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- Jul 7, 2005
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Shortly, I will be beginning a large scale investigation into how to reliably determine gender in centipedes.
I have been talking to people who have bred centipedes in the past (importers and zoos) and have had talked with Rowland Shelley a little bit on the subject who is working to mail me some information on the internal structure of Scolopendramorpha.
He has also forwarded my queries into this subject to John Lewis, however I have not gotten the E-mail from Lewis yet. I do expect it within the next few weeks.
In my preliminary research, I have come up with several hypothesis which I believe hold the key to determining gender in centipedes. Differences in body structure, terminal legs and differences in the maxillipeds (amongst other things) have all been used in the past to successfully 'sex' centipedes for breeding purposes. All that remains is to test these hypothesis and see if there is any validity to these claims, or whether or not these people just got lucky.
To test these hypothesis, I am planning on comparing these structures to their anatomy and see if it's possible to deduce differences in the structures between males and females. At this moment I know of only one 100% way to sex centipedes: cut them open and identify testis and ovaries.
As you can see, this produces a major problem for live specimens. Buying vast amounts of live specimens only to kill them and cut them open is rather pointless.
However, there is a much easier way to get specimens for this kind of research I plan on doing.
Death is a part of any biology related hobby. Members here on Arachnoboards frequently recieve animals which have died in transit (through the fault of neither party sometimes), and I'm sure a certian percentage of animals that dealers recieve die in transit or shortly after arriving.
For this project, I need dead specimens. I would prefer adult specimens that have died of natural causes, although specimens that have died from parasites or infections (just mention that in correspondance) will still be useful. Sexual maturity size is species specific, so giving a general rule of thumb for the minimum size is difficult. Anything that's past 40% grown will be fine.
Scolopendra heros: 3 inches
Scolopendra polymorpha: 2 inches for most subspecies
Scolopendra subspinpes: 3 inches
So on and so forth. Any dead specimen has some value for this project and testis and I'd venture to guess testis and ovaries can most likely be distinguished before sexual maturity.
Because centipedes have a reputation for being incredibly quick to decay, they will need to be prepared before shipping. To preserve the centipede for shipping, simply follow these instructions for preserving the centipede in alcohol. Just remember that these animals will be shipped across the country, so a lower percentage of alcohol would be preferred in order to avoid making the centipede brittle.
Remove the centipede from the alcohol, and then ship it as normal and remember to include extra padding. It is against the law to ship flammable liquids, so I cannot stress enough that the centipede will need to be removed from alcohol. This method should be enough to preserve the centipede for cheap 3 day shipping, although I would reccomend including some sort of ice pack inside a styrafoam container. I will send back any reusable ice packs.
To make arrangements for shipping, simply send me a private message and I will do my best to get back to you with an address to send them to in a timely manner.
When completed, my research will be posted here on Arachnoboards for everyone to see and use free of charge.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me either via PM or at midiowatarantula@yahoo.com.
I have been talking to people who have bred centipedes in the past (importers and zoos) and have had talked with Rowland Shelley a little bit on the subject who is working to mail me some information on the internal structure of Scolopendramorpha.
He has also forwarded my queries into this subject to John Lewis, however I have not gotten the E-mail from Lewis yet. I do expect it within the next few weeks.
In my preliminary research, I have come up with several hypothesis which I believe hold the key to determining gender in centipedes. Differences in body structure, terminal legs and differences in the maxillipeds (amongst other things) have all been used in the past to successfully 'sex' centipedes for breeding purposes. All that remains is to test these hypothesis and see if there is any validity to these claims, or whether or not these people just got lucky.
To test these hypothesis, I am planning on comparing these structures to their anatomy and see if it's possible to deduce differences in the structures between males and females. At this moment I know of only one 100% way to sex centipedes: cut them open and identify testis and ovaries.
As you can see, this produces a major problem for live specimens. Buying vast amounts of live specimens only to kill them and cut them open is rather pointless.
However, there is a much easier way to get specimens for this kind of research I plan on doing.
Death is a part of any biology related hobby. Members here on Arachnoboards frequently recieve animals which have died in transit (through the fault of neither party sometimes), and I'm sure a certian percentage of animals that dealers recieve die in transit or shortly after arriving.
For this project, I need dead specimens. I would prefer adult specimens that have died of natural causes, although specimens that have died from parasites or infections (just mention that in correspondance) will still be useful. Sexual maturity size is species specific, so giving a general rule of thumb for the minimum size is difficult. Anything that's past 40% grown will be fine.
Scolopendra heros: 3 inches
Scolopendra polymorpha: 2 inches for most subspecies
Scolopendra subspinpes: 3 inches
So on and so forth. Any dead specimen has some value for this project and testis and I'd venture to guess testis and ovaries can most likely be distinguished before sexual maturity.
Because centipedes have a reputation for being incredibly quick to decay, they will need to be prepared before shipping. To preserve the centipede for shipping, simply follow these instructions for preserving the centipede in alcohol. Just remember that these animals will be shipped across the country, so a lower percentage of alcohol would be preferred in order to avoid making the centipede brittle.
Remove the centipede from the alcohol, and then ship it as normal and remember to include extra padding. It is against the law to ship flammable liquids, so I cannot stress enough that the centipede will need to be removed from alcohol. This method should be enough to preserve the centipede for cheap 3 day shipping, although I would reccomend including some sort of ice pack inside a styrafoam container. I will send back any reusable ice packs.
To make arrangements for shipping, simply send me a private message and I will do my best to get back to you with an address to send them to in a timely manner.
When completed, my research will be posted here on Arachnoboards for everyone to see and use free of charge.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me either via PM or at midiowatarantula@yahoo.com.
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