What's Thise Pede?

MizM

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Hi Pede Wranglers! I am a T-Girl and know NOTHING about centipedes! However, I went into the hills this weekend and found literally THOUSANDS of these things!! Can you tell me what it is, how potent the venom is... and if anyone is interested in a large shipment of them. I CAN ACCOMODATE! They are prolific around here. They were collected in Riverside County, California. Thanks guys!
 

Bob

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They look like Scolopendra Polymorpha. I think they get to around 5 inches. What was the largest you saw?

Bob
 

MrDeranged

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Not sure if polymorpha range that far west, they may be viridis. Then again, I may have the ranges mixed up. It's one or the other though :)

Scott
 

MizM

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6 inches was the largest. There were HUNDREDS of 2"-4" so I figured they must have just hatched out. (Or whatever pedes do!!)
 

MizM

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Originally posted by mrderanged
Not sure if polymorpha range that far west, they may be viridis. Then again, I may have the ranges mixed up. It's one or the other though :)

Scott
Can we narrow it down? Mister Internet? Anyone?

I will go hunt caresheets and information using those two names though. Thanks for the help!:D
 

Henry Kane

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I believe that far west would have to be S. polymorpha. I'm basing that on the fact that our native Scolo here in Co. are S. viridis which range from Arizona and farther east..

Atrax
 
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BugBoyX

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They look like S. polymorpha to me. I think S. viridis is the more eastern ranging species of the two. I don't think the 2-4incher are hatchlings though. As far as I know S. polymorpha only gets somewhere between 4-6in. long.....so they must be older than hatchlings (which I imagine are probably only an inch or two when they leave momma. They may have just been stirred up by rain or something.
 

Henry Kane

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Originally posted by AGGRO
They look like S. polymorpha to me. I think S. viridis is the more eastern ranging species of the two. I don't think the 2-4incher are hatchlings though. As far as I know S. polymorpha only gets somewhere between 4-6in. long.....so they must be older than hatchlings (which I imagine are probably only an inch or two when they leave momma. They may have just been stirred up by rain or something.
You're on the right track. In my experience the polymorpha babies dispersed from a gravid mom I had at right about 1". The 2-4"ers you saw were probably the survivors of last year's broods. Of course S. viridis is very similar in appearance, size and color. My guess would be that the young disperse at around the same size as well.

They are very hardy pets for the most part and have a milder venom so they are a frequently recommended beginner pede.

Tom,
Hopefully you could help to answer a couple questions raised by this topic.
1) Since viridis ranges from Arizona and to the east, is there any overlap in territory between them and polymorpha? From what info I can find on-line it seems that polymorpha's range also starts in Arizona but extends west from there.
2) What biological features differentiate polymorpha and viridis? To be honest, they look very similar to me and if it weren't for the location each are found in I wouldn't know the difference just by looking at them.

Atrax
 
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Mister Internet

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Originally posted by Atrax
Tom,
Hopefully you could help to answer a couple questions raised by this topic.
1) Since viridis ranges from Arizona and to the east, is there any overlap in territory between them and polymorpha? From what info I can find on-line it seems that polymorpha's range also starts in Arizona but extends west from there.
2) What biological features differentiate polymorpha and viridis? To be honest, they look very similar to me and if it weren't for the location each are found in I wouldn't know the difference just by looking at them.

Atrax
Gary,

I had a short email discussion with Dr. Rowland Shelley about (1) .... here is a short excerpt from an email:

Regarding the S.viridis/S.polymorpha question, yes, I do deal with it considerably [in his book] and conclude that they are indeed separate species, although there are still some questionable aspects and a nice, clear, clean, neat resolution just isn't possible. We all like to have things neat and tidy, but sometimes nature just doesn't oblige, and that is the case here. ; Viridis and polymorpha occur sympatircally in places like E TX, AZ, and UT and are clearly distinct and different, but in NW TX and E NM the picture becomes cloudy, as if the species can exist side by side without hybridizing elsewhere but not here. I have seen this in one milliped too, Abacion tesselatum and A. lactarium are clear and distinct in places like IN and PA, but in southern SC and GA the picture becomes cloudy and they appear to hybridize. Unfortunately, that is reality.
Regarding (2), I have not read biological material on specific species, only on centipedes in general... I believe Dr. Shellet deals with the external morphology of the various species in his book, which I know Scott has, so I would say we have to twist his arm to tell us. ;)
 

MizM

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Thankx guys! You were a great help! Actually, the night I went hunting was a MAJOR insect party night... I had 3 moths stuck in my hair when I got home!!! So I think they were all out feeding! But keep in mind I know NOTHING about pedes!:D
 

Henry Kane

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Originally posted by Mister Internet
Gary,
Regarding (2), I have not read biological material on specific species, only on centipedes in general... I believe Dr. Shellet deals with the external morphology of the various species in his book, which I know Scott has, so I would say we have to twist his arm to tell us. ;)
Hey Tom, thanks for the detailed info...and straight form da pede man himself! :) The possibility of them hybridizing didn't even occur to me. That is fascinating indeed. Also brings up another Q. I'm guessing the hybrids are difficult to i.d. as such. Are there any know hybrid specimens on record?(alive or preserved)
Scott, think you could dig around in Shelley's book for us? Pleeeeeez?

Atrax
 
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