Subspinipes spermatophore?

[danread]

I was looking in my subspinipes tank today, and i found a small ball of what looked like a kind of webby material, almost like a small eggsac about 0.5 cm across. It was stuck to the substrate on one side. i thought it was mould at first, but it was made of a much tougher material, very much like spider web. Since i've not fed my pede anything that makes webs, i think it must have come from the centipede. Does anyone know anything about centipede spermatophores? Do they produce a web-like material to wrap it in? If anyone has any photos or knows any links to some photos that would be really useful.

Thanks,

Dan.

 

[Nikos]

Dan sometime ago i was surfing the net for info on centipedes and got to a UK site claiming that they had bred their pedes and was selling them.
Cannot recall the name or the url though.....

If you know this place why not send them an e-mail?

I'll try to find it and if succesfull will let you know.

 

[danread]

Hi Vardoulas,

unfortunately the site you were looking at was probably arachnia enterprises (http://www.7points.co.uk/arachnia-enterprises/index.html), and they seem to have gone out of buisness a few years ago. It's a real shame, as they looked like a really professional setup and had an excellent selection of centipedes. I tried e-mailing and calling them last year, but i think they've been out of buisness since 1999.

Cheers,

Dan.

 

[Nikos]

found another one!
http://www.earthlife.net/insects/chilopod.html

quote
Breeding
Males spin a small web onto which they deposit a spermatophore for the female to take up, sometimes there is a courtship dance, sometimes the males just leave them for the females to find. In temperate areas egg laying occurs in Spring and Summer but in subtropical and tropical areas there appears to be little seasonality to Centipede breeding.

unquote

quite intersting info on this site

it sounds similar to the "web" that your pede did.

 

[danread]

Thanks Vardoulas!

I reckon that's what it must have been, I'd really like to take some photos of it, but i think it's too small for my camera to pick up. Right, the next thing i need to do is to try and find a female to breed him with.... easier said than done i think. It's a real shame they aren't as easy to sex as tarantulas, i'd love to have a go at breeding them.

Cheers,

Dan.