# Scolopendra cingulata - naughty centipedes in my house!



## Bulldozer (Sep 1, 2008)

Hi guys, I live in Europe and it looks like I have Scolopendras in my house.
At first there were reports of spotted Scolopendras about 500 meters up the hill from me - close to the woods.
For all those years I have NEVER found one in my house, even though it's not that far away from the woods.

Same thing with scorpions - never found one in my house, while my neighbours complain about having them in abundance.

But it looks like now the venomous cenipedes are moving to more urbanized zones and a couple of days ago I found a Scolopendra drowned in a bucket in my basement. About 7 centimeters long.

I would like to capture one or two of them. Alive!

Is there some kind of a trap for Scolopendras?

What attackts them?
Carbon dioxide (I think it attracts all kinds of bugs)?

What are some good places around the house to start looking for them?

In other words: how to localize them in my house?
My basement is a total mess and searching for a single centipede through all the junk that's down there would make me feel like an idiot. Needless to say taht I will not find damn thing that way.
There must be a way to set a trap for those bugs. 

By the way, I have same question about Scorpions: how to set a trap for them?
And in particular for Euscorpius carpathicus and for Euscorpius germanicus.

These are the only two scorpion species that live here.

So, how to set traps for those creatures?

Thanks!


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## Greg Pelka (Sep 2, 2008)

You can set a trap for them...but why? it's just a bug... it's like you want to eliminate all flies in your house... it's impossible 
But if you want to eliminate them from your basement I think all insecticides will be good.

But remember, S. cingulata is not dangerous, it venom is like venom of bee or something, and they prefere to run away than bite.

Cheers
Greg

Ps: If you have to much centipedes or scorpions you can send few to me


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## peterbourbon (Sep 2, 2008)

justGreg said:


> S. cingulata is not dangerous, it venom is like venom of bee or something


I believe you are right - i think the same.
But is it proven? I'm just curious - never had a bite so far...

Regards
Turgut


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## BearGrylls4life (Sep 2, 2008)

you can search for scorpions using a plain old black light, they glow when you shine it on them, its really cool. as for centipedes ur on ur own. im not sure there is an easy way to capture them. they scare the hell out of me.


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## Greg Pelka (Sep 2, 2008)

peterbourbon said:


> I believe you are right - i think the same.
> But is it proven? I'm just curious - never had a bite so far...


Me too, but there are thousands bites of S. cingulata every year... without any complications...


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## Bulldozer (Sep 2, 2008)

justGreg said:


> You can set a trap for them...but why? it's just a bug... it's like you want to eliminate all flies in your house... it's impossible
> But if you want to eliminate them from your basement I think all insecticides will be good.
> 
> But remember, S. cingulata is not dangerous, it venom is like venom of bee or something, and they prefere to run away than bite.
> ...


Alright, let me clarify a little bit.

1. I want to capture one and make it my pet. Everybody's got a centipede, I want one too. 
Don't need to exterminate them all or to kill them - just to get one or two ALIVE.

2. _Scolopendra Cingulata_ bites *ARE* nasty.
Seen the results of such a bite - I had a colleague who got bitten.
The bite was on his foot.
The centipede got into one of his sneakers while he was taking a shower at work. He put the sneaker on, and went home.
Everything was just fine - on the way home he even stopped at a pub and had a beer or two with his girlfriend.
When he got home and was taking his sneakers off, the creature bit him.
It spent like 4-5 hours in his shoe without doing anything and bit him when he was actually opening its way out, haha...
He describes the pain as being "stabbed with a very long awl all the way through". Very severe and long lasting burning/throbbing pain.
It's MUCH worse than a bee sting, that is for sure.

I saw the results - even though he got bitten on the foot, his whole leg and even his ass cheek were covered in rather large red pimples/festers.

3. Some people claim that Cingulatas reach 11 centimeters max.
This can't be more far from the truth.
I have seen a 21 centimeters long example. A friend of mine kept it for awhile.
It lived for a good two weeks in a jar.
No soil, no nothing. Just glass.
It was eating cockroaches like cookies.
Then he decided that it would be fun to dip it in a jar full of vodka...
The thing squirted white liquid out of its mouth while it was dying. Looked almost like a cloud of small white crystals.

Anyways, Cingulatas could be fun.
I need one alive.

As for scropions glowing in the dark - yeah, I know.
But I am not sure if the two spieces that live here do that. Maybe they do.
Wil have to try.

By the way, what is a "black light"?
My English is pretty poor.


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## venwu225 (Sep 3, 2008)

sounds like your friend had a type II hypersensitivity reaction to the bite. Scolopendra cingulata venom typically causes considerable amount of pain, but not tissue necrosis like you are discribing. That being said, getting bitten is never a pleasant experience, best to be cautious.


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## peterbourbon (Sep 3, 2008)

Bulldozer said:


> I have seen a 21 centimeters long example. A friend of mine kept it for awhile.


Interesting! But are you sure it was a sc. cingulata? Maybe you had a new undescribed species? Where are you exactly from? Spain?  

