Dangerous centipede

[Growltiger]

What is this insect?

I was told it was a very dangerous centipede. It lives in the forest and caves in Borneo.

[Pudding4brains]

Hi Growltiger,

It's a beautiful Scutigeromorpha (one of the orders of Centipedes). According to this page in your area we can narrow it down to the family Scutigeridae, which means it is pretty much related to our European species Scutigera coleoptrata. At least our species is totally harmless to humans - it only seems to have a high "yuk"-factor to some people due to its long legs and high speed

I can hardly imagine that your species would really be "dangerous" - generally they seem to have small fangs (hardly able to penetrate our skin) and not very effective venom (like a bee sting).

How big is this species where you live? Our S. coleoptrata reaches about 3-4cm body length at most imho (well, Wikipedia says 50mm - not sure how acurate that is - would consider that abnormally gigantic) - although due to the long legs people tend to think it's bigger

The (huge) tropical Centipedes in the Scolopendromorpha are more likely to qualify as "dangerous" and can have very unpleasant bites to say the least.

I don't have any proper info on the species that might be expected in Borneo, so I can't suggest any genus/species for ID. The Australian Allothereua maculata looks somewhat similar though??

Cheers, Arp

[Growltiger]

Thanks for the ID.

This is MUCH bigger - I would guess at least 100 mm body length, perhaps even 150mm. I wasn't going to get my fingers any closer to measure it! That is a large tropical leaf it is sitting on.

I saw it inside the Gomantong Caves and at the Danum valley in Sabah, Borneo. I was told that the bite could be very serious.

[Pudding4brains]

Hi Growltiger,

Originally Posted by Growltiger

Thanks for the ID.
This is MUCH bigger - I would guess at least 100 mm body length, perhaps even 150mm.

Ahw, okay That is BIG

Maybe have a look at Thereuopoda sp., possibly T. longicornis ??

I was told that the bite could be very serious.

I'm sure that at this size it will easily penetrate our skin and that the bite (sting really) will be quite unpleasant Still not sure it would qualify as "dangerous" though
(Edit: For completeness sake I should probably add that things might look a little different if you would happen to have an allergic reaction to the bite, pretty much same as with bees)

Thanks for sharing your images with us

Cheers, Arp