Scolopendra heros
{{Short description|Species of centipede}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Scolopendra heros.jpg
| taxon = Scolopendra heros
| image2 = Scolopendra heros.ogv
| authority = Girard, 1853
| synonyms = *Scolopendra castaneiceps
{{small|(Wood, 1861)}}
- Scolopendra pernix
{{small|(Kohlrausch, 1878)}} - Scolopendra heros prismatica
{{small|(Cragin, 1885)}} - Scolopendra heros arizonensis
{{small|(Kraepelin, 1903)}}
| synonyms_ref = {{Cite web|url=http://chilobase.biologia.unipd.it/searches/result_species/521|title=Scolopendra heros Girard, 1853
|last1=Bonato|first1=Lucio
|last2=Chagas Junior|first2=Amazonas
|last3=Edgecombe|first3=Gregory D.
|last4=Lewis|first4=John G. E.
|last5=Minelli|first5=Alessandro
|last6=Pereira|first6=Luis A.
|last7=Shelley|first7=Rowland M.
|last8=Stoev|first8=Pavel
|last9=Zapparoli|first9=Marzio
|year=2016
|website=ChiloBase 2.0 – A World Catalogue of Centipedes (Chilopoda)
|publisher=University of Padova|access-date=2017-01-06}}
| range_map = Distribution of Scolopendra heros.svg
| range_map_caption = Approximate distribution of S. heros
}}
Scolopendra heros, commonly known as the Arizona desert centipede, giant desert centipede, giant Sonoran centipede, Texas black-tailed centipede, Texas redheaded centipede, and giant redheaded centipede, is a species of North American centipede found in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico.
Description
File:Scolopendra heros, black body and red head (10530460306).jpg
S. heros is the largest centipede in North America.{{Cite web|url=https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/giant-red-headed-centipede|title=Giant Red-Headed Centipede|last=|first=|date=|website=MDC Discover Nature|publisher=Missouri Department of Conservation|access-date=2017-01-06}} It has an average length of {{convert|6.5|in}}, but can reach up to {{convert|8|in|abbr=on}} in the wild,{{cite web |url=http://www.uark.edu/ua/arthmuse/sheros.html |title=Giant redheaded centipede |author=Jeffrey K. Barnes |date=June 21, 2002 |work=Arthropod Museum Notes 13 |publisher=University of Arkansas |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721225248/http://www.uark.edu/ua/arthmuse/sheros.html |archivedate=July 21, 2010 }} and even longer in captivity. Its trunk bears either 21 or 23 pairs of legs.{{cite book |author=Thomas Eisner, Maria Eisner & Melody Siegler |year=2005 |title=Secret weapons: defenses of insects, spiders, scorpions, and other many-legged creatures |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-01882-2 |chapter=Scolopendra heros (the giant Sonoran centipede) |pages=[https://archive.org/details/secretweaponsdef00eisn/page/29 29]–32 |url=https://archive.org/details/secretweaponsdef00eisn|url-access=registration }}{{Cite web|url=http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reptiles/centipedes/GiantDesertCentipede.php|title=Giant Desert Centipede|last=Animal-World|website=Animal World|language=en-us|access-date=2019-10-18}}
It is aposematically colored, to warn off potential predators, and a number of color variants are known in the species. The castaneiceps variant found in Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, and other nearby areas is commonly known as the "giant redheaded centipede" or "Texas redheaded centipede" because of its distinct red head and greenish black body and tail.
Distribution and ecology
S. heros is found in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, from New Mexico and Arizona in the west to Arkansas, Missouri, and Louisiana in the east. Although this species is commonly referred to as the "giant desert centipede" because of its presence in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts, and other arid and semi-arid habitats, S. heros is also found in rocky woodland areas, such as in Arkansas. It remains underground on warm days, emerging in cloudy weather.{{cite book |author=J. G. E. Lewis |year=2005 |title=The Biology of Centipedes |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-03411-1 |chapter=Physiology and ecology |pages=375–406 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AEp22u6tJgsC&pg=PA394}}
Hunting and diet
S. heros is primarily a nocturnal predator and hunts invertebrates and small vertebrates, including rodents, reptiles, and amphibians. It is capable of reaching into the air to grab small flying insects. The centipede uses its venom to subdue prey.{{Cite web|url=http://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2014/oct/scout5_wildthing_centipede/|title=Wild Thing: Giant Redheaded Centipede Induces Fear|last=Hutchins|first=Ben|year=2014|website=tpwmagazine.com|publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife|access-date=2017-01-02}}
Life cycle
S. heros hatch from eggs. As they grow and mature, like all arthropods they shed and molt away their exoskeleton. Each time they molt they enter a new stage of its life cycle called an instar. Like all Scolopendromorph centipedes, the number of segments they possess remains the same throughout their life. S. heros is a slow-growing species capable of living over a decade. {{Cite web|url=http://animal-world.com/encyclo/reptiles/centipedes/GiantDesertCentipede.php|title=Giant Desert Centipede|last=Animal-World|website=Animal World|language=en-us|access-date=2019-10-18}}
Venom
The venom of S. heros is similar in composition to the venom of other Scolopendra species, including components such as serotonin, histamine, lipids, proteins (including cardiotoxic proteins and enzymes such as hemolytic phospholipase A), and other substances. The mixture is known to act as a cytolysin, compromising cellular membranes and rupturing cells.{{Cite journal|last1=Yildiz|first1=A|last2=Biçeroglu|first2=S|last3=Yakut|first3=N|last4=Bilir|first4=C|last5=Akdemir|first5=R|last6=Akilli|first6=A|date=2017-01-02|title=Acute myocardial infarction in a young man caused by centipede sting|journal=Emergency Medicine Journal |volume=23|issue=4|pages=e30|doi=10.1136/emj.2005.030007|issn=1472-0205|pmc=2579533|pmid=16549562}}{{Cite journal|last1=Logan|first1=J L|last2=Ogden|first2=D A|date=1985-04-01|title=Rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure following the bite of the giant desert centipede Scolopendra heros.|journal=Western Journal of Medicine |volume=142|issue=4|pages=549–550|issn=0093-0415|pmc=1306096|pmid=4013269}} S. heros venom also contains toxins targeted to its prey: one toxin numbs the nervous system of insects, rendering them unable to sense or escape, while another toxin interferes with the autonomic nervous system of vertebrates to make small vertebrates easier to subdue and devour. The exact effects and makeup of the venom have not been thoroughly evaluated, in part because it is difficult to extract in significant quantities and quickly deteriorates when processed.
S. heros bites are very painful to vertebrates. A rat bitten by S. heros in the leg showed signs of excruciating pain, followed by soreness, but returned to normal after five hours.{{Cite journal|last1=Baerg|first1=W. J.|last2=Centipedes|date=1924-09-01|title=The Effect of the Venom of Some Supposedly Poisonous Arthropods |journal=Annals of the Entomological Society of America|language=en|volume=17|issue=3|pages=343–352|doi=10.1093/aesa/17.3.343|issn=0013-8746}} For humans, a bite from S. heros usually causes sharp, searing, local pain and swelling,{{Cite journal|last1=Bush|first1=S. P.|last2=King|first2=B. O.|last3=Norris|first3=R. L.|last4=Stockwell|first4=S. A.|date=2001-01-01|title=Centipede envenomation|journal=Wilderness & Environmental Medicine|volume=12|issue=2|pages=93–99|issn=1080-6032|pmid=11434497|doi=10.1580/1080-6032(2001)012[0093:ce]2.0.co;2|doi-access=free}} but has never caused any confirmed deaths. S. heros bites are known to occasionally cause nausea, headache, and localized skin necrosis. However, there are individual cases of severe symptoms and injury (including kidney failure due to rhabdomyolysis, and heart attack) in humans resulting from Scolopendra bites.