# Sexing Scolopendra



## Draiman (Nov 6, 2008)

This is a hypothetical scenario - If I have two centipedes of the same species and same size, and one of them has longer terminal legs than the other, can I assume that the one with longer terminals is male and the other, female?

If not, what is a more accurate way of sexing centipedes?

_Thanks_ in advance


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## Draiman (Nov 6, 2008)

This is an _honest query_. Am I so widely disliked?


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## bluefrogtat2 (Nov 6, 2008)

do a search there are a ton of threads on possible techniques for sexing.
andy


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## szappan (Nov 6, 2008)

Try this thread:
http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showpost.php?p=1267998&postcount=3


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## Galapoheros (Nov 6, 2008)

I wouldn't assume but you could make it a guess.  The only way I've been able to sex pedes is by putting them together in a proper setting and see what they do.  I fill a glass(at least clear material) container with rocks that they can crawl under and position the rocks to try and manipulate where the pedes will go in a way that you can hope to see what they do through the glass.  I think the rocks or pieces of wood, pottery, whatever sounds good, are very important for attaching webbing and having something to grab on to if things don't work out so one or the other can get away if it needs too.  Males will shake their last body segments and terminals, not so much the females.  The females will follow the male but sometimes a male will follow another male for a while and tap on it's terminals.  But finally it will seem to get upset and try to start a fight, or walk away.  I separate and move them around by letting them crawl on a chopstick with convenient open containers nearby.  Some people have had one kill another one but I think that has something to do with not having something to grab onto with their feet to get away.  Then there's just the bad luck thing but I've been able to take two chopsticks and break it up.  I've never had one kill the other one and I've put a lot of them together.  I just put two subspinipes together last night.

Oh yeah szappan, I just looked at the molt thing, I didn't think about that.


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## Draiman (Nov 7, 2008)

Galapoheros said:


> I wouldn't assume but you could make it a guess.  The only way I've been able to sex pedes is by putting them together in a proper setting and see what they do.  I fill a glass(at least clear material) container with rocks that they can crawl under and position the rocks to try and manipulate where the pedes will go in a way that you can hope to see what they do through the glass.  I think the rocks or pieces of wood, pottery, whatever sounds good, are very important for attaching webbing and having something to grab on to if things don't work out so one or the other can get away if it needs too.  Males will shake their last body segments and terminals, not so much the females.  The females will follow the male but sometimes a male will follow another male for a while and tap on it's terminals.  But finally it will seem to get upset and try to start a fight, or walk away.  I separate and move them around by letting them crawl on a chopstick with convenient open containers nearby.  Some people have had one kill another one but I think that has something to do with not having something to grab onto with their feet to get away.  Then there's just the bad luck thing but I've been able to take two chopsticks and break it up.  I've never had one kill the other one and I've put a lot of them together.  I just put two subspinipes together last night.
> 
> Oh yeah szappan, I just looked at the molt thing, I didn't think about that.


Awesome! But then again since I'm dealing with Mutilans here, which are communal, I'll be unable to see aggressive behaviour even if all my centipedes are of the same sex. Oh well. Anyway I need to get my set-up right first - and I have removed the ExoTerra woodchips! I hope that makes you folks less pissed at me and my stubbornness (does this word exist?). I'll start a new thread since it's another topic entirely. I'll forget about trying to breed centipedes. In fact the only animal I've ever managed to breed were jumping spiders and fish.


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## szappan (Nov 7, 2008)

Galapoheros said:


> Oh yeah szappan, I just looked at the molt thing, I didn't think about that.


LOL!  But you STARTED that thread!


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