polymorpha

[Galapoheros]

I found this little dude yesterday, Scolopendra polymorpha from Tx (Texas Tiger centipede).

 

[Selenops]

Nice!

I am thinking of going up into to the hills and catching some myself. I have the the weekend and Monday free.

Where did you find him at?

 

[P. Novak]

Hey congrats, that thing looks like its about to molt soon, or might even be gravid.

 

[cacoseraph]

well, i am being a lazy ass and not doing so i will say it here...

those look like one kind of terminal leg i see on polymorpha... and there is another more skinny kind. could be nothing, could be male female sexual dimorphism, could be dif species, ssp... who knows?

something to think about though

 

[Galapoheros]

Yea I see some crazy diff in the terminals on these around here, including the last body segment. Found in central tx, Megalon, North of Austin. Pretty short, fat little pede with a bity attitude.

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Great pictures, I wish I were able to find large centipedes here, the largest species here overall are only around 3-4cm, theres ones longer (around 6-7cm) but theyre very thin bodied.

 

[mindlessvw]

really? you see a bit of a difference in them??? hmm....

 

[cacoseraph]

Yea I see some crazy diff in the terminals on these around here, including the last body segment. Found in central tx, Megalon, North of Austin. Pretty short, fat little pede with a bity attitude.

in the Lewis _Biology of Centipedes_ he calls either the last segment or the last two segments the "sexual segments"

he even mentions that gently squeezing the last segment on a male will evert the ~penis

 

[Galapoheros]

in the Lewis _Biology of Centipedes_ he calls either the last segment or the last two segments the "sexual segments"

he even mentions that gently squeezing the last segment on a male will evert the ~penis

I get mad when people do that to me . That method sounds familiar. Oh, maybe I'm thinking about herps. Maybe you could drop the pede in some ice cold water for a few minutes or put them in a real tight plastic tube with the last segment or two hanging out. That might be a pretty safe way to try it. If what I see in the polys around here is sexual dimorphism, like I think it is (I have a bad habit of assuming, but it makes sense), it's the most pronounced in any other local species I've seen. I have some good old comparison pics somewhere. Maybe I'll try to dig'em up.