A Gigantean Lie?

[bryverine]

OK, so from what I've read, S. gigantea don't have THAT strong of venom like some others (e.g. dehaani) but rather more of a paralyzing venom and just bleed out their prey because of the massive maxillipedes.

I was looking around Google and found this story:

4 year old killed by S. gigantea

Now there are no pictures of the pede though the area does seem to fit for the species. On the other hand, not only are they called "poisonous", the article called them insects. I'm thinking they wanted to sound credible and intelligent ( ) and found a scientific name to throw in there.

I also found this (which seems far more scientific and less gimmicky):

Centipede envenomation in newborn

I've found little on venom composition except perhaps on subspinipes. There's a lot of referencing going on in several books, studies, and articles I found with no quantative words/references.

E.g.

The centipede genus Scolopendra is known to have venom that targets the autonomic nervous system of vertebrates, which in turn affects heart rate, respiration, and smooth muscle tone manner (Eisner et al. 2005).
​

For reference, a subspinipes had about a 750ug/kg ld50 in mice. That's 0.00075g/kg. I've calculated that a subscipinipes (assuming human is same as mouse) could kill a 5 year old child.

Supposedly S. viridicornis is on the same magnitude as a gigantea at 1.5g/kg. In otherwords 2000 times LESS potent though I'm sure given the size, they could probably double the output. Sadly even this is not concrete.

What do you think?

 

[Ranitomeya]

You have to keep in mind that even the least venomous organisms can kill those with pre-existing conditions. This can include allergies, weak pulmonary systems, and neurological issues. It also isn't unheard of for people to go into shock and die from just encountering a traumatic event.

 

[bryverine]

You have to keep in mind that even the least venomous organisms can kill those with pre-existing conditions. This can include allergies, weak pulmonary systems, and neurological issues. It also isn't unheard of for people to go into shock and die from just encountering a traumatic event.

I see your point: Man almost killed by hamster

Do you think it was more likely the child was bitten and died of complications? I suppose it's impossible to know without real data.

I kinda wish @Mastigoproctus was around more often, he'd probably be a great one to ask about their potency.

 

[Staehilomyces]

As you said, the large size of the maxillipeds means that they deal a lot of physical damage. If the death is true, and legitimately attributed to this species, then secondary infection could be a liable possibility.

 

[G. pulchra]

You have to keep in mind that even the least venomous organisms can kill those with pre-existing conditions. This can include allergies, weak pulmonary systems, and neurological issues. It also isn't unheard of for people to go into shock and die from just encountering a traumatic event.

This.... People die from bee and wasp stings, it's not a stretch to think that someone could die from a pede bite.