The biggest centipede
At up to thirty centimetres, it is the largest centipede in the world.
The Amazon · Centipedes, millipedes and woodlice
Amazonian giant centipede
Scolopendra gigantea
A long, dark red centipede as thick as a finger, with bright yellow legs.
- Size
- Up to 30cm long
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Forest floor in northern South America and some Caribbean islands
Ripples after you, very fast. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Giant centipede
Good to know
Six things about the giant centipede
It eats mice and lizards
It can catch and kill frogs, lizards, mice and small birds.
It catches bats
In caves in Venezuela it climbs to the roof, hangs by its back legs and snatches bats out of the air.
Poison claws
The first pair of legs are hollow claws that inject venom. Its bite is very painful to people.
Not a hundred legs
It has 21 or 23 pairs of legs. No centipede has exactly a hundred.
A careful mother
The female curls round her eggs and young to guard them, and licks them clean.
The real thing
Photos of the giant centipede
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
It hunts at night and hides by day under logs and stones. It is best seen from a respectful distance.
How to help
Never turn over logs with bare hands in the tropics. Left alone, it keeps down cockroaches and other pests.
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