For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Centipede in my bath

Today I want to try something new and see if it works ........

This is my first attempt to video something with my new camera and it turned out to be an interesting subject but one I would have preferred to find outside and not in my bath!! :) I caught it and put it in my fishtank in order to take pictures and this video of it.

This centipede is about 5 inches (14cm) in length. They do not have 100 legs as their name suggests but average,30-50. They are estimated to have been found 300 million years ago which makes them amongst the oldest land living arthropds. Centipedes are equipped with two poison pincers on the sides of its head which are used to incapacitate its prey but these are not harmful to humans. They mainly feed on nocturnal insects such as cockroaches but some species of centipede are specialist feeders and actively hunt scorpions and spiders.