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The-Dude-L-Bug — Go head RUN I dare ya
#bug #centipede #insect #macro #scutigera_coleoptrata
Published: 2016-06-25 22:10:24 +0000 UTC; Views: 602; Favourites: 19; Downloads: 0
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Description
The interesting things one finds on garbage night.At roughly 1AM, I flicked on the light in the garage started to gather the various refuse containers. When I moved the green bin, this big adult House Centipede went scurrying up the wall.
Luckily for me, it stopped roughly at my shoulder height and remained motionless long enough for me to finish what I was doing & get my camera.
Specs:
Single image.
Handheld.
7D body + 1.4x Sigma TC + 4 Kenko DG tubes (2x - 36mm, 1 - 20mm, 1 - 12mm) + EF100mm f2.8L IS USM macro lens.
(NOTE: This image was not taken at maximum possible magnification.)
580ExII & Ray-Flash ring adapter.
For a better presentation, I altered the orientation from vertical to horizontal.
Also adjusted: minor brightness/contrast, applied Nik (pre & post) sharpener, as well as D-Fine 2.0 for noise removal.
Related content
Comments: 27
Oh man, one of those big things fell in my shower stall while I was bathing and it made me shriek and run out the bathroom... then I came back to collect it with some paper because I felt sad at the idea of it drowning. I even wrote a poem about this creepy thing. XD
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I find them in our bathroom and in the basement often during the spring, summer & fall. (They prefer damp, moister environments.)
They're not aggressive (as a rule they usually want to escape rather than sting) and they're a very beneficial bug for sure, but I'm still not fond of them.
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Yeah, they hunt other animals and are so shy... I just feel creeped out by the looooong legs. It's strange, I love spiders, insects, molluscs and creepy things, but these ones really upset me. XD
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Exactly.
LOL! I've said this many times, but it's humorous so is worth repeating...
I count myself as a fairly intelligent person, but there are days where I can't seem to take even a couple of steps without tripping over my own feet.
As I lay on the floor nursing my bruises, along comes a Scutigera coleoptrata.
Compared to a human, it's got more of a Neural Plexus rather than a real "brain", yet it can run along on 18 pairs of legs at scaled speeds that would make a Cheetah turn green with envy!
Sometimes, life just ain't fair.
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Aren't these guys avid predators of roaches and other 'filthier' pests?
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Yep. Roaches & silverfish are a staple, but any insect on the ground is on the menu. They're quite fond of snacking on spiders too.
Even those bugs normally on-the-wing have to rest sometime & so are at risk falling prey to them.
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Ok, I love invertebrates...except for these guys. I rented a house once where these little buggers had the run of the place. One time I was just dipping my toe into the bath and one fell from the ceiling and on to my shoulder. Not. Cool. At. All.
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I agree with ya. These are one critter that gives me the willies too.
They have a number of ways to get into a place. I saw a couple crawl outta the drain system in the laundry room floor.... which is why the drain cover now has a screen liner.
LOL! Yeah they scale walls & ceiling all the time, displaying little fear of heights. I've had a bunch of them drop on me & I agree again - it's a very creepy habit they have.
Thanks for the 
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I never knew their faces actually…. looked like bugs….. I've never really seen their heads.
Terrifying.
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Thank you.
There are lots of these around during the summer so I usually get a few opportunities to get some good shots of them.
Oh and I wholeheartedly agree with ya! The eyes & those big killer toenails give them a very intimidating look.
They're hunting skills are incredible too... though they aren't the daintiest of eaters.
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Welcome-- Though I suppose I should say nice shot first xD
Ah, I see! I'd been getting some cool subjects now that summer has started as well -- but I only had my camera for one -- big alligator lizard. Unfortunately the cats keep terrorizing them ....
They have the face of a wasp >_< (currently having wasp troubles inside my home) ... And those toes just remind me of Alien, waiting to pounce and clamp on xD
I can imagine, I've look at videos for giant ones. Heh
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No lizards around here (which is likely why we have more of these big house 'pedes)
House Centipedes have much better eyesight than their shorter legged cousins.