Regards
Turgut


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## SAn (Sep 3, 2008)

peterbourbon said:


> Interesting! But are you sure it was a sc. cingulata? Maybe you had a new undescribed species? Where are you exactly from? Spain?
> 
> Regards
> Turgut


I have a report of a 20-25+ cm Scolopendra in Greece aswell, from a very decent  herping guy , who i have no reasons at all not to trust.

Mi mind was exactly on a new species maybe, the description was it looked exactly like a cingulata though


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## Bulldozer (Sep 3, 2008)

peterbourbon said:


> Interesting! But are you sure it was a sc. cingulata? Maybe you had a new undescribed species? Where are you exactly from? Spain?


I am absolutely sure that it was a Cingulata since there are no other Scolopendra species here.

Where I live, it is not a rare thing to see 16-17 centimeters long Cingulatas.
That 21 cm long one did not surprise me too because I have heard stories about pedes with that length before.
I guess it all depends on their diet.

By the way, I am from Bulgaria (that's in Europe, next to Serbia).


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## peterbourbon (Sep 3, 2008)

Bulldozer said:


> I am absolutely sure that it was a Cingulata since there are no other Scolopendra species here.


Absolutely sure? So, i guess you analyzed the pede? ;-)
Regarding location: Mind that actual literature is in very upgradable status - still it's possible you have a non-described species or subspecies.

Maybe it's sc. cingulata - won't exclude that, but isn't it possible to come out as scolopendra dalmatica? (just an example...)

I also heard of very big "cingulatas" - but still haven't seen any photo.
Maybe someone can post a pic with a ruler?

Regards
Turgut


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## Bulldozer (Sep 3, 2008)

Scolopendra Dalmatica is known to get bigger in size than Cingulata.
This is true.

But Dalmatica:
1. Has blue-ish legs and blue-ish tint to its body. 
2. Lives in a different region, closer to the Mediterranian where the climate is completely different, much softer and they don't have winters as severe as we do.
Bulgaria is a southern country but we have a VERY cold winter due to the cold air streams that invade us from the Far North.
In other words: Dalmatica won't feel comfortable here.

The 21 cm long centipede that I saw was dark brown, had disgusting bright yellow legs and a yellow belly.
All of the scolopendras I have seen here looked like that.
Yup, the typical Cingulata look.

There is one sub-species of Cingulata that lives in South Bulgaria. It is jet black and has bright red legs. Still, it's the same Cingulata spieces and looks different from Dalmatica.

I have a friend that lives in the south. Not too long ago he sent me a video of a pretty big "southern" Cingulata (those with red legs and black body) that he stepped on.
The thing was moving like crazy even with half its body squashed and stuck to the ground.
He measured it - 14,5 centimeters.
Way bigger than yor textbook Cingulata.

I may post the video, if you like.
I also have photos of a red-legged Cingulata, that another friend of mine "refreshed" with Raid. 

EDIT:
Here we go:
http://bp0.blogger.com/_LBxWszsDwtU...k/FRk5TGNzMn8/s1600-h/Snimka-na-Gadinata2.jpg
http://bp1.blogger.com/_LBxWszsDwtU...s/_mgpKj1o4a4/s1600-h/Snimka-na-Gadinata3.jpg
http://bp1.blogger.com/_LBxWszsDwtU...0/_QrtC3nb5Fk/s1600-h/Snimka-na-Gadinata4.jpg
http://bp2.blogger.com/_LBxWszsDwtU...Ac/0APSQDQYDCw/s1600-h/Snimka-na-Gadinata.jpg


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## peterbourbon (Sep 3, 2008)

Hey,

very nice pede & thx for the detailed explanation. 
Looks indeed very cingulata-like. Is this red color morph common in south bulgaria? Seems to be very rare in pet trade. BTW: Want one! 

Regards
Turgut


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## Bulldozer (Sep 3, 2008)

Well, Turgut, the red-legged Cingulata appears to be relatively common.

I mean, I don't know if its population is bigger than the population of the yellow-legged Cingulata, but pretty much every centipede from south Bulgaria that I have seen had bright red legs.

Never seen a red-legged Cingulata in my part of the country, though.
North of the Stara Planina mountain that is.
This is the long wall-like mountain that is also known as Balkan mountain.
It gave the name of the whole peninsula.
The mountain separates Bulgaria in two equal parts - Northern and Sounthern.
It is responsible for the sudden change and the big differences in climate in the two parts because it acts like a wall, stopping the very cold winter air that comes from the Far North.
South Bulgaria has a softer, more stable climate and I guess that this causes the difference in Cingulata subspecies in the two parts.
Still, during the winter it gets very cold there too, so maybe it's not the climate that created the red-legged morph (word?).

Here is the video I mentioned about in my previous post - a half-squashed red-legged Cingulata that a friend of mine shot on video with his cell phone (bad video quality).
It is 14,5 cm long and looking very thick too: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP6OrxOeEfU&fmt=18

I just noticed that in the column of related videos on YouTube, there is a videoclip of another Bulgarian Cingulata.
It appears like the pede from that other video has red legs too.
Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ye7R-Z3l2c&fmt=18


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