Cienpies (Scolopendra angulata) | Project Noah

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Photo by raulalsc

Published on Project Noah

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Field Notes

Description:

El cienpiés es un quiplópodo, posee un par de patas en cada segmento (metámero) a diferencia de los diplópodos o milpies que poseen dos pares de patas en cada segmento.
El cienpies solo ataca a su presa cuando la toca y esta se mueve. Si no se mueve, no hay reaccion.

Habitat:

Este ejemplar se encontraba en una zona desértica.
Son nocturnos, ya que el sol les hace mucho daño. 15 minutos al sol son suficientes para matar a un escalopendra o cienpies adulto.

Notes:

Encontrado ahogado en una alberca.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (52)

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thanks, LandmarkExpert (;

freaky, it looks like he's posoning you the way you hold your hand! :)congrats~

scary...!!

EeeeeGad!! You are WAY braver than I am!! Even dead, I would NEVER touch that guy....let alone, hold him....UGH!! But, congrats on your spotting!

Centipedes have repugnatorial glands on their legs, which might be where the odor came from. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/uniramia/myriapoda.html

Thanks a lot Carol !! ;)

Carol Snow Milne

Funny! Somehow I came across this photo on the internet today. :) Great photos!

Gracias Nacho ! Por suerte estaba muerto si no tal vez no estuviera escribiendo esto haha

Wow! Increíble, por un momento pensé que estaba vivo jajaja Excelente foto

Hi MickGrant, better be careful of some of the large Malaysian centipedes, some really large species can even hunt snakes!

Gracias misako, geminigail y Maria Vargas por sus comentarios ! :) creo que mi cienpies ya a asustado a bastantes haha

MaríaVargasBarraza

Que nervio da escalofrio verlo!!! excelente foto, saludos desde Chile!

SHIVERS!!!! Really got the chills on this one but the photos are amazing!

It scares me, but the photos are really cool.

thanks a lot for your comments ! ;)

FREAKY!!! but so cool!

That's a beautiful specimen Raul. Very nice.

wow thats sooo big!!!!!

hahahaha eres muy valiente! Muy valiente habría mucho miedo :))

Translated I think to English : I am afraid only to those who are alive hahaha luckily this was dead

Yo le tengo miedo solo a los que están vivos hahaha por suerte este estaba muerto :P

Que grande! Yo le tengo miedo a los ciempiés, no me gustaría encontrarme uno en mi piscina!

wow! It is very impressive! Like horror movies hahahaha nice shot Raulalsc !!!

That´s a good idea JuanDiTrani

Exacto Noe, para eso tendría que matarlo y eso no me hubiera gustado. Por suerte cayó en buenas manos y ahora ustedes lo pueden apreciar :)

Es una pena que este muerto, aunque creo que habría sido imposible fotografiarlo con tantos detalles si hubiera estado vivo... Great series!

woow amazing history MickGrant, I think I´ll take the same precautions that you !

first I thought it was a tatoo...

haha that´s true Harsha, leaving you a deadly bite in your hand !

Had one land on my chest as I was sleeping in holiday shelter on east coast Malaysia - I assure you I levitated a meter of the bed and destroyed it with a shoe - it was more than 1 foot long (with large jaws). That made me check ceiling fans and under pillows ever since!.

Hmmm. I think a living centipede will not even stay on your hand for a picture. They run like trains!

Thanks for the information Latimeria! I´ll be more carfeull if I see one alive. Harsha don´t do this with a live centipede!! I assure you that I wouldn't have done this if it were alive

LOL! Thanks for telling me it's dead. I was inspired and was planning to try this out myself. It looks so alive and crawling in the pictures. Great clicks.

Raulalsc, all centipedes have venom. They have a pair of modified legs that serve as fangs, which they use to kill their prey. Many centipedes are no threat to humans, however, due to the size difference. However, centipedes that are as large as the one you're holding in this picture can be dangerous, so you want to be careful around any living ones you find! If you find a centipede that is only an inch or two long, however, you probably don't have anything to worry about.

It feels very funny Harsha, specially the legs :) It doesn´t bite me, it was dead. I found it drowned in a pool.

Thanks! I took my precautions ;) Anyone know if ALL the centipedes have poison ? Or only a few species ?

Gosh! How did it feel when it was crawling on your body? Doesn't it bite?

fantastic photo!! Be careful!

Excellent photography...learning lesson..!!

Thanks !! I got the risk for you guys ;) to appreciate it better and see its enormous size !

Yikes! I wouldn't hold dead or not!

Whoa, this one raised my hairs :D Creepyly cool :)

Cool ! but it's face looks so disgusting...>o<

oh my god! Thats mad! I would never ever hold this one on my hand!But cool that you did!

That's amazing! So beautiful, I wish we got centipedes that large in the more northern ranges of North America, wow.

and funny !! :) it tickle you with its legs haha I preserving it in ethyl alcohol, but it got damaged between segments on the transfer

It's creepy and beautiful you should keep it and preserve it somehow!

hahaha yeah I should have said that I fought against it or something like that haha I found it drowned in a swimming pool, it seems that it went to drink its last gulp of water. The chemicals in the pool preserved it very well until I found it.

I agree with Laura. I have seen those in the wild and they can deliver a painful bit. I would not touch it if it were alive. You can always tell people it's alive in the photo so they think you are a crazy wildlife guy! Hahahaha! Do you know how it died? It doesn't appear to be squished at all.

I had my cares but this centipede was dead, so i thought that it was not dangerous. And yeahh it feels kind of funny specially the "legs" :) but leaves a disgusting smell in the hand and that was not very funny...

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