Brazilian giant runner
| Brazilian giant runner | ||||||||||||
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Brazilian giant runner ( Scolopendra gigantea ) |
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| Scolopendra gigantea | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The Brazilian giant runner ( Scolopendra gigantea ; in English-speaking countries also Peruvian giant yellow-leg centipede or Amazonian giant centipede ) is the largest member of the centipede family and can be up to 26 cm long, possibly even 30 cm. This centipede is very popular with collectors.
Features and taxonomy
The species has the typical body shape of the Scolopender, with 21 leg-bearing segments and a first pair of legs converted into poisonous claws (Forcipules). The head has individual eyes arranged in rows to the side of the antenna bases, which are reminiscent of compound eyes. It can be distinguished from other species of the genus by the number of only slightly hairy limbs of the antennae and the number of pairs of legs with spurs on the thighs (femora). In Scolopendra gigantea , the first seven to ten of the seventeen antenna segments are sparsely hairy, and many (about 15) pairs of legs have spurs on the top of the tip (dorsoapical) of the femora. This is how the species can be distinguished from the similar Scolopendra galapagoensis ; this also lives on the South American mainland and reaches comparable body size. It has four to five little hairy antennae and only one pair of legs (the first) with spurs on the femora.
A synonym for the species name is Scolopendra gigas Leach, 1815.
distribution
The species lives in northern South America and on some Caribbean islands. Evidence is available from Colombia , Venezuela , the islands of Trinidad , Curaçao , Aruba and Isla Margarita , a more recent evidence also from Panama marks the northern limit of the distribution. Occasional further evidence, for example from Mexico, Honduras, Haiti and the Virgin Islands, are not considered autochthonous , they probably go back to briefly resettled or abandoned animals. An indication far from this distribution area is available from India, but other scientists assume a mix-up here. It should be noted that the species does not occur in Brazil (and neither in Peru nor Chile), so the German collector's name is not a happy choice.
Carl von Linné described the species after a picture of an animal from the docks of Kingston, Jamaica, where the species, at least today, does not occur; the figure contains too few features for a species diagnosis. Today it is considered unlikely that Linnaeus actually saw animals. In order to stabilize the naturalized naming, a collection copy from Venezuela was designated as a neotype .
behavior
Like all centipedes, the Brazilian giant runner is nocturnal and can apply poison with its bite . The behavior has not been adequately investigated. However, Brazilian giant runners became known for preying on various bats .
The poison is hardly characterized.
Danger to people
The bite and toxicity can temporarily be significantly painful for humans. Serious or fatal courses are extremely rare, this also applies to newborns. The bite wound can show typical symptoms such as edema , erythema , severe pain, local lymphangitis , numbness and necrosis . One then speaks of scolopendrism. Acute coronary ischemia and myocardial infarction in a young man have been reported.
Individual evidence
- ^ Robert L. Norris: Centipede envenomation. In: Medicine Specialties . Volume 11, 2006. updated May 4, 2017
- ↑ a b c d RM Shelley & SB Kiser (2000): Neotype designation and a diagnostic account for the centipede, Scolopendra gigantea L. 1758, with an account of S. galapagoensis Bollman 1889 (Chilopoda Scolopendromorpha Scolopendridae), Tropical Zoology 13 (1 ): 159-170. doi : 10.1080 / 03946975.2000.10531129
- ↑ Diomedes Quintero Arias & Fabio German Cupul-Magana (2013): First record of Scolopendra gigantea Linnaeus, 1758 from Panama. Boletın del Museo de Entomologıa de la Universidad del Valle 14 (2): 12-15.
- ↑ Vinod Khanna & BE Yadav (2005): a taxonomic re-assessment of the centipede Scolopendra gigantea Linnaeus (Chilopoda, Scolopendridae) and confirmation of its occurrence in India. Zoos' Print Journal 20 (9): 1988.
- ^ John GE Lewis (2010): A key and annotated list of the Scolopendra species of the Old World with a reappraisal of Arthrorhabdus (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae). International Journal of Myriapodology, Volume 3, Issue 1: 83-122 doi : 10.1163 / 187525410X12578602960380
- ↑ a b Alexis Rodriguez-Acosta et al .: Centipede (Scolopendra gigantea Linnaeus 1758) envenomation in a newborn. In: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo. Volume 42, No. 6, 2000, pp. 341-342.
- ↑ Jesús Molinari et al .: Predation by giant centipedes, Scolopendra gigantea, on three species of bats in a Venezuelan cave ( Memento of February 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ). In: Caribbean Journal of Science Vol. 41, No. 2, 2005, pp. 340-346.
- ^ JW Burnett, GJ Calton, RJ Morgan: Centipedes. In: Cutis , Volume 37, 1986, p. 241.
- ↑ Murat Ozsarac et al .: Acute coronary ischemia following centipede envenomation: case report and review of the literature. In: Wilderness & Environmental Medicine . Volume 15, No. 2, 2004, pp. 109-112. doi : 10.1580 / 1080-6032 (2004) 015 [0109: ACIFCE] 2.0.CO; 2 .
- ↑ A. Yildiz, S. Biçeroglu, N. Yakut, C. Bilir, R. Akdemir, A. Akilli: Acute myocardial infarction in a young man Caused by centipede sting. In: Emergency medicine journal: EMJ. Volume 23, number 4, April 2006, p. E30, doi : 10.1136 / emj.2005.030007 , PMID 16549562 , PMC 2579533 (free full text).
