West Texas Scolopendre, is it Cingulata?

Ted

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Caught it in Jeff Davis county, in the Davis mountains, approx 5,800 ft elevation.
its only about 3.5+inches...but is prettier than in this picture.
is it possibly a Cingulata?


sorry for the poor pics.
my camera sucks.
 

Steven

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it's def. NOT a cingulata,
notice the ringfurrow on the 1st tergite,... and the fact cingulata distribution area is stricktly mideterean(North Africa, South Europe) and Middle East.
i'm thinking more towards Sc.polymorpha, but i don't know much about American centipedes so maybe some US members can give a better opinion.

very nice scolopendrid no doubt !
 

beetleman

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yeah, it looks like a polymorpha,and a beautiful 1 at that!:clap: nice find.
 

Ted

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it's def. NOT a cingulata,
notice the ringfurrow on the 1st tergite,... and the fact cingulata distribution area is stricktly mideterean(North Africa, South Europe) and Middle East.
i'm thinking more towards Sc.polymorpha, but i don't know much about American centipedes so maybe some US members can give a better opinion.

very nice scolopendrid no doubt !
thanks, you guys!!

i read that they[cingulata] were uncommon[rare], but did occasionally show up in the U.S

seems to have more than 7 or 8 anten.segments..but you're right..it's tergite do have the banding..

and do polymorpha and viridis overlap in range?..poly is reportedly larger..but by how much?

lol..i even found this question presented somewhere
''Why do they always say that scolopendra polymorpha and scolopendra viridis look alike each-other when scolopendra cingulata looks alike scolopendra polymorpha more than scolopendra viridi does?''

and how large have you seen these polymorphs get?..i understand they stay pretty small.
 

beetleman

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i had 1 that was about 6" and fat also(f) she passed on not long ago:( i'm assuming old age had her when she was about 2" in 2005, but i'm not sure on the lifespan on them.
 

Ted

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i had 1 that was about 6" and fat also(f) she passed on not long ago:( i'm assuming old age had her when she was about 2" in 2005, but i'm not sure on the lifespan on them.
so mine will likely get a bit bigger..its still med sized...thin-ish..and proportionate
 

beetleman

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so mine will likely get a bit bigger..its still med sized...thin-ish..and proportionate
oh yeah, it will ive heard they can get to 7" but i haven't seen any. they are great pedes:)
 

bistrobob85

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Yes they are agressive... I don't know where you've read that they were rare, seems like they're the only specie from the States that our local importers do import...

phil.
 

Ted

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Yes they are agressive... I don't know where you've read that they were rare, seems like they're the only specie from the States that our local importers do import...

phil.
i read that cingulata was supposedly found upon rare occasion in the states.

not the polymorph..they aren't rare.
 

cacoseraph

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oh yeah, it will ive heard they can get to 7" but i haven't seen any. they are great pedes:)
i have :) there is what i call the "giant morph" that comes out of AZ. i have a ruler pic that clearly shows it cracking 6" bodylength while i am holding it :)

excellent!.how about handling?...are they aggressive?
cooler temperatures + well fed and hydrated = fairly docile...
warmer + thirsty = fiesty

that is true for pretty much all centipedes. also, if you poke the pede with a paintbrush or something and it doesn't freak out it is probably going to be more tractable that one that starts doing cartwheels to get away from you.

i had 1 that was about 6" and fat also(f) she passed on not long ago:( i'm assuming old age had her when she was about 2" in 2005, but i'm not sure on the lifespan on them.

my giant lived at 6"+ for almost two years with me... then died of complications from a bad molt most likely precipitated by a lack of proper humidity. i suck. my guess from observing my tiger hordes is that it takes ~1 year per inch for the first 3-4" and then growing speed slows. i expect you could compress that in half if you power grow. maturity for local morphs ("toxic yellow morph") is somewhere around 3-3.5" bl
 

beetleman

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yeah, mine wasn't really that aggressive, it would freak alittle when i opened the container to feed/water, but not psyco like all of my other pedes{D that is some interesting info,thanks.
 

Ted

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thanks, cacoseraph, and everyone.
i havent taken the time to house many pedes for long..just been too busy studying and collecting.
the info is on par with what i had thought, and it looks like the pede will do very well.
 

Galapoheros

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Hi Ted, nice pede. I've found that 3.5" is a pretty good sized adult here in Tx for polymorpha. I've seen many over the years and never have seen one that's longer that 4" out there in w tx yet, but I guess they're out there. I have 4 right now and one was taking care of babies when I left. I think it's barely 2 inches long. I've been out of town (still am) and hope everything hasn't shriveled up.
 

Ted

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Hi Ted, nice pede. I've found that 3.5" is a pretty good sized adult here in Tx for polymorpha. I've seen many over the years and never have seen one that's longer that 4" out there in w tx yet, but I guess they're out there. I have 4 right now and one was taking care of babies when I left. I think it's barely 2 inches long. I've been out of town (still am) and hope everything hasn't shriveled up.
oh wow..they are tiny!
thats too bad..i was hoping for a large-ish pede..
i better get back out there and look some more.:D
 

Galapoheros

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They looked pretty cool last time I looked at them. Seemed like they were a little less than half an inch. But I haven't been to my house in several days and I'm kind of afraid stuff will be all dried out. Going back tomorrow though and I'll take a pic of the babies if they're ok. Here's the last pic I took of her with eggs a while back. I can't see the colors on the one you found very well but I'm thinking it looks like this, maybe just a little darker? I'm certainly not sure about the "size" thing. From the few things I've read, it's as though they have the genetic potential to get larger the further west you go from tex to cal ..just don't know but it seems that way to me so far.
 
Last edited:

Ted

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They looked pretty cool last time I looked at them. Seemed like they were a little less than half an inch. But I haven't been to my house in several days and I'm kind of afraid stuff will be all dried out. Going back tomorrow though and I'll take a pic of the babies if they're ok. Here's the last pic I took of her with eggs a while back. I can't see the colors on the one you found very well but I'm thinking it looks like this, maybe just a little darker?
that does look pretty similar..i do think it is a polymorph..
congrats on the babies..cant wait to see the pics!!:clap:
 

Galapoheros

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I edited a little right after your reply post. I really don't know about the size thing for sure. Seems like they have the potential to get bigger the further west you go, going by the few things I've read, but I don't really know. Ha, yeah, hope they're not dead! Will for sure post pics if it's they're alive.
 

Ted

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I edited a little right after your reply post. I really don't know about the size thing for sure. Seems like they have the potential to get bigger the further west you go, going by the few things I've read, but I don't really know. Ha, yeah, hope they're not dead! Will for sure post pics if it's they're alive.
looking forward to it!
 
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