They're also much less inclined to sting us humans.
Over the years, I've had a few of these wander over parts of me and I'll be honest - I do tend to react when I feel that feathery scurrying across my skin.
The Scutigera are always more concerned with getting off me as quickly as possible.
The short leggers have a tendency to grab & try to hang on - or they'll suddenly do a taste test... either of which results in an envenomation.
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Oh, I see o.o! We get lots of.. everything it seems. It's really dry and hot in summer, so lizards and snakes are out searching for water sources. I've been seeing centipedes in the dog pin, and they're creepy.
I have a feeling I have never seen this variety of centipede, that makes them sound even scarier. But oh, that's interesting.
I would have flipped out XD;;;
Wow.. Alright, well, I'm glad the scarier variety seems to want less to do with humans then!
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I'm not trying to scare ya, but when the sun goes down, the larger species of shorter legged types of centipede aren't exactly shy. Big desert centipedes will attack anything they can grab including mice & small birds. Their wider menu means their venom is more potent & can cause some pretty horrendous damage to mammalian tissue. In humans, this included necrotic reactions (the flesh just dies & rots off).
By comparison, house centipede venom is relatively mild - at least to humans....
It's still extremely effective on insects & spiders.
I've seen a battle between a sub adult house centipede & a large female Daring Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax) like
The spider landed numerous long duration bites which surely injected significant levels of it's venom into the centipede, yet it hardly seemed fazed at all. In fact, the centipede seemed to even ignore that the spider had ripped most of it's legs off! It wasn't until the spider had buried it's fangs in it's butt & stopped it's forward motion for many minutes that the centipede finally reacted by turning around & stinging the spider between the legs on one side.
The effect was almost instantaneous.
The spider let it go & tried to move back but the legs near the sting site didn't seem operational.
Within 30 seconds the spider was dead.
Despite the huge amount of damage it had received & subsequent loss of bodily fluids from the fang punctures & loss of legs, the little centipede lived for more than a full day before it finally succumbed to the injuries.
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>..< scary all the same! But I live in the country foothills, so… I'm no stranger to bugs in the house xD; -- I got stung by a wasp for the first time in the night .. So rude. And I've woken to many strange bug bites before. Now that it is summer the giant brown spiders are in the bathtub again--still need to identify those.
WOW! Centipedes are truly incredible o.o . My mother is terrified of them. That would be horrible… I hope that's not a variety found in California? I heard they can kill dogs.. so I got worried when I started seeing them in the pin. I should really worry about rattlesnakes more though.
That's good. So they can actually somewhat be a good indoor pest? Though I guess spiders can be good too because they also eat flies.
Ooh! That sounds fun to witness!
O_O wow, that's intense.. Thanks for sharing.
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Yes, the House centipedes are creepy, but they should be considered a beneficial indoor pest as are many of species of spiders.
California is home to a couple of species of fairly big short-legged 'Pedes:
The Giant Redheaded Centipede (Scolopendra heros) bugguide.net/node/view/179511
There's also a reverse color variant, but it's more commonly found in Arizona (Scolopendra heros arizonensis) bugguide.net/node/view/814533
and the Banded Desert Centipede (Scolopendra polymorpha) bugguide.net/node/view/81905
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I see. Still, I do hope ours stay outside.
I think the last one is the one I saw:
fav.me/d9t07xo
It was pretty scary looking, and the commenter on that deviation made me worried… mostly for my dog though because that is when I started googling about the venom.
However, magnificent coloring. (I need a macro lens so badly… thinking about getting just an extender for my telephoto).
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WOW. You're correct, that's a S. Polymorpha - one of the ones you don't wanna mess with.
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TT__TT … Great …… Well, I haven't seen one since. That was taken right outside my bedroom door, which is the dog pin.
Thanks for the identification!
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