Our friend the garden centipede
One of the easiest bugs to find in our gardens is the garden centipede. These centipedes are among the more brightly colored denizens under rocks and logs but can be quite tricky to photograph as they do not stay still.
While some tropical centipedes possess very potent venom, the centipedes in our gardens are harmless and of no danger. Instead, they are very beneficial for the garden as they are great predators – taking care of many bugs we would prefer to not have around. You can find more information about them here.
I find them among the more fascinating things in the garden and I can find them nearly 100% of the time. Only pill bugs are easier to find.
One common misconception about centipedes is that they have 100 legs. This is almost always not true. Garden centipedes have thirty legs, but are born with 14. Each time they molt, they gain another pair of legs! Therefore you can get an idea of the age of a garden centipede from the number of legs it has. Of course, I count 38 legs on the centipede above, so clearly not all garden centipedes are alike.
I have noticed two main ‘kinds’ of centipedes around here. There are the small skinny ones like above and then there are these kind.
The larger kind can be difficult to photograph due to the plates on the back which almost always cause reflections. They also rarely sit still as they prefer to be hidden under something and the bright light causes them to run.
I’m not sure if both kinds of centipedes are actually the same. They do look similar in some ways and the smaller one tends to look like a juvenile of the larger one.
However, if you look at this shot that I did of the larger variety, I count 14 sets of legs (the back two I don’t believe are legs). This would be more in line with the definition of a garden centipede and therefore I believe the two centipedes are different species, as it seems unlikely that a centipede would shed legs as it gets bigger – though I have heard of stranger things in the bug world.
One of these days, I would like to get a book on centipedes but the few books I have seen about them focus heavily on the more famous tropical species – while I am interested more in the kinds I find at home.
Hmmm… I guess the first centipede needs a name – as it does not appear to be a garden centipede – or at least the common one. I’m sure there is a scientific name for it, but until I find it I will nickname it the “Jenny Craig centipede”…
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Tags: centipede, garden, macro, photography