# Thai Black Giant Centipede?



## xenesthis (Mar 19, 2004)

Years ago, I heard of an all black, very stocky Thai centipede reported at 14". Anybody heard of this, seen one, have a pic?

From Thailand, I've seen something that is probably Scolopendra mortisans with a bright red body and black bands and also something like the "Malaysian Red Centipedes" of the past few years, but nothing all-black with huge lengths.

Todd


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## Steven (Mar 19, 2004)

Hey,...
never seen it,.. but could it be that "black" pedes  are just dark-red or brown ones who have been living in very moisture environments ?
cause as to what i've experienced,... keeping pedes moist makes them darker then when you keep them less "wet",.. or am i mistaken ???

anyway,... here's something big, black and azian:






copyright by Jannes


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## Melmoth (Mar 19, 2004)

Steven,
             Do you know which pede this is really? Just wondered if you are teasing us with-big,black &asian. Never seen oe like it before. Those blue legs are pretty distinctive.
              George


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## Steven (Mar 19, 2004)

sorry George,.. i haven't seen it in "real life",.... so i can't ID it.
i'm awaiting some more info of a fellow German-boardmember  
Fingers crossed these will make it someday on the German "market" :}


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## Bob (Mar 19, 2004)

Hi Todd,
The only time I saw this was in a book called "The Guide to Owning Millipedes and Centipedes" by Jerry Walls 

he references a 8 inch Vietnamese Black on page 61. I have a freind who is from there and is an importer too....he has never seen one.


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## Joe (Mar 20, 2004)

http://www.invertepet.com/images/vanuatu_dark.jpg


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## phoenixxavierre (Mar 20, 2004)

*black pedes*

I've heard of black pedes from Madagascar. I haven't heard of any from Thailand though, short of those mentioned in this thread.

Paul


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## Wade (Mar 23, 2004)

Back in 1997 0r '98, I was at a show and this tarantula dealer was selling a giant BLACK centipede that appeared to be well over 12", and very broad. It was longer than the clear plastic shoebox it was being held in (heald shut by duct tape!). It dwarfed any of the orange S. gigantea I've ever seen since. Supposedly, it was from an island near Trinidad. Long way from Tailand, I realize.

Wade


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## danread (Mar 23, 2004)

Was it from Tobago? it's possible that could have been S.viridicornis (sp?). I was in tobago a few years ago, but despite my searching, i couldnt find any pedes at all. I suppose that's a good excuse to go back again, right?   

Dan.


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## Wade (Mar 23, 2004)

It's possible that it was viridicornis, but I don't remember any sort of banding on the legs or antenna at all. In my memory, it's an all-black animal. Of course, it was one of my earliest exposures so a giant centipede so it could be I wasn't noticing the finer details.

The dealer claimed that it came from a very small island (apparently uninhabited by people) where the top natural predators were giant centipedes. That's probably just so much hobbyist lore, but it's fun to dream about "Centipede Island". 

Wade


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## xenesthis (Mar 24, 2004)

*All-black centipedes*

Scolopendra viridicornis was last seen imported in very small numbers around 1995. They came in with black bodies, blackish-green legs, bi-colored head antenna and terminal legs, very stocky and 10"-12" in length. I saw one that a guy from OK had at the Orlando show of 1999. He had these thing so fat (feeding it thawed out beef heart!), it was like a big, fat savanna monitor and he was holding it! It was a solid 12"+ in length and a good 1" in width easily - very, very impressive.

I was talking a few years ago to some European importers of Asian stock and several told me about a huge 14"-16" all-black centipede from Thailand the locals greatly feared. I read about it also in some obscure scientific journal in Europe as well. This was back in '98-'99. I can't remember the importer or the journal names, but I believe this creature exists. Most of the pet trade stuff is collected in northern Malaysia and Burma, southern Vietnam or southeast China, so not much is known about Thai Scolopendra spp.

Todd


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## xenesthis (Mar 24, 2004)

*Thai black centipede*

From: http://forum.insecthobbyist.com/centipedes/messages/768.html

"Wildlife filmmaker needs information regarding Thai subspeci
Posted by cindercone on August 01, 2002 at 10:58:53:

Hi, I am currently in the research stage of a film on the Thai giant black centipede (A subspecies of Scolopendra subpinipes?). Maybe you guys can help to provide a bit of clarity on a few points. Also any photos and info regarding toxicity, feeding behaviour, breeding and reproduction and life cycles would be gratefully accepted. So here are a few specific queries, any info about the folowing would be excellent, these are all behaviour that I have observed and wondered if you had seen this 
1. The 'fiegning' behaviour- running backwards as if in retreat and then coming fast in to bite
2. I observed this shiny armoured black beast of 12", is this an optimum size
3. Thai forestry workers when bitten dab the puncture wounds with palm oil in which another pede has been 'pickled', have you heard anything about this remedy
4. Territorial behaviour... do the males fight
5. I heard of two bite incidents, one in which the girl required resusitation twice after respirartory failure and another in which a german tourist experienced temporary paralysis. Other affects that have come out in research include renal failure (kidneys), any comments, info and storys wanted.
6.I also want info on other regional species ie. vietnamese, laos and cambodian varities.
My email address is james_ewen@hotmail.com
Thanks and be careful with your multi legged biting machines"
---------------
O'kay, this thing must exist, right?

