Here’s a beauty..
Took hours of taxonomical research, but I’m so impressed by this guy it was worth it..just wanted to share this beautiful creature..
Dana
Hi Dana,
We wish you would have shared the results of your research with us, or at least provided us a location.
Oops. I sent you a pic just now and forgot to tell you that it is a Scolopendra alternans, 9 inches long. Crawled out of my bag in Key Largo. Sure! Just didn’t want to send all that if you didn’t use it. This is a Scolopendra alternans. It’s a beautiful specimen, being a full 9 inches long. He crawled out of my carryall bag after I’d played a band gig at an older wooden building in the Florida Keys. Some species of Scolopendra are hard to I.D. due to the many color variations (brown or gray based) but I finally narrowed this one to S. Alternans from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science website. (Leach, 1815): “The distribution of S. Alternans in the contiguous U.S. is limited specifically to Monroe, Collier, and Dade counties in the state of Florida.” I live in Monroe county, and after much research found 2 other I.D. requests for this animal online–both from Key Largo. After taking a few photos, I set him free in the woods across the street. Hope you enjoy his unique beauty as much as I did!
D. Armenta
Millipede
Hi,
can you please tell me what kind of millipede this is? I found it in the Philipines a few years ago. Thanks.
Stefan from Denmark.
Hi Stefan,
We haven’t had much luck identifying your Millipede species. Perhaps one of our readers will have an answer for you.
Update: (01/20/2008) Millipede ids.
Here are ids. for the millipedes on the millipede page. Most are quite old; don’t people submit new ones more often than this? 1/1/07 . Philippines . From colors of bands it looks like a representative of the family Rhinocricidae (order Spirobolida). Since Stefan is in Denmark, there is a first rate specialist at the Danish Museum of Natural History, Copenhagen, Dr. Henrik Enghoff. Stefan should take the specimen by for an id. Henrik will probably be interested to learn that this foreign millipede was found in Denmark.
Rowland Shelley
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Science
Update: (02/04/2008) possible contact for ID’ing Filipino millipede
Hello!
Well, once again, you folks are responsible for the loss of about $25.00 worth of valuable tax dollars! Here I am, trying to ID a North American Millipede, when I made the mistake of logging on to your website. It is so fascinating that it seems I have “squandered” a good hour just poking around, looking at all the fascinating photos and sassy comments. Keep it up! I was overjoyed to see that gorgeous Philippine millipede. I grew up there, and got my biology degree there. If you’d like me to, I will track down the email address of the terrestrial ecosystems section of the bio department – CENTROP, Silliman University, Dumaguete City, Philippines. Perhaps they have someone there that can ID that beauty. My husband is filipino, and tells me stories of gigantic millipedes that can “shoot” a caustic acid on people that harrass them. Yikes. The specimen in the picture is probably about 6″ long, judging from the bamboo wall/floor strips behind it on the right that are usually about an inch wide. Sure wish I had seen it! Wow. Hope it helps! My husband is from the Philippines, and he recognizes the lovely black and yellow millipede. It’s about 6″ long, and he thinks the locals call it “labod” in the local dialect of Cebuano. He says it can ooze a very caustic fluid. You might try contacting CENTROP at Silliman University, Dumaguete City Philippines if you need more info on it. There should be someone there who would know more about it. I’ll try to track down a valid e-mail address if you are interested. That is one totally cool millipede!!!!!
Karen Puracan
Naturalist
Lancaster County Environmental Center
Indonesian Borneo Centipede
Dear Whats that bug,
Thought you might like this one 
The jaws were quite formidable on this centipede and it later managed to bite the Indonesian field staff member that is currently holding it. Despite sucking out most of the poison his thumb still swelled up quite a bit.
All the best,
Norman
Hi Norman,
Thanks for sending us your wonderful image as well as a well deserved warning about the bite of Tropical Centipedes.
giant centipede
Thankyou for your wonderful website! We were able to indentify this beautiful giant centipede we found outside our front door yesterday. It was approx 5 1/2 " long! We managed to put it in a cup and move it safely, away from our house. Giant redheaded centipede, Order: Scolopendromorpha, Family: Scolopendridae, Genus and species: Scolopendra heros Girard.
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for the image and information. We wish you had provided us with a location, but we are guessing it is probably Oklahoma or Texas.
Scolopendridae
No questions. Just a great picture of a centipede found on the southern tip of Baja, Mexico. 1 mile from the Sea of Cortez, 7" Came up the sink drain with drains out into an arroyo.
Kathy
Hi Kathy,
Thank you for the multiple attempts you made sending this image our way until we received a file that did not crash our program. The image is awesome and the hand drawn ruler is a nice touch.
eek, a bug!
