Scolopendra dehaani/subspinipes ID Confusions and Mis-information

Liquifin

Arachnoking
Active Member
Joined
May 30, 2017
Messages
2,110
I've been trying to get more info on the S. dehaani and S. subspinipes so I can ID them apart much easier, so I've been searching this forums and some things said about S. dehaani or S. subspinipes ID are either just not enough or isn't accurate at all. A majority of information about the two are either not enough information or just plain wrong. I've learned a bit more now on pedes, but the S. dehaani and S. subspinipes has been confusing people too much. I think this somewhat older thread I'm linking here first needs a rework on ID and is probably the problem on why some people "think" they have a subspinipes when it's just a dehaani:

@Salvador I'm not calling you wrong, but what you've posted was only one of few ID illustrations which there was more to it, but you've probably forgot to include them. I think that one illustration alone is what kind of spurred the confusion as there is more than meets the eye. What everyone got wrong from the illustration you've posted was that it was a "incomplete" series of illustrations. If you look at the picture you've posted for reference on the thread link above, you'll clearly see a spine on the S. dehaani ventral of the left terminal leg illustration. Let me be clear, S. dehaani "DOES" have spines on the terminal legs, but S. subspinipes have an extra two/pair of spines under the prefemur terminal legs which the the S. dehaani doesn't have on the prefemur on the terminal leg (basically just the terminal leg). The illustrations and examination illustrations are in the link.

I'll post the entire link so everyone can read where the rest of the info from C.Kronmüllers review of the subspinipes group in 2012.


So here's the overall TL;DR of what you need to know from just the illustrations but it's better to just read it yourself if you want to know of there observations of some of the Scolopendra species:
S. subspinipes has an extra two/pair under each of the terminal legs which the S. dehaani doesn't have.
S. subspinipes has somewhat larger coxosternal teeth than S. dehaani, but S, dehaani has a little more teeth than the S. subspinipes "based" on the illustration

I'm not a pede expert, but I just want to clear up some of the confusion a little bit of the older threads about ID the S. subspinipes and S. dehaani apart. I hope someone recommends this thread for next time because most of the older threads are just wrong, incomplete, or something else....
 

Salvador

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 13, 2013
Messages
141
Hi. Of course, S.dehaani has spines on the terminal legs, but lacks any on the ventral surface of the prefemur, as illustrated. There's little need to look at anything else since it differentiates them pretty easily, the only other species with this feature (or lack) I can think of is S. hardwickei, and you won't mistake those :) but the coxopleural process is a different thing, and perhaps some clarification is needed for those who don't know the full anatomy. I've run into more people who mistake the median spines for ventral to be honest.
 
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