Giant centipede in Hawaii

[Scoly]

They found a 14.5" centipede in Hawaii, but that measurement is from tips of the antennae to the end of the terminals. Still a belter.

I think the interesting thing is that he says he sees 6-7" specimens all the time, but this is a total exception. It's not clear whether those are of the same species, or if it points to the notion that you do occasionally get the rogue giant.

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com...wly-catch-man-finds-14-5-inch-long-centipede/

 

[Staehilomyces]

Looks about 10" (25cm) BL, which is big, but not extraordinary for a subspinipes.

 

[LeFanDesBugs]

Mhh it is indeed very big, even for subspinipes @Staehilomyces. This is more of a dehaani size.
For instance my subspinipes, which is currently on eggs, is only 5" BL. haha

 

[CHLee]

It’s not a subspinipes s If you zoom in on the pic you can see a ringfurrow on it, what I’m thinking is that he most likely bought one of the Peruvian ones dried and just made up some story to get on the news, someone there had one of the SA giants that escaped or there’s a undescribed or species not documented from Hawaii before

 

[Staehilomyces]

Now that I look at it again, it appears to be a white legged gigantea.

 

[NYAN]

Now that I look at it again, it appears to be a white legged gigantea.

I agree, the head looks the same as one too in color.

 

[Greasylake]

I was pretty skeptical when I first heard of a 14.5 inch subspinipes so a gigantea would certainly make more sense. My question though is why is there a 10 inch white legged gigantea supposedly running around Hawaii. Would it have been more likely that it had escaped from someone's collection and he caught it, or that he had ordered it online to make the headlines?

 

[NYAN]

I was pretty skeptical when I first heard of a 14.5 inch subspinipes so a gigantea would certainly make more sense. My question though is why is there a 10 inch white legged gigantea supposedly running around Hawaii. Would it have been more likely that it had escaped from someone's collection and he caught it, or that he had ordered it online to make the headlines?

I’ll bet the latter. The centipede looks old and discolored. If he had just caught it and preserved it I’m sure there would be more color.

 

[Greasylake]

Well he said he froze it then thawed it out and injected it with formaldehyde. Could that have dulled the colors?

 

[Rhysandfish]

I used to live in Hawaii with my parents as a kid. Every time my mom mentions my centipedes she has to tell her story of “the centipede”. She was doing the laundry, casually minding her business and throws one of my toy centipedes off of the floor before putting it all into the washer, she goes to give it to me and it’s gone. Apparently the thing was one of the Hawaiian “giant” centipedes that chase people and get 2 feet long.

 

[Staehilomyces]

Yeah, those things have a terrible reputation in Hawaii, with some serious urban myths behind them. The people there seem to believe that the pedes travel in pairs, actively seek out humans, and will release a pheromone when killed, alerting other centipedes to attack the offending human. Curiously, there is also a widespread notion that the pedelings have a bite worse than the adults, which doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[LawnShrimp]

That thing is a gigantea (there's a fuzzy reflection that looks like a ringfurrow), no way that's from Hawaii. Mustachioed bum bought the thing to show it off.
Even if he did catch it, that was a big waste of a 'pede.

Centipedes have such a bad reputation everywhere they are found. At least in most cases they reproduce fast enough that the 10 out of 100 that are seen and killed isn't a loss for the species.

 

[Scoly]

Part of the reason centipedes have such a bad rep in Hawaii is because "In Hawaii, centipede bites account for about 400 emergency room visits a year" (see https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/centipede-bite-epilepsy-drug)

I don't know how that compares to other areas with similar populations but it sounds high.

I know they have a bad rep everywhere they get big though. I saw a documentary of forest hunters in Papua New Guinea where they found one and the guy said they're more afraid of them than of the local vipers.

And asking locals what the maximum sizes of a dangerous animal in the area is not reliable in any part of the globe! I remember a park ranger on Cozumel, and island off the east coast of Mexico telling me boa constrictors of 6 meters in length had been spotted on the island

 

[Galapoheros]

That thing isn't 14.5 inches no matter how you measure it(imo). Look at that guy's hands, it's a camera trick, holding it close to the camera. If that guy has average size hands, that thing is about 8 inches, maybe less. It looks like it's only half the thickness of his thumb. It's just a lie.

 

[LawnShrimp]

That thing isn't 14.5 inches no matter how you measure it(imo). Look at that guy's hands, it's a camera trick, holding it close to the camera. If that guy has average size hands, that thing is about 8 inches, maybe less. It looks like it's only half the thickness of his thumb. It's just a lie.

Agreed; even a gigantea can't get to 14.5 inches.

 

[Scoly]

That thing isn't 14.5 inches no matter how you measure it(imo). Look at that guy's hands, it's a camera trick, holding it close to the camera. If that guy has average size hands, that thing is about 8 inches, maybe less. It looks like it's only half the thickness of his thumb. It's just a lie.

It's 14.5" from tips of antennae to end of terminals, which as we all know is not how you measure centipedes. If that measure is correct, it's about an 11"er, which is big, but not record breaking.