Hello bugman,
My name is Jessica. Attached, you will find an image of a bug that i’ve unfortunately encountered many a time since moving into my apartment. The maintenance folks here at the complex have told me it’s a centipede, but i don’t buy that. I’ve googled every possile description of the thing that i could concoct, to no avail. However, with much luck I did stumble upon your site. In the photo, the little guy is missing some legs. I tried for a live shot, but these things are quick! I live in Irvine, California and have been told that my monstrous friends come from underground. Also, rumor has it they have a “nasty bite.” So, dear bugman, I am desperately curious. Can you tell me who this mystery bug is? Sincerely,
Jessica
Hi Jessica,
If you had just believed the maintenance folk and typed “Centipede” into your search engine, you might have gotten your answer. When we tried that tactic, the first site that came up was devoted to the House Centipede, your creature. Perhaps your perspective on the House Centipede was different than ours, hence your lack of googling success. Perhaps your description was something akin to “flying purple people eater” or maybe “sea monster from the depths” and that led you astray. We tried “insect many legs fast” (even though the House Centipede is not an insect) and were led to several sites with the correct answer, including our own Centipede page. All we can advise in the future is for you to choose your descriptive words carefully and accurately. Mastering search engines is a wonderful talent, and we can’t imagine how today’s students could complete research papers without the talent now that classics like Encyclopedia Britannica are no longer readily available in homes. House Centipedes are harmless predators, and the poor arthropod did not warrant your wrath. There was no need for such Unnecessary Carnage.
Can you identify this bug?
Hi Bugman!
I was wonder if you can tell me what kind of bug this is. I found it (them) in the basement behind insulation. It is about 2 inches long and I live in Ohio. Also, what do you recommend to get rid of them (I have kids and animals to keep in mind)? Thank you,
Greg Miller
Hi Greg,
This is a House Centipede, easily the most popular query subject submitted to our site, except perhaps general spider questions. For that reason, there is always a photo of a House Centipede on our homepage so querants can easily locate the object of their curious desire. We do not give extermination advice in general, and more specificly, we would never recommend killing a beneficial predator like a harmless House Centipede.
Vying for the Newest Best House Centipede Photo Award
I have always wondered what this was, and I have found your website to be quite helpful. I think this photo may be the best yet!
Cindy
Hi Cindy,
There isn’t really a prize, just the recognition. Additionally, we keep House Centipede images on our homepage at all times, so yours might remain for months. It really is a prize shot.
I can identify that centipede.
There is a picture of a centipede on your site that someone from Tuscon, AZ sent in. It is the Giant Desert Centipede. I live in Ft. Huachuca, AZ (about 1 hour south-east of Tuscon) and found one on my front porch recently (see photo). There is a short description and a nice picture on the Saguaro National Park website. By the way, this centipede moves like lightning! We had a hard time catching it. I love your site. Thanks for the hard work! Best regards,
K Powers
Ft. Huachuca, AZ
Hi K,
Thanks for the info, link and image of the variably colored Giant Desert Centipede, Scolopendra heros.
House Centipede (2 close up photos)
I didn’t stumble upon your site until I figured out what this thing was. Regardless, I thought the close ups would be a nice addition to your collection. I find them on my floor or in my bathroom. I’m on the bottom floor of a townhouse so it makes sense. Enjoy.
Sean
Hi Sean,
We do like to change the House Centipede image we run on our homepage regularly, and your photos are very nice. We like to keep an image of this harmless and highly beneficial species on our homepage to warn people not to kill them unnecessarily.
Giant Redheaded Centipede
A few weekends ago my husband and I were sitting on our couch in our apartment in Austin, TX when this brightly-colored lad (or lass) nonchalantly sauntered past my foot and went under the coffee table. I didn’t scream, but I must have had a look of terror in my eyes as I got up and backed away because my husband high-tailed it off the couch, too, and he hadn’t even seen it! We herded the beast out the front door, then my husband sort-of picked it up with a paper towel and deposited it as far away from our apartment as he could before it started wriggling out of his grasp. Unfortunately, in the process we accidentally divested it of one of its enlarged back legs (that look like stingers) – we found it under the coffee table later – but I’m guessing he/she/it will be fine nevertheless. We didn’t get a chance to measure it, but I would say it was approximately 7 inches long. We identified it from another website as a giant redheaded centipede, Class: Chilopoda, Order: Scolopendromorpha, Family: Scolopendridae, Genus and species: Scolopendra heros (Girard). Feel free to use this picture and/or e-mail if you would like to. Thanks for having such an interesting and informative website!
Sincerely,
Erica Sweeney
Hi Erica,
Your photo is awesome and we are glad to post it. About all we can add is the Giant Redheaded Centipede will probably regenerate its lost appendage, at least partially.
BigPede with Pinchers??
Hello BugMan….
What is this?? He/she/it fell on a woman during a training class. We were a little surprised someone had finally screamed out loud but we soon found out it was not because of the material being presented. I was able to identify the Velvet Ant and Cicada Killer because of your site and am grateful for all the wonderful pictures! I am currently about and hour and a half outside of Oklahoma City and have been quite fascinated with the "larger than life" insects around here. I am from Oregon and we don’t see insect of this magnitude very often! Thank you in advance!
~S
Ps This bug was not killed, it was however, chilled to be transported for a collection… I do not what the future holds for this Pede.
Hi S,
We have heard that these centipedes in the genus Scolopendra from Oklahoma can grow to 8 inches long. They have venom and will bite.
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