The Caribbean Giant Centipede.

By Bill Rhodes ~ Photos By Marta Morton

My two young sons were doing what they always do when we visited the Islands. They were outside our villa sneaking up on unsuspecting lizards, mostly small anoles, to see if they could catch one. In this game of hide and seek, though, the lizards almost always won. Suddenly they came running inside, urging me to follow them out to “see something big.” They led me over to a tall palm just outside the front door and pointed excitedly. I expected to see a lizard, probably a very large one, bobbing up and down, warning them to “back off.” 

There was a lizard, although it was not bobbing. In fact, it was not moving at all. Instead, sitting head downwards on the trunk, just slightly above my eye level, was a huge, brownish-red centipede, holding the unlucky anole in its sharp front legs, enjoying it for dinner. Unlike my sons, this centipede had no problem catching a lizard!

The Caribbean Giant Centipede is found throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks & Caicos Islands.

This was my first encounter with the Caribbean Giant Centipede, Scolopendra alternans. As its common name suggests, it is found throughout the Caribbean, including the Turks & Caicos Islands. Growing to lengths of  9 to 10 inches (some specimens are reported to reach 12 inches), this fearsome looking, fast-moving beast comes in various shades of brown and tan, with blackish bands separating body segments, a distinctive head, and long antennae. Its legs are lighter-colored, one on each side of a body segment. (This is a centipede trait, unlike similar looking millipedes, which are harmless and slow-moving herbivores that sport four legs per body segment). It is built for speed and uses long appendages on its rear body segment and its antennae to sense its environment while searching for prey.

Centipedes are arthropods, like spiders, insects, scorpions, and a range of other invertebrates sporting external skeletons and jointed body parts and appendages. There are at least 8,000 species worldwide and members of one family in particular, Scolopendridae, are among the largest. While the Caribbean Giant Centipede is certainly large, its close relative, the  Amazonian Centipede, is even larger, growing to lengths of 12 to 14 inches.

These hunters are not to be taken lightly, by prey and people alike. All centipedes possess venom, which they inject into their prey—or an unfortunate person’s hand, leg, or arm—causing death in small animals and inflicting considerable pain and tissue necrosis in larger creatures that may be bitten defensively. Their front legs are modified into appendages called forcipules, that are pincer-like to both hold and pierce their prey, injecting venom.

The Caribbean Giant Centipede can be found throughout TCI but tends to be secretive and does not intentionally seek out conflict with people or larger animals, preferring to stay hidden underneath moist leaf litter or in the branches of trees and palms. In spite of that, accidental bites do occasionally happen and those bitten report it to be intensely painful. They are carnivorous, feeding on insects, worms, and other small invertebrates, but as the specimen outside our villa demonstrated, are perfectly happy catching small lizards, frogs, and even snakes. They are solitary and tend to hide during the day and hunt at night.

This lizard has taken on quite a task in trying to eat a Caribbean Giant Centipede. It is usually the other way around!

In an unusual trait for arthropods, the females will guard their eggs, which they lay under rocks and leaf litter, as well as protect the tiny hatchlings. Some reports even suggest that the mother will provide food for her offspring and this protective behavior may last for weeks, at least until the newborns are large enough to fend for themselves. When threatened they may raise their posterior end and erect their last pair of long legs in an effort to frighten off potential predators, although in its environment it is often the apex predator. Snakes have been documented feeding on them, and in 2022, an extremely rare Rim Rock Crowned snake was found dead in the Florida Keys, having choked on the Caribbean Giant Centipede it was attempting to swallow. 

Centipede venom contains a variety of bioactive molecules, including various peptides and enzymes. It has been studied for possible medical uses, including pain relief and even anti-cancer activity, although much additional research remains to be done to isolate the active compounds and confirm their beneficial use.

The Caribbean Giant Centipede and  its various large relatives are sold as exotic pets, although they cannot be handled without risk of receiving a painful bite, and their secretive nature and nocturnal habits do not lend them to being on display.

The one my sons found was not likely to become anyone’s pet, and certainly not ours, but was a magnificent animal to see, although a bit frightening. Infrequently observed, it is an animal worth admiring if you do spot one, albeit at a respectful distance.