Chinese Red-headedcentipede (Latin name: Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans) distributed in variety, the body size varies greatly depending on the region, and the individuals distributed in Okinawa, Japan can reach 20 cm.

The centipede is also known as Tianlong, because it has many legs, so it is also known as a hundred feet. In animal classification, it belongs to the phylum Arthropoda, Polypoda, Labiopoda, and Centipede.

1. There are a pair of collective eyes on both sides of the back of the head, each pair of collective eyes includes several single eyes, and the ventral surface of the head has mouthparts, which are the feeding organs of centipedes. Head appendages include 1 pair of tentacles, 1 pair of large jaws and 2 pairs of small jaws. The head becomes the center of sensation and feeding.

2. The trunk The centipede's trunk has 20 somites, the longer and the shorter ones are spaced apart from each other, and the appendages of the first segment are called maxillopods, which are very developed, and the distal segment is a sharp claw The poisonous claws have poisonous glands in the claws, and there is a poison gland opening at the end of the claw, which is used to poison small animals and as a weapon to defend against foreign enemies. Sections 2 to 19 each have a pair of 7-segmented appendages, called feet, which are the organs of centipedes crawling. Section 20 is where the genital pore is located, and its appendages are different from the other 19 pairs of walking legs, specifically called genital limbs. It can be seen that the structure of the centipede trunk becomes the center of movement of the centipede.

3. An important feature of the exoskeleton centipede body is the exoskeleton with chitin. Those distributed on the back of each section of the trunk are called the dorsal plate, the abdomen is called the web, the back and the ventral plate Connected by membrane-like sheets on both sides. The exoskeleton not only has the function of protecting the internal organs and preventing the evaporation of water in the body and receiving stimulation, but also can complete various sports actions together with the attached muscles. The formation of the exoskeleton limits the continued growth and development of the centipede body, so the centipede molts during the growth process. When the centipede molts, the body secretes a chitinase that dissolves the chitin, which is the main component of the exoskeleton, thereby breaking the exoskeleton, and the entire body is drilled out of it, and the exoskeleton is re-formed. When molting, the centipede uses its head to top the main pool wall, first breaking the head plate, and then relying on its own telescopic movement to gradually peel off the body and the synchronous feet from front to back, and finally break away from the tail feet. Each molting takes 2 to 3 hours.

1. Likes to live in groups and is timidCentipedes like to live in groups, and centipedes in the same group can live in harmony, rarely fighting and killing each other. When the habitat is too small and there are too many centipedes, the old centipedes will automatically walk away to find another habitat. However, centipedes are timid and afraid of fear, and will stop feeding when slightly frightened, run away from the nest, or curl up still. Centipedes that are laying eggs will immediately stop laying eggs, while brooding centipedes will eat their eggs uncharacteristically after being frightened. Therefore, the place where the centipede is artificially raised must choose a quiet environment, and the breeding place should be kept as quiet as possible to reduce unnecessary fright and interference to the centipede and affect the normal growth activities of the centipede.

2. Most of the wild centipedes that like the dark and damp, but are afraid of light and waterlogging, live on hillsides, fields, roadsides, overgrown places, or in the gaps between pyre and roof tiles. They often live in dark corners such as the corner of the kitchen, and centipede footprints are also common under the bricks and tiles around the pig house and chicken house.

3. They live in the nest during the day, crawl out at night for activities, foraging and mating are the peak of centipede activity from 8:00 to 12:00 pm, and usually return to the nest to rest before 4:00 am, after dawn. It's hard to see centipedes. Centipede's eyesight is very poor, and it is difficult to see things a little further away, so it is difficult to find food and defend against enemies. It only relies on a pair of slender tentacles that extend forward. At night, they also rely on tentacles to hunt prey for food.

4. The centipede has the habit of licking with the dense villi on the distal segment of the first mandible and the protrusion of the basal segment, the brush-like setae on the back of the distal segment of the second mandible, and the saliva spit in the mouth, often licking In addition to licking its tentacles and walking feet, it also licks its burrows clean. This habit can eliminate the damage of parasitic animals, bacteria and fungi to centipedes, and it is a manifestation of defense against diseases. The licking habit of centipedes is also manifested in licking eggs. Female centipedes that hold eggs will also lick the eggs to keep the eggs clean, prevent the harm of mold, and ensure that the eggs can hatch into small centipedes normally.

The centipede mainly lives in the rocky and low-soil low mountains, and only a few in the plains. Every year after the sting, the temperature gets warmer, the centipede wakes up from hibernation and begins to unearth activities, and it lives well in damp weeds or rocky ditch. From the awn seed to the summer solstice, as the temperature gradually rises, it gradually moves to the shady trench, cemetery, ridge or crevice of the ridge to avoid the hot day. In the late autumn, they mostly inhabit under the loose soil slopes facing the leeward sun or in the places where the tree holes and roots are warmer. In short, centipedes are light-phobic, nocturnal, and like to live in dark, humid, warm, and ventilated caves. Therefore, when artificially breeding centipedes, we must try our best to create the living conditions it requires according to its living habits. Such as planting trees and grass in the feeding field, placing bricks and tiles, etc. are one of the measures taken to meet the requirements of the centipede on the living environment.

Centipedes generally come out alone at night. Although it has 8 monocular eyes, its vision is weak, especially during the day. When working alone, they do not detour until the tentacles touch, and avoid each other. On a clear and windless night, 20 to 23 o'clock is the peak of their activity. Its activities are characterized by more activities at night and less activities during the day; more activities when the temperature is higher than 25 °C, less daily activities at 10-15 °C; less activities or even stop activities below 10 °C; hot weather, more activities at night after rain, The nights with low temperature are less active; the nights with no wind or breeze are more active, and the nights with strong winds (wind force above level 6) are less active: the nights after rain are more active and the nights on rainy days are less active. It can be seen that the frequency of centipede activity is closely related to meteorological factors such as air temperature, air pressure, relative humidity, rainfall and light intensity. Therefore, the influence of the above meteorological factors on its life should be paid attention to when artificially breeding centipedes. At the same time, the centipede has a strong ability to drill cracks, so the centipede can smoothly drill through the gaps of rocks, ridges, etc., and can live in these gaps.

When centipedes live too densely or are disturbed, it is easy to kill each other and die. However, under the feeding conditions, with the improvement of living environment and feeding conditions, such as providing enough fresh feed and water sources, it will not increase the disturbance to its life, even if the breeding density is high, it will not have much impact on its life. In particular, the centipedes produced by the same mother have lived together since childhood, and when they grow up, dozens of them are curled up together, and they can live together in harmony. Therefore, providing enough fresh feed and water sources to maintain a quiet environment is an essential condition for artificial breeding of centipedes.