Todd


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## Cooper (Mar 24, 2004)

What species is in the first picture? Whatever it is, it is beautiful!


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## Steven (Mar 24, 2004)

xenesthis said:
			
		

> I was talking a few years ago to some European importers of Asian stock and several told me about a huge 14"-16" all-black centipede from Thailand the locals greatly feared. I read about it also in some obscure scientific journal in Europe as well. This was back in '98-'99. I can't remember the importer or the journal names, but I believe this creature exists.


Can you remember from wich European country those "obscure" journals were ??? (Germany, Austria, France,... perhaps,.. or in wich language they were written?)

i've got some "obscure" european papers about expeditions


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## Steven (Mar 24, 2004)

Cooper said:
			
		

> What species is in the first picture? Whatever it is, it is beautiful!


no idea on the specie,... waiting for "reply" on the pede to be introduced in Germany :}


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## Melmoth (Mar 24, 2004)

xenesthis said:
			
		

> Scolopendra viridicornis was last seen imported in very small numbers around 1995. They came in with black bodies, blackish-green legs, bi-colored head antenna and terminal legs, very stocky and 10"-12" in length. I saw one that a guy from OK had at the Orlando show of 1999. He had these thing so fat (feeding it thawed out beef heart!), it was like a big, fat savanna monitor and he was holding it! It was a solid 12"+ in length and a good 1" in width easily - very, very impressive.


        Todd,
                   Do you think it was because the pede was so fat,that the guy was able to hold it?Sluggish with obesity?I have read that viridicornis are very skittish and extremely aggressive.Carl Sandefer states that he found them harder to wrangle thany other scolopendra,including big subspinipes.It must have been an impressive sight indeed.
                      George


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## danread (Mar 24, 2004)

I'd love to see this black pede if it existed, and i'd love to know if that film was ever made.  He said he was at the research stage, so it is possible that it never made it to actually filming. Is the bloke who posted that contactable?You would have thought they were fairly common if someone was planning on making a film on them. Hopefully, people will start to import some pedes from different regions of asia, i've no doubt there are plenty more species/subspecies to be found.
I do completely agree that it is likely that there are large all black pedes out there, after all, we've seen the pics of the galapagos ones, so it is likely there are similar species found elsewhere.

Dan.


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## xenesthis (Mar 24, 2004)

*Thai pede*

In my observations, any aggressive species, if overly fed, will become "sluggish" and appear to be somewhat docile.

Through the years, I've had many highly aggressive Asian and African Tarantulas that were overfed and they were "pleasant" to work with and transfer. 

P.S. I contacted the film maker. He did not go to Thailand and shoot the film yet. He got assigned to Mozambique filming mammals or the birds. It is still on this agenda though...stay tuned.

Todd


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## Tim R. (Mar 25, 2004)

I realize this isn't the pede your looking for, and most of you may have seen this photo, but I thought if someone hadn't seen it...ya need to.
http://markmlucas.com/images/invertabrates/amazon%20giant%201.jpg


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## xenesthis (Mar 26, 2004)

*S. virdicornis being held in Orlando*

Yes, that's the huge monster that the guy from OK was holding at the Orlando show in '99. MONSTER!

Todd


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## Melmoth (Mar 27, 2004)

xenesthis said:
			
		

> Yes, that's the huge monster that the guy from OK was holding at the Orlando show in '99. MONSTER!
> 
> Todd


                     Glad you said that Todd.That means the picture is authentic.There has been much debate in the past as to whaether this was a genuine photo or a clever hoax.
                    George


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## Gsc (Jul 27, 2005)

I'm kinda late on this thread, but yes Todd, I believe I owned one of the Asian Giant Black Centipedes that you were talking about...  I bought it sometime back in '96 or '97 for Mascarino.... I believe the latin name (at least the one I recieved) was Scolopendra gigas... it was around 7" and black...was susposed to be an Asian species...

It died on me about 1.5 years later...bummer..

Hope that helped!

Graham


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## Randolph XX() (Jul 27, 2005)

xenesthis said:
			
		

> From Thailand, I've seen something that is probably Scolopendra mortisans with a bright red body and black bands and also something like the "Malaysian Red Centipedes" of the past few years, but nothing all-black with huge lengths.
> 
> Todd


there are red morsitans, but pretty small around 5"~6"
here are some photos of Sc.morsitans from Orchid Island, Taiwan















photo courtesy with wai-sheng Lee


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## cloud711 (Jul 27, 2005)

whoa nice pede you got there.


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## xenesthis (Jul 27, 2005)

*Orchid Island, Taiwan pede*

The Orchid Island, Taiwan pede looks like the wide-ranging Scolopendra cingulata found in the Med. countries, Egypt down to East Africa.

Todd


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## Randolph XX() (Jul 28, 2005)

hey Todd
does the black giant looks like the one in this?
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showpost.php?p=479506&postcount=3
or the leg color is either red?


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## xenesthis (Jul 29, 2005)

*Thai black pede*

Yes, that photo link sure looks like it.

Todd


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## Crotalus (Jul 29, 2005)

If im not mistaken my friend saw a black scolopender in Thailand on a road, and Im sure he got a picture of it. I will ask him tomorrow about it and try get a picture.

/Lelle


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