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