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Giant Desert Centipede

Giant Sonoran Centipede
Giant North American Centipede Family: Scolopendridae

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Scolopendra heros Photo Courtesy Bill Love/Blue Chameleon Ventures

   A giant centipede that can grow up to 8", the Giant Desert Centipede is quite pretty and attractive, BUT... it has a very unattractive bite!

   The Giant Desert Centipede is a large species of centipede and many keepers believe it is one of the most beautiful. They are hardy and easy to keep. This is a relatively calm species and is handled by experienced keepers. But, we do not recommend handling any centipedes.

Caution: The bite of all large centipedes are potentially medically serious!
Especially so to small children.

For more Information on keeping centipedes see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Centipede

Description:
Three subspecies of Scolopendra heros are currently recognized.
   All subspecies have 26 to 30 segments in their antennae (generally 26). The first three to five segments are smooth. The head is finely punctuated with two faint sulci, or grooves. The first pair of legs have two tarsal spines and all of the rest have only one. All three subspecies reach 7 to 8” (18 - 20 cm) as adults.

• Red-headed Centipede, Scolopendra h. castaneiceps. It is a black centipede with a red head and yellow legs. It is found in New Mexico across the southwestern United States and as far north as Kansas and east to Georgia.
• Black-tailed Centipede or Blue-tailed Centipede, Scolopendra h. heros. It is a yellow centipede with light yellow legs and a medium to dark blue tail. It is found in New Mexico, east to Texas and northern Mexico.
• Black-headed Centipede, Scolopendra h. arizonensis It is a red or dark orange centipede with yellow legs and a black head and tail. It is found in Arizona and Mexico. Some of the Arizona specimens have black bands running across the tergites.

Care and Feeding:
   Feed crickets and roaches once a week. Once a month feed a small pink mouse. For more information on feeding see, Centipede Care: Feeding

Environment:
   A large enclosure that offers plenty of floor space and a deep (4”+) substrate of damp sand and peat moss is ideal. This species will spend most of its time buried in the substrate with only the tips of the back legs or its antennae above ground. Also offer a few well-placed pieces of cork bark, bark, or a sturdy slate shelter to keep specimens settled. For more information on environment see, Centipede Care: Housing

Temperature and Humidity requirements:
   As typical of a desert species, the Giant Desert Centipede will do fine in the 80° to 85° F range and with a humidity of 50 to 65%.

Handling:
   We do not recommend handling any centipedes. Despite photos of “daredevils” (goof balls) handling large specimens, all Scolopendra are capable of delivering a very painful venomous “pinch”.
   Large specimens should be considered medically serious and some people with reactions to insect venom and those with small children should be very cautious when keeping large Scolopendra species.

Availability:
  The Giant Desert Centipede is commonly available in the spring and summer from invert collectors in the Southwestern United States. From these collectors they get spread to dealers throughout the country and they are usually inexpensive. They are hardy and easy to keep and will no doubt be captive-bred in the future.

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Latest Comments
My son and I found a 6inch long Gaint Desert Centipede two days ago in our home in Wichita falls, Texas just north west of Dallas. We have made it a pet. We keep in a plastic terrium and feed it small crickets from the pet store. If anyone else has a Centipede as a pet any tips would be helpful. Thank you Amber Schacter 2009-05-14
We just killed the second red-headed Giant Desert Centipede at our home north of Dallas near Lake Lewisville, TX. It was in the garage and was "only" about 6" (and very fast). The first was a couple of years ago and dropped from somewhere above the t.v. in the living room. It was nearly 9" long with a very thick body. These guys are intimidating! (We trapped the latest one under a bucket and hit it with wasp spray and that did the trick. The first one my dad caught with tongs and put in a jar so my son could take it to his Outdoor Life teacher.) Tamra 2009-05-05
Hello. I was working on a construction site at Beardsly Kansas in Rawlins County (north west Kansas) and I saw a centipede 8 inches long. It had to be one of these giant centipedes. It had a yellow or gold body and red head and tail. I can't find a picture that looks quite like it. I wondered if it was a subspecies. I tried to take a picture of it with my cell phone but it was crawling away and I didn't want to grab it. Anyway, I thought beautiful and very unique. ZACH SIVITS 2008-10-29
Just found one here in Lawton Oklahoma, 6 inches long, red head, gross. Sandy 2008-10-08
We have killed at least 10 to 15 this year alone south of Wyandotte Okla here on Grand Lake Don Grimes 2008-06-27
Some of the coolest comments:
Red-headed centipedes are common north of Dallas in the crosstimbers area--we've seen them as big as 8" in our yard in Oak Point. They're not just limited to New Mexico and points west! SjB 2007-10-27

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Author: Russ Gurley
Edited by Animal-World.