Centipede breeding?

[ArachnoCrazy]

Can anyone tell my how to tell when a centipede is sexually mature.

 

[Randolph XX()]

serach the forum please

 

[cacoseraph]

there is not a cut and dry answer to that, i am afraid

centipede reproduction is pretty poorly understood in the hobby

i'd say when the centipede is around 50% - 66% the full length they are probably sexually mature

 

[ArachnoCrazy]

thanks for the reply i was doing a search, but had litle time between roofing a house, school work, and Lee Watson's reptile swap.

 

[Tony]

You visit the swap, or work it?
I didnt spend much time there today..
T

 

[ArachnoCrazy]

i visit it, but i live in wisconsin and the drive takes a little while. I want to work it selling super mealworms, tabbaco hornworms, millipedes, and some stuff for cages.

 

[Bigboy]

I've tried to find info about this on the boards a bunch of times people seem touchy about it, my guess is because they just don't know much about the subject. Sometimes you can get a good google search link give that a try.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

As soon as a molt is encountered where size barely increases or stays the same the animal is mature. If the size is in the adult range for that species (in most cases you have to subtract 2-3" from online max size claims for actual approximate adult mature size) it is likely mature.
The touchy part is it seems like there should be an easier answer as with insects. For most animals including vertebrates there isn't a definitive crossover point.

 

[Steven]

Is a scolopendrid with eggs mature ? :?

 

[cacoseraph]

Is a scolopendrid with eggs mature ? :?

i'd say with fertile eggs, definitely

i could possibly forsee somekind of situation where infertile "practice" eggs are made or something like that... but i'd say egg production is a definite requirement for maturity

 

[Steven]

If they can produce eggs,... are they able to be furtilised then ?

 

[cacoseraph]

If they can produce eggs,... are they able to be furtilised then ?

i don't know

i'm thinking to reading _Biology of Centipedes_ and there doesn't seem to be anything in there to specifically answer that question. I'll re-read it tonight and see if there is anything i am forgetting

 

[cacoseraph]

As soon as a molt is encountered where size barely increases or stays the same the animal is mature. If the size is in the adult range for that species (in most cases you have to subtract 2-3" from online max size claims for actual approximate adult mature size) it is likely mature.
The touchy part is it seems like there should be an easier answer as with insects. For most animals including vertebrates there isn't a definitive crossover point.

i've had a S. polymorpha drop a litter of ~35 babies at 3.5" body length... i'm still expecting her to grow a fair bit on her next molt. it's certainly possible she's just from a much smaller bloodline, though. too much uncertainty

i think there is a larger range they hit maturity at, than a lot of other bugs.

 

[Steven]

CBorn on 08/2003 on a clutch of eggs last summer.