Red-headed Centipede
Scolopendra subspinipes
A fast, venomous many-legged predator
The red-headed centipede is a large centipede whose reddish-brown body is made of dozens of segments, each with a pair of legs, and whose head carries venom-injecting claws. It moves quickly and is a fierce nocturnal predator.
Key figures
- Length
- About 10–20 cm
- Legs
- One pair of legs per segment, up to over 40 pairs
- Venom
- Head claws inject venom that can paralyse small prey
- Habitat
- Damp places under stones and logs in tropical and subtropical regions
- Diet
- Insects, spiders and even small vertebrates
- Feature
- A flat, many-segmented body with a red head and brown body
Life cycle
Egg → Juvenile → Adult
Ecological role
A nocturnal predator of many small animals, it is in turn eaten by birds and mammals.
Did you know
Large centipedes can even take down mice and lizards — a true many-legged hunter.
Range
East and Southeast Asia
Status
Fairly common
Anatomy
- Head — The head carries a pair of antennae and venom claws at the front
- Antenna — A pair of slender antennae used to probe the surroundings
- Venom claws — The first pair of legs modified into venom-injecting claws
- Legs — One pair of legs per segment, for fast crawling through crevices
- Body — The flat body of hard-exoskeleton segments
Open the interactive 3D specimen