Obsessed with Creepy Crawlies

Remember, The House Centipede is your Friend.

If you are not on friendly terms with creepy crawlies, that’s okay, but maybe read no further, K?

Here she is, Miss Cynthia Centipede (Cindy for short). — All photos ©Charles G. Haacker, Author.

If you’ve read some of my photo essays, you can figure out why my late bride often teased me for being the “Saint Francis of the Bugs.” That’s not entirely true: if it sucks blood, it’s on my s*** list, and I am as prolific and merciless a blood-sucker-killer as anyone.

Made one-handed with an extension ring on my Zeiss 16–70. It was a little like Twister and took so long that I developed a mild infection. Pretty good pitcher, tho’.

Scutigera coleoptrata, also known as the house centipede, is a species of centipede that is typically yellowish-grey and has up to 15 pairs of long legs. Originating in the Mediterranean region, it has spread to other parts of the world, where it can live in human homes. It is an insectivore; it kills and eats other arthropods, such as insects and arachnids. — Wikipedia

What do centipedes eat?
House centipedes are known for killing pests in your house that are completely unwelcome. They kill roaches, moths, flies, silverfish, and termites. Centipedes use the two legs right near their head, which has been modified to carry venom, and their other legs to scoop up the bug. This is called a “lassoing” technique where centipedes jump on their prey and wrap them up with the rest of their legs.

Not only are house centipedes killing the bugs you really don’t want in your house, but they also don’t create any type of nests or webs as well. They are considered active hunters and are constantly looking for their next prey. Centipedes aren’t eating your wood and they aren’t carrying a fatal disease. House centipedes just want to go after the bugs. — Reader’s Digest .com

I’ve written about and shown pictures of Cynthia before, but just a couple of days ago, I again played twister when she turned up on a rug with her business end facing me. Cindy roams and grazes for even microscopic meals, but when she spots me, especially when I flip on a light, usually in the bathroom, she freezes. Sometimes she flees and disappears in seconds, but more often she freezes like a fawn and waits me out. I talk to her to keep her calm. I wonder what she hears.

I am uncertain if she is a she, as centipedes have no obvious sexual dimorphism, nor have I any idea if Cindy is one, or one of many. I only know she is a full-grown adult.

I knew this was a rare opportunity, but the ambient light was terrible, and I feared that if I tried to get a light or even my flash, she’d be gone before I could get back. I had to improvise and work fast.

I made this with my phone handheld in the abysmal light, so the picture is not great, but…

There was no option but to get down on the floor. I mentioned in another article that I needed a beanbag for getting up close and personal with critters backed into awkward spaces, so I bought one. It is filled with buckwheat hulls. The biggest advantage is being able to adjust the camera angle simply by pushing the camera around or squeezing the bag, with endless variations for getting nose-to-nose with Cindy.

My challenge, though, is that at 80, I can’t get down, or if I do, I can’t get up. Well, we’ll figure that out later. I need to be able to get close to my screen to focus and compose. I tried kneeling, but that put me too far away, so I had to lie on my side, getting rug burn while fiddling with manual focus and peaking. Finally, I engaged the autofocus on my big Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Art DG Macro for Sony FE and put a single focus point on her kisser. And it worked—four-second exposures at f/22. I used the two-second delay self-timer.

The left photo is the only-slightly-cropped frame. The right is enