Subject: giant centipede in Dominican Republic
Location: Dominican Republic
February 18, 2013 6:26 pm
I encountered this amazing critter in Jaragua Park, Dominican Rep, back in 2007. I can see it’s a ”giant” centipede but searches on the net have just left me confused as to species. Regardless, it was a pretty cool animal – huge!!
On the same trip I also came across this rather fabulous looking snail shell (I can’t recall whether it was occupied) – very striking. Land snail, tree snail?
(Incidentally, this is a great site for bugs and such, but do you know of a similar site for attempting to ID herps??)
Thanks,
Paul Prior
Signature: Paul Prior
Caribbean Giant Centipede
Hi Paul,
Most Giant Tropical Centipedes are in the genus Scolopendra, and searching for that, we found this image of Scolopendra alternans from Haiti on iNaturalist. Another iNaturalist page places it in the Bahamas and Haiti. BugGuide lists some Florida sightings as well. Vladimir Dinets websiteindicates the common name is Caribbean Giant Centipede.
Caribbean Giant Centipede
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No ring furrow => Scolopendra alternans. The only New World Scolopendra specie without it (except introduced S. subspinipes).
Thanks for the confirmation.