My centipede laid eggs, I know all the basic stuff but I have two specific questions

[LeFanDesBugs]

Hey,
My bornean S. cf subspinipes just popped. The happy mother is about 4 1/2" long! Very small for a subspinipes-like species..
Anyway, as I'm looking forward to selling the brood (you can pm me btw if you're in europe ), I have 2 questions:

-can a female produce multiple clutches with a single mating?
-How many eggs do you think I can have? when I understood what was going on (I had started to lift her hide when I saw a few eggs on her wrapped body) I put the bark back down and left the pede alone in the dark.. as the specimen is small my guess is probably 20/25? Maybe I'm wrong though, and this is my most important concern atm, knowing all the basic care for babies.. leave the mother alone until the pedes seperate from her, while keeping the enclosure humid enough!

Thanks in advance,
LeFan

 

[Python]

She may have already eaten them. I'm not as familiar as some but I had the exact same thing happen after not seeing my S. subspinipes for a very long time. I lifted a piece of bark and there she was cluthinh a bunch of eggs. After waiting a while longer I checked again and she had eaten every one of them. Aside from that, I can't help you. All of mine have been WC and that one happened to be a gravid female when I got her.

 

[LeFanDesBugs]

I'm hoping she won't.. there's no reason why she would as lifting the bark was the only disturbance I caused.. thanks for the input, greatly appreciated

 

[LeFanDesBugs]

And by the way, is there any way I can feed her? She may not have eaten for a little while, and I don't want her to be hungry if you know what I mean

 

[Python]

I don't think any disturbance would be welcome, even food. From what I understand (maybe someone with better info will chime in) they are prone to eat the eggs with the slightest provocation. All I did was lift a piece of bark mine was under and she wasted no time snacking on her progeny. I really wasn't 100% on having a bunch of pedelings roaming around anyway but I would have enjoyed seeing them. I've heard, and this could be a myth, that the pedelings first meal is their mother. I don't have much experience with them to know how true or false this is though.

 

[LeFanDesBugs]

Pedelings for sure don't tend to eat the mother when they get off her legs.. but it might have happened..
With the number of photos of centipede eggs from people who got babies in the end, I guess I shouldn't be too worried!

 

[LawnShrimp]

Nice luck!
Centipedes definitely can lay multiple clutches from one mating. My R. longipes just laid eggs a week ago and she did not show signs of being gravid when she was collected.

E&A's guidebook to centipedes mentions that an Alipes laid four clutches from a single mating, and I've heard of S. heros and others laying eggs soon after dispersing plings.

Aforementioned guidebook incidentally shows fairly good evidence that only S. galapagoensis and gigantea are adapted for maternal cannibalsim. On the reverse end, stressed creatures often eat their brood. Infertile eggs are also always consumed. Do not feed or expose the centipede to bright light until she is no longer on eggs.

As for clutch size, it could be anything from 20-60. Not sure if size has much to do with clutch size.

Good luck with the plings when they hatch!

 

[Python]

Aforementioned guidebook incidentally shows fairly good evidence that only S. galapagoensis and gigantea are adapted for maternal cannibalsim.

I'm glad that's a thing. I thought I remembered reading somethng about that but I couldn't remember anything specific. I wasn't accurate but I guess I wasn't entirely off track either.

 

[LawnShrimp]

I'm glad that's a thing. I thought I remembered reading somethng about that but I couldn't remember anything specific. I wasn't accurate but I guess I wasn't entirely off track either.

Yeah, those guys have creepy hyperextended mandibles and will gorge themselves until ready to burst... perhaps this is the reason captive bred gigantea and galapagoensis are so hard to find.

 

[RTTB]

Good luck with the hatching.

 

[LeFanDesBugs]

Thanks for your replies.. Yet another reason why giant species are so hard to come across :c
I'm gonna let her be now, the back of the enclosure is now where the front was, so she gets less light (there was some light going through..)
Is there any way I can know if the eggs are fertile? I saw them quite a bit yesterday when I lifted the hide so if there's a color difference let me know

 

[LawnShrimp]

Not sure if color is determinant of viability. Scolopendra eggs are bright yellow and spherical, but as I have learned, Rhysida eggs are oblong and cream colored. Different spcecies also care for them differently. Scolopendra curl around eggs in a ball or loop, Rhysida hang from a bark hide and become a hammock for the eggs.

I don't really know how to tell if eggs are fertile. Wait and see if she hasn't eaten them for a week, if she hasn't then my guess is they will hatch.

 

[LeFanDesBugs]

Ok thanks for the info.. I had no clue about the behavioural differences haha
Anyway, all I have to do is wait and see from what I understand! I'll keep you guys updated for sure and, again, if you are interested let me know
Talk to you all later

 

[amateur]

Here is a couple of pictures from when my centipede had eggs. (she wasn't provoked by the light, but the light was very dim though.) The babies did come out alive, maybe about 13 of them.

 

[LeFanDesBugs]

Hey! Good news guys, she still has her eggs..
Thanks for the pics amateur, what species was that? 13 seems very little for a centipede brood.. how many died?

 

[amateur]

Congrats!

I think the specie is scolopendra morsitans, she was 14-15cm at the time. I'm not sure how many died, I started seperating them after seeing them walking around etc.

 

[LeFanDesBugs]

Thank you! I'm gonna do the same, but as there's very little substrate it'll be quite easy.. I got lucky as all my other pedes have 3"+ of coco fiber
Considering the mother's coloration, it might not even be Scolopendra in my opinion! Maybe cormocephalus which can get this kind of coloration? Without a full picture it'll be hard

 

[amateur]

These pictures could help.
The one with the yellow-ish terminals was before her molt.
The other one was way before the pre-molt.

Sorry, attached 2 of the same pics.

 

[LawnShrimp]

Thank you! I'm gonna do the same, but as there's very little substrate it'll be quite easy.. I got lucky as all my other pedes have 3"+ of coco fiber
Considering the mother's coloration, it might not even be Scolopendra in my opinion! Maybe cormocephalus which can get this kind of coloration? Without a full picture it'll be hard

Wait, I just watched your 'Bornean Black eats a mealworm' video. Is that the proud mother? If it is, you are incredibly lucky. That thing is as beautiful as it is rare. Could be a Cormo, no way to tell until babies hatch.

 

[LeFanDesBugs]

Hey! Sorry I was away for a while.. amateur your pede might have been a cormocephalus judging by the overall broad body shape but don't quote me on that!
And no the black one is not on eggs at the moment but some things lead me to believe she will soon be.. I wasn't clear enough; my speculation about genus ID was in regards to amateur's pede.. both of mine are definitely scolopendra!
A pic of the proud mother can be seen on a thread called "2 new centipede species from Borneo"

Cheers,
Leo