# A closer look at Scolopendra sp. "gigantea/white leg"



## CHLee (Dec 24, 2017)

With all the recent hype with the Peruvian imports into the US, lets take a closer look at one of the peruvian big 4, the one sold as Scolopendra gigantea "white leg/amazonian giant" in the hobby.



7-9 glabrous antenna segments, this increases with age, pedelings start out with 4 of them
	

		
			
		

		
	



4+4 big teeth on the teethplates



margination starting on tergite 3 (1/3rd of the tergite) with tergite 4 and onwards being fully marginated
	

		
			
		

		
	



legs 19 and 20 with 4 dorso apical prefemoral spines, increases with age with mature specimens having 5
	

		
			
		

		
	



14 dorsomedial spines on the prefemurs of the terminal legs
	

		
			
		

		
	



9-10 spines on the ventral side of the terminal leg prefemurs
	

		
			
		

		
	



coxopleural process with 8 spines, female
	

		
			
		

		
	



male gonopods, spinning organ clearly seen




what I have observed, spines on the terminal legs vary between specimens, with regrown legs sometimes having spines way below the average number.
majority of their traits match the description of shelleys (2000) scolopendra gigantea but the localities do not match and are far apart, with the black gigantea from venezuela and trinidad and the brown gigantea from colombia, with the latter two being found mostly along coastal forests. the peruvian "white leg" being more inland.
Habitat
from collecting data and natural habitat observations, their habitat is unlike what people usually think (warm and humid tropical rainforest) it is actually quite the opposite. Less tree cover and more grasses, with distinct wet and dry seasons. Will withhold from disclosing actual collecting locations but they are found in the Northwest of Peru

I'll be doing a couple more posts on the other peruvian big 3 and the hispaniola giant as well in the near future.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1 | Informative 5 | Helpful 2 | Love 5


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## LawnShrimp (Dec 24, 2017)

Fantastic work; we need more people to work out the taxonomy of SA 'pedes. It's one of the most confusing taxonomic messes I've seen.


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## RTTB (Dec 24, 2017)

Very informative.


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## Hiago farnesi (Dec 24, 2017)

I need help I'm recently in Brazil and I've gotten very interested in centipedes. So the other day it was midnight and I went outside to get a drink as I was walking into the outdoor kitchen I saw a small centipede on the floor I was half asleep and killed without thinking much then I woke up the next morning and was pissed because I should've caught it instead. I've been in Brazil for almost 2 years now and I haven't seen a centipede till that day and now I don't think I'll ever see one again, the centipede was amazing it was light blue. Does anyone know how I can attract a centipede? Or am I gonna need to go to the jungle near me to find one?


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## Ratmosphere (Dec 24, 2017)

Dude awesome post! Anything on their venom potency? I heard “gigantea” itself isn’t bad but I never heard of a person getting hit by a white leg.


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## NYAN (Dec 24, 2017)

I Have never tried to attract them before, however creating a pitfall trap with some raw meat or a pre-killed insect may be a way to do so. I would recommend flipping over logs and rocks during the day when they are going to be hiding. At night they will be active and hunting so you could look for them then without needing to turn over rocks and logs.


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## Ratmosphere (Dec 24, 2017)

NYAN said:


> I Have never tried to attract them before, however creating a pitfall trap with some raw meat or a pre-killed insect may be a way to do so. I would recommend flipping over logs and rocks during the day when they are going to be hiding. At night they will be active and hunting so you could look for them then without needing to turn over rocks and logs.


Anything on venom potency? Not much info is known on it. Most people assume them to be the same as “gigantea” in ThePureLife’s video when it’s clearly a galap, don’t think he’s ever dealt with “white leg” before.


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## NYAN (Dec 24, 2017)

I hear the venom is worse than polymorpha but not as bad as heros. Other than that I am not too familiar. I’ve seen his pedes and I don’t think he’s shown a white leg either. When I said ‘ them’, I meant centipedes in general, not specifically SA ones.


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## miss moxie (Dec 24, 2017)

Ratmosphere said:


> Anything on venom potency? Not much info is known on it. Most people assume them to be the same as “gigantea” in ThePureLife’s video when it’s clearly a galap, don’t think he’s ever dealt with “white leg” before.


Who cares about their venom potency, look at the size of their maxillipeds! (I think? Centipede anatomy and I are just getting acquainted. We've gotten coffee but we haven't gone to dinner yet.)

Just kidding, everyone should care about venom potency. But still, it would hurt pretty bad-- I just imagine it would be more of an initial pain from the mechanical damage rather than a lingering envenomation pain.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Ratmosphere (Dec 24, 2017)

I care about it because I’m curious how it compares to other centipedes like Asian pedes. People say “gigantea” venom isn’t potent but this technically isn’t true “gigantea” and I barley ever hear a 100% truth on how potent white leg venom is.

Reactions: Like 1


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## NYAN (Dec 24, 2017)

Well, I think it would be less powerful than an Asian pede given the bite reports I’ve read on them.. has anyone actually been bitten though that can testify what it felt like?


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## Venom1080 (Dec 25, 2017)

miss moxie said:


> Who cares about their venom potency, look at the size of their maxillipeds! (I think? Centipede anatomy and I are just getting acquainted. We've gotten coffee but we haven't gone to dinner yet.)
> 
> Just kidding, everyone should care about venom potency. But still, it would hurt pretty bad-- I just imagine it would be more of an initial pain from the mechanical damage rather than a lingering envenomation pain.


Ow bites are nothing compared to some centipede bites.


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## miss moxie (Dec 25, 2017)

Venom1080 said:


> Ow bites are nothing compared to some centipede bites.


Same with some scorpions, Ts are actually one of the less dangerous invertebrate pets to keep if you think about it. Yes an H. maculata bite would send you to a hospital, but if you -had- to put your hand in a jar with an H. maculata, or in a jar with an L. quinquestriatus...well it's a no brainer.

Reactions: Funny 1


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## BoyFromLA (Dec 25, 2017)

Venom1080 said:


> Ow bites are nothing compared to some centipede bites.


It sounds so REAL (and it is real), when @Venom1080 talks about venom potency!

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Venom1080 (Dec 25, 2017)

BoyFromLA said:


> It sounds so REAL (and it is real), when @Venom1080 talks about venom potency!





BoyFromLA said:


> It sounds so REAL (and it is real), when @Venom1080 talks about venom potency!


I'm no where near the authority on here about pede bites. Just what I've learned from some top notch keepers.


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## micheldied (Dec 25, 2017)

Why are people talking abut venom potency when the original post is meant to discuss correct identification so that we can put behind the mess that it is now? Whenever valuable information is presented no one seems to want to absorb it.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Hiago farnesi (Dec 25, 2017)

NYAN said:


> I Have never tried to attract them before, however creating a pitfall trap with some raw meat or a pre-killed insect may be a way to do so. I would recommend flipping over logs and rocks during the day when they are going to be hiding. At night they will be active and hunting so you could look for them then without needing to turn over rocks and logs.


Ight thanks I'll try that


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## Ratmosphere (Dec 25, 2017)

micheldied said:


> Why are people talking abut venom potency when the original post is meant to discuss correct identification so that we can put behind the mess that it is now? Whenever valuable information is presented no one seems to want to absorb it.


You are taking this the wrong way dude. I appreciate what you and Chia taught me on this species and this thread is really interesting. I’m just curious on the venom because this would be the perfect thread to discuss it.


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## micheldied (Dec 25, 2017)

Ratmosphere said:


> You are taking this the wrong way dude. I appreciate what you and Chia taught me on this species and this thread is really interesting. I’m just curious on the venom because this would be the perfect thread to discuss it.


Unfortunately venom potency (especially because people react differently to the same venom) cannot be used to taxonomically discern species. I think the point of the original post is to get people to take another look at their specimens and rethink what they are supposed to be, considering what we've been told by the "major players" until now.


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## Ratmosphere (Dec 25, 2017)

Exactly. Do you think they will be their own species soon?


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## micheldied (Dec 26, 2017)

Ratmosphere said:


> Exactly. Do you think they will be their own species soon?


I'd rather speculate off the web. People believe anything these days and it's difficult to keep inaccurate information contained.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Scolopendro (Dec 27, 2017)

@CHLee ! Thanks for the info! Can you please post in which months there is dry season in this northwestern Peru habitat?


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## CHLee (Dec 27, 2017)

Scolopendro said:


> @CHLee ! Thanks for the info! Can you please post in which months there is dry season in this northwestern Peru habitat?


May-September


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