest [mass] arthropod.



yeah

my 7" AGB millipede was thick as both my thumbs.... call an average of almost 1"/2.5cm diameter... i think that is thicker than my longest similar length cents


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## jayer10 (Nov 9, 2006)

Wouldn't mind seeing some updated pics of the larger ones. Maybe some grew?


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## tikbalang (Nov 13, 2006)

where those big ones came from? here in my part of earth dont see as big as those.


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## CopperInMyVeins (Nov 13, 2006)

Runaway987 said:


> I would figure the giant giant giant giant giant millipedes in australia or wherever would be the largest [mass] arthropod.


There are bigger arthropods out there. http://seadragon.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/spider_crab.jpg


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