Scolopendra heros heros

The Giant Desert Centipede is one of the world’s largest species of centipede, not to mention, one of the prettiest and most sort after New World species. Although the venom from this centipede is not considered deadly, the Giant Desert Centipede can give a very painful bite and the venom injected could leave a person in pain from anywhere between a couple hours to a couple days! In 1931, a centipede taxonomist by the name of G. Attems listed three subspecies of Giant Desert Centipedes. These are the: Red-Headed Centipede (Scolopendra h. castaneiceps); as shown to the left, a beautiful jet black centipede with a red head and yellow legs, the Black-Tailed, also known as the Blue-Tailed Centipede (Scolopendra h. heros); a yellowish centipede with light yellow legs and a blue to navy blue tail, and lastly the Giant Arizona Desert, or Black-Headed Centipede (Scolopendra h. arizonensis); a red or orange centipede with yellow legs and a black head and tail, some with black stripes running across the tergites, parallel to the legs. The Giant Desert Centipede is a great display animal, and is a prized invertebrate in any collection.