Ethymology and centipedes

bistrobob85

Arachnoprince
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Hey guys!!!! Sometimes, when we want to learn stuff, we have to go... BACK TO THE SOURCES :)!!!! Since in the hobby, we're dealing with latin names, i think it would be nice if we could actually make some kind of a little dictionnary for centipedes.

Some of the words in the latin names are kind of obvious as for what they mean, like whenever they represent countries, zones or the name of their finder, but some other times, they are not that easy. Let's put our knowledge together to learn the caracteristics of our centipedes :).

Let's start... Some of these guys are pretty easy :

Poly : Many
Morpha : Shape
so Polymorpha means '' Many shapes ''

Here are some more :

Gigantea : Giant
Robusta : Robust
Alternans : Alterning
Cephalus : Head
Viridis : Green
Sub: Under
Tri : Three

Here are some that designate their distribution range:

Galapagoensis : Galapagos
Chilensis : Chile
Arizonensis : Arizona
Japonica : Japonica

Here are some challenging ones:

Hemi :
Ethmo :
Gono:
Scolo :
Oto :
Geo : Stone
Pendra:
Stigmus :
Heros :
Cormo :
Scuti :

Come on, help me out, let's find out the meaning of all these names :).

phil.
 

Dorcus

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Hemi - semi (i think)
stigmus- has to do with lines (not too sure..)
heros- demigod or hero
scuti - has to do with shield
 

Androctonus_bic

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Scolopendra: mytological animal that appears in the book of Gargantua and Pantagruel of François Rabelais. A sea creature similar to own centipedes. Scolopendra noun, hasn't any ethimological significate.

Oto: It makes reference to ear.

Gono: It makes reference to sexual cells.

Stigmus: Sygnal, mark or sting. Refering to the catolic religion, the hurts that appers in the people that is very believeble with the religion.

Spanish comes from Latin; so this words are so similar in spanish, but not the same.

Cheers
Carles
 

syiware

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sub=under?
then, what is "spinipes" of sub-spinipes? spinipes means "species"?
-locke
 

Galapoheros

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Subspinipes might literally mean in latin, "spines underneath". Man, I thought it'd be easy to Google these terms but I'm haveing a hard time with it. Great thread man! Nice to know where these names come from. I searched "spinipes" and all the animals tended to be spiny that had that included in their sci name.
 

Androctonus_bic

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Subspinipes might literally mean in latin, "spines underneath". Man, I thought it'd be easy to Google these terms but I'm haveing a hard time with it. Great thread man! Nice to know where these names come from. I searched "spinipes" and all the animals tended to be spiny that had that included in their sci name.
Thats the same reason from spinossissima; big spines or a lot of spines.
 

spydrhunter1

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Hemi : half
Ethmo :ethmos=sieve
Gono: offspring
Scolo :Gk. skolex=worm
Oto :ear
Geo : earth
Pendra: pend= to weigh, pay or consider
Stigmus :
Heros :
Cormo : cor=heart
Scuti :shield
 
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bistrobob85

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Ok, how about we try a hard one :

Ethmo|Stigmus Tri|Gono|Podus

... ... something with Three Gonopodes? I only see two on my specimens...

phil.
 

syiware

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koreanus=korea(n)?

i'm sure that i saw 'koreanus' from some scientific names.

correct me if i'm wrong..

let's keep going! it's very helpful! many people are watching!

-locke

ps: Cephalus : Head
and
bucephalus: ???
 
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Drachenjager

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Hemi :Half
Ethmo :strainer/ seive
Gono: seed IE reproductive/ sexual
Scolo :
Oto : greek ear
Geo : Earth
Pendra: -pend - to hang ?
Stigmus :a mark IE stigmata
Heros :In Thracian mythology, Heros was a god of the underworld,Christian St. George
Cormo :
Scuti :Scutum - shield
 

nuclear_zombies

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Scolopendra: mytological animal that appears in the book of Gargantua and Pantagruel of François Rabelais. A sea creature similar to own centipedes. Scolopendra noun, hasn't any ethimological signifigance
Thanks for explaining Scolopendra. I absolutely love the way it rolls off the tongue. I've been wondering myself about the origins of the word, and now I know. Thank you very much!!:D
 

syiware

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hey, guys..
what do these mean? the following...

brachy=
haplo=
pelma=
chromis=

thanks!
-locke
 

mindlessvw

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Anybody think about making this a sticky??? For some of us who are still trying to learn alot of names this could be very helpful!!!
 

cacoseraph

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hey, guys..
what do these mean? the following...

brachy=
haplo=
pelma=
chromis=

thanks!
-locke
brachy= nose
haplo= different
pelma= foot or leg, i think
chromis= something about color, i think. chroma definitely means color

let me try to find the ATS thing that has a bunch of latin and greek translations
 

bistrobob85

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We're gathering some good stuff here...

Rhino also means nose.
Pede means foot. ( centi-pede = houndred feet, gono-podes = genital feet )
Maxi means jaw as in Maxi-lipede, Jaw Foot, refering to the leg holding the fang.
Sterno means chest, therefore, Tergo must mean back, but i can't confirm that one.

phil.
 

spydrhunter1

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brachy is definitely short

brachy= short
haplo= single or simple
pelma= pelmous is the sole of the foot
chromis= 1) chromium 2) colored 3) pigmented
rhino= nose, nasal
pede= foot
maxi= extra long, extra large
sterno= breast, sternum, breast bone, sternal
tergo= ter (3 times)
 
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