What was this critter thinking?

Luckily the one I was about to grab didn't eviscerate my hand! That would've taught me a valuable lesson I reckon.

This is a classic example of, "holy cow, that's creepy."

This centipede is the same species (I think) that I've been working on lately in lab. Known to those in the know as Scolopendra subspinipes... or colloquially as "Big F***ing Scary Critter!" Of all the species of centipedes out there, and there are quite a few, this is the second largest or so. I've seen some in excess of 10 inches from tip of antennae to last appendage. They are not the most dangerous though. The little ones can sometimes carry a more painful sting, albeit with less creep value. Just so you know, they still have very little brains and probably just walk around worrying about where the next defenseless little mouse is going to come from. That and constantly trying NOT to stub their multitude toes on bits and pieces of the underbrush.

Luckily, as a class they've had hundreds of millions of years to come to terms with the fact that they have so damn many legs. In fact, their bodies have a nerve cord that is very much capable of moving the critter about without input from the brain. How do I know this? When I go for their brains I have to cut their head off at the expense of the body. That doesn't stop the body from running around all by itself. There are central pattern generators that let the headless centipede body scamper, climb, curl, and clutch as if it were still attached to it's brain. We've all heard of someone "running around like a chicken with its head chopped off," well, I'm going to start saying "running around like a 'pede with its brain out!" The kicker? The body can live for more than two hours like this. Yuck.

Just thought you'd like to know.


photo courtesy of: http://www.insectaculture.com/ssubspinipes.htm