3/23/2021: Florida Trip Rambles- Getting philial with Big Geophilomorphs

My favorite thing about collecting trips is finding new captivating things, especially ones I’ve never even fathomed.

While sorting through some beach wrack on Key Largo I found a bustling microcosm of familiar invertebrates. Most of the visual excitement was due to millions of amphipods, but some other familiar carapaces popped up too; a few isopods, the occasional pseudoscorpion, beefy seaside earwigs, and something completely new. Imagine my surprise when a clingy, leggy soil centipede crawled out of the saturated rocks onto my hand!

I was able to locate about eight of the behemoths and decided to give them a proper transport container with good ventilation and a nice big glob of beach wrack full of amphipods. I have no idea if they’ll stick in culture but I’ve set up a special enclosure with an under layer of sea water and some salty detritus for them. I’m suspicious the amphipods I grabbed with them will be easier to culture but we’ll see. I would love to offer this outright bizarre centipede in the future as their size, nimbleness, and grip make them truly alien creatures adapted to a unique and sometimes harsh habitat.

-Kyle