Centipedes

What goes ninety-nine thump, ninety-nine thump? A centipede with a wooden leg! Although the name centipede means hundred legs, in reality, a centipede has twenty to thirty legs. Centipedes are a common but poorly understood group of invertebrates. They are not truly classified as insects, but belong to their own class of Myriapoda (many legs), which also includes millipedes. Centipedes first appeared in the Devonian Period, over 360 million years ago. There was once a seven foot long centipede-like creature known as Arthropleura. The long flat body of centipedes is ideally shaped for working in tight spaces. Their bodies are divided into many narrow segments, each segment having four legs. This structure gives them great flexibility, and helps them move swiftly over uneven ground. Some are very fast runners, which makes them good predators. Centipedes are also nocturnal. All centipedes have a pair of venom claws at their front end, which have the same toxin as scorpions. Their poison is not dangerous to humans. Centipedes breathe through spiricles, holes in their shell, or cuticle, positioned along their body. They feel and smell with long antennae. Centipedes vary in size from an inch to over a foot long. Centipedes are predators, preying on insects, spiders, wood lice, worms, slugs and other centipedes. Large centipedes in tropical rain forests eat mice and small lizards. Because of their diet of garden pests, centipedes are not considered to be endangered, and they are treated well or tolerated by most people. You will not often see a centipede, unless you are digging in the dirt or looking under rocks and rotting logs. The main enemies of centipedes are birds, toads, shrews, and people who eat them in some parts of the world.

Centipedes can be found all over the world, except polar regions and the middle of the Sahara Desert. They prefer warm, moist regions. Most centipedes avoid winter frost by burrowing deep into the soil. Centipedes will move quickly over dry areas, and move slower in damp ground. Some people keep centipedes as pets. Centipedes are fascinating creatures that have survived and adapted to life on earth for over 300 million years.