The Secret World of the Centipede

Oh, big centipede. Have a look at this. That is an eastern red centipede. Oh, this one's angry. It's biting my forceps a whole lot. This might not look like much, but this is one of the most mysterious animals in the world. These creatures spend most of their lives slinking around underground underneath logs, where they are rarely seen by people. As a result, we actually know very little about these invertebrates. From their habits, to their venom, to the way they affect the environment around them, we're finding new things out about centipedes all the time. Today, we're gonna take a closer look under logs and see if we can find out what these little creatures are up to for ourselves. Welcome to the secret world of the centipede. There's a hidden world beneath our feet. Under layers of soil and debris, a metropolis of unusual life bustles away right out of our view. Maybe you've stumbled upon it, flipping logs or rocks in the woods, or working in your garden. Strange creatures flee into burrows or crevices to escape the light, giving you a fleeting encounter with a secret world that surrounds us every day. Occasionally, we bump into the apex predators of this underworld. Shiny red creatures with menacing fangs, the fearsome centipedes. The thing about centipedes is they scare a lot of people. You know, they're fast, they're brightly colored, and they usually get the jump on us because we don't see them until we actually move an object that they're using as cover. And even if we've never actually been bitten by them, there's just this thing when you look at them, you just know they can bite. But if we take the time to actually look closer into the world of centipedes, you'll find they're actually a lot more interesting than they let on. To us, this is just a log to a lot of crazy little invertebrates. This is an apartment complex, a supermarket, and a job center all combined into one. And for a centipede, life starts right in here. Deep inside a rotting log, a centipede has finished laying her eggs. Within these off-white spheres is the next generation of her bloodline, which out here in the wilderness is the most valuable thing in the world. The mother centipede takes the well-being of her offspring seriously. Where other invertebrates will leave their eggs to fend for themselves, she cradles them close to foregoing meals and self-preservation in order to keep them incubated. Mama centipedes are tough. They'll guard their young for months on end, even well past the point where they've hatched. And the early instars of centipedes look super weird. They're almost like snail shells. They're super white, curled up, and translucent. These little centipede instars are fragile and defenseless for now. Their mother cares for them and protects them while their translucent exoskeletons harden with maturity. Watching a centipede guard her young is just so strange. You can see them in this writhing mass of centipede nymphs just curling and twisting all over each other. It's wholesome. These are animals that most people are actually afraid of. They think they're fearsome. They're monsters. But when you sit down and watch the mother centipede just caring for her young, there's a tenderness you don't normally see with invertebrates. Once they're large enough to fend for themselves, the young centipedes disperse into the surrounding environment, and all soft-bodied invertebrates in the local vicinity know their clock is ticking. Now, it's estimated that there's over 8,000 species of centipedes. We've only identified a little over a third of them. They're probably the most secretive group of carnivores in the world, and they belong to a group of arthropods called the myriapods, which basically means many legs. And all the myriapods do have tons of legs, especially the centipedes' cousins, the millipedes. Here's a nice little millipede. I can show you the difference. A lot of people confuse the difference between a millipede and a centipede. There's a lot of different kinds of millipedes you can find, but the biggest difference you'll see is they're very blocky or round, where centipedes can be kind of flat. If you take a closer look, you'll see that each and every millipede will have two pairs of legs per each segment of their body, where centipedes only have one. But those aren't the most interesting differences between centipede and millipede. Millipedes are little detrivores. They're eating decaying material underneath logs and bricks and rocks and stuff. But the centipede is a predator, and it hunts using those antennae, scanning the ground for chemical signals of their prey, and they subdue it with venom. A solitary termite ventures over the rough soil under a board. For his tiny legs, the texture of the ground is a treacherous terrain, and he stumbles about on his way to join the other scouts. But he's not alone. A bright red carapace glints from the leaf litter nearby. It's a bark centipede. The termite can't see or hear, and only navigates forward through its sense of smell. It senses the centipede, but is this scent fresh or old? It's a good thing the little scout can't see or hear, because when he arrives to the scouting party, the bark centipede has cut him off. Using its deadly maxillipeds, the centipede makes short work of the termites. The centipede delivers its venom through these two modified legs at the front of its head, called maxillipeds. They're actually hollowed out and designed to act as like venom injection tubes. The centipede leaves no survivors. These stragglers will soon succumb to the venom and join the ranks of their companions, whose bodies are strewn across the ground. This gruesome scene might make you think the centipede to be a ferocious savage, but the dignified predator takes its time cleaning itself off after its banquet of termite flesh. This is a rare glimpse into the hidden lives of centipedes, subterranean predators that live all around us, and there are many more secrets to uncover. There are trade-offs to be one of the top predators of underworld. Other arthropods, like insects, have a waxy cuticle on their exoskeleton. What this does is help them retain water, even in the harsh summer heat. The centipede lacks this, which is why it largely sticks to the shelter of damp, rotting logs. Much like an amphibian, if it's exposed for too long, the centipede will dry out and die. A healthy forest is going to have a big mix of giant trees, small trees, even dead trees, the trees that centipedes will be using as a habitat. You can see right here, I'm in the middle of a clear cut that's probably going to be used as a housing development. Even here in rural North Carolina, we're feeling the effects of human expansion, and the usable habitat for a lot of these animals is rapidly decreasing. And while there's lots of lumber laying around here, none of it's big enough or rotted enough for centipedes to be able to use as habitat, and honestly, it's probably going to be cleared and turned into wood chips when they start building. The centipede's habitat is rapidly shrinking. Most species worldwide aren't considered to be in immediate danger, but with how little we know about their secret lives, we can't be 100% sure that the damage we're doing to the ecosystem isn't doing irreparable damage to these mysterious animals. We know they keep subterranean invertebrates in check, but due to how little we actually know about their ecology, we can't be totally sure what the world would look like if they were to disappear forever. The centipede's life is so shrouded in mystery that we really just don't know where they fit into the puzzle that is the secret world all around us. Like them or leave them, centipedes are a part of our ecosystem, and we're still learning how big of a part they actually play. The best way to protect them is to continue to spread awareness about the secret world of centipedes. And if you found this video interesting, consider sharing it with a friend of yours. And if you want to see another incredible centipede encounter, check out this video right here where I found a giant, massive centipede down in Louisiana. And until next time, don't forget to get outside and find your own adventure.