''Scolopendra dawydoffi'' is a species of large Scolopendrid centipede found in Southeast Asia, specifically in

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia. It has bright reddish-orange and black colouration (and should thus not be confused with '' S. hardwickei)'', and can grow up to and beyond 16 cm in length.

Appearance and behaviour

''Scolopendra dawydoffi'' has bright reddish-orange colouration, with dark bands on the ends of its tergites. The antennae are divided into 17-18 segments (articles). It can live for 2-3 years. ''Scolopendra dawydoffi'', like all centipedes, is predatory, and, like most large centipedes, is primarily

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

. However, it has been recorded feeding on snakes, specifically''

Sibynophis triangularis ''Sibynophis triangularis'', commonly known as the triangle many-tooth snake or triangulate collared snake, is a nonvenomous species of colubrid snake found in Thailand and Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, ...

'', while the snake was laying its eggs.

Taxonomy

''Scolopendra dawydoffi'' was first (incompletely) described in 1938 by

Carl Attems Carl August Graf Attems-Petzenstein (13 October 1868 in Graz, Austria – 19 April 1952 in Vienna) was an Austrian myriapodologist and invertebrate zoologist. He published 138 scientific papers, most of them dealing with his specialist field ...

as ''Scolopendra subspinipes cingulatoides.'' He said that ''S. s. cingulatoides'' "unites the taxonomical characteristics of Scolopendra subspinipes Leach, 1815">William_Elford_Leach.html" ;"title="nowiki/>William Elford Leach">Leach, 1815/small> and Scolopendra cingulata [Pierre André Latreille, Latreille, 1829]". ''Scolopendra subspinipes, S. subspinipes cingulatoides'' was elevated to species level and renamed ''S. dawydoffi'' to avoid confusion with ''Scolopendra cingulatoides'', a

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

of ''Scolopendra cingulata'' in a 2012 taxonomic review. The new species name is in honour of Dr C Dawydoff, the collector of the species. It goes by no common name.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q113483501 Animals described in 2012 dawydoffi Invertebrates of Southeast Asia