Unfortunately, I was unable to find the time last night to write up a legitimate Wild Fact. I apologize and will be back tomorrow! I have included a nice picture of a centipede for you though! Aren’t I thoughtful?
APRIL FOOLS!!! Of course I found time to write up another interesting Wild Fact for you! We are indeed going to explore the creepy world of the Centipede! I know, “ewwwwwwww, gross!” Sorry folks but Wild Facts can’t just be about the cute and fuzzy animals. We have to learn to appreciate all wildlife! So let’s move on to this leggy little arthropod!
We have all heard that centipedes have 100 legs, which in fact is not true at all! Believe it or not, centipedes have one pair of legs per body segment so the number of legs varies from 15 to 177 pairs of legs. Don’t worry, I will do the math for you guys. That is actually 30 to 354 individual legs so maybe they should call them “Thirtypedes” or “Three-HundredandFiftyFourpedes”. As well, a centipede will always have an odd number of pairs of legs. For example they will never have 16 or 20 pairs of legs. This is because their first pair of legs are actually venom bearing fangs that they use to consume their unfortunate prey! Don’t worry since the venom will not be fatal to humans although it may cause quite the sting. Some people may be allergic to the venom like bee and wasp stings so those folks should probably head to the hospital if you are bit by a centipede.
The good news about centipedes is the fact that they are mostly nocturnal or spend the majority of their time underground. This is great news since it means we don’t have to look at the icky arthopods. Unless of course you are rooting through the leaf litter or rotting wood, which is another one of their favourite hang outs.
Centipede Fast Fact: Male centipedes will actually spin a small web which is used for mating purposes. They will either stick around and perform a courtship dance or just leave and let the female centipede find the web on her own, which contains the spermatophore required for successful breeding.
I hope you enjoyed your April Fools Day Wild Fact! Have a great day everyone!
Again with the bugs! Ewww!
hahaha! I thought I might get a little bit of flack for the centipede post!
I will make sure to do a nice and fluffy animal for tomorrow’s post!
Ick. What’s next – millipedes?
Thank you so much for the next Wild Fact idea, Janiss! Just for you I will dedicate the millipedes post to Janiss and Sparkle!!!
I’m going to have nightmares. Just sayin’.
hahaha! I didn’t want to give you nightmares! The next post will be cute and fuzzy so you won’t have problems sleeping over the long weekend!
@Nathan, LOL, no worries. I’m just not fond of anything with more than 5 legs. Speaking of which, I need to go through your archives and see if you’ve ever done a post on Jellyfish. If not, you should. I really don’t understand those things, and they freak me out.
Hi Larissa,
I don’t think I have completed a post on the jellyfish yet. I will definitely post some interesting facts on these mysterious creatures in the near future. Perhaps we will be able to fit that in early next week! Thanks for the suggestion!
I like them…… but I was quite surprised to learn that they bite. I have come across a few in my time (as you say cleaning up the yard) and never thought anymore of them when I picked them up, I will watch next time in case I get stung.
Have a good Easter Nathan!
I know for a fact that you don’t like centipedes but it is nice for someone to pretend that they do.
I wouldn’t worry to much about them biting you since I am sure they have better things to do but it is definitely worthwhile to keep that information in the back of your head when you are picking them up.
Have a great night!