Bioluminescent centipede on my neck

Crispies · #1 (**permalink**) 19-02-2009, 03:24 AM

Hello lovely bug people!

I woke up about an hour ago (in exotic Bristol) and brushed something off my neck that seemed to squirt out a luminous blob.
It was this:

Sorry about the shoddy photos! I had a glance at the thing in its new home in an empty clover pot, and it looks like it has about 54-58 pairs of legs.

Any ideas?

sunnydale · #2 (**permalink**) 19-02-2009, 08:59 AM

You had that on your neck? No idea what species it is....but someone will tell you soon, I'm sure.
Could the 'blob' possibly be some sort of toxic substance that it releases when under attack?

Welcome to WAB BTW! :-)

squishy · #3 (**permalink**) 19-02-2009, 12:21 PM

yes, the 'blobs' will be a reflex against attack. the liquid is usually a mild irritant or has a foul smell to deter predators

(no enlightenment on the species front from me i'm affraid

)

Kayleigh · #4 (**permalink**) 19-02-2009, 04:44 PM

You woke up with that on your neck..
Where the hell were you sleeping

Did you just crash out somewhere like a ditch..

Tiggrx · #5 (**permalink**) 19-02-2009, 04:56 PM

It could be Geophilus carpophagus. It is sometimes found in damp or thatched houses.

Pudding4brains · #6 (**permalink**) 19-02-2009, 05:16 PM

It seems the luminous secretion has been recorded for a number of Geophilomorpha, but till now I've only read papers on it for Strigamia crassipes (which this is not) and Geophilus electricus. I count 55 pairs of legs, which would probably rule out the latter (as well as the G. carpophagus suggested by Tiggrx. Based on the antennae it's not G. flavus either.

Based on the leg count it might be Geophilus proximus??? And maybe one or two in other genera of which I'm not at all sure they would "feature" luminance

If you still have the animal a good shot of the head and tail areas could help - or better yet, a very good ventral shots of the tail segments and of some the middle segments (around seg 10-17)...

Cheers, Arp

Crispies · #7 (**permalink**) 19-02-2009, 08:02 PM

I'm afraid it's been relocated to our garden, and those are the best of the photos.
And no, it wasn't in a ditch, I was in bed, chatting to my wife in the dark at 2am and she saw the blob flash too.

Meta menardi · #8 (**permalink**) 19-02-2009, 08:13 PM

It certainly looks like the kind of myriapod I would associate with sof rotten wood or reeds.

Can I call the first album of my new band

"The Electric Toothbrush Heads"

Bioluminescent centipede on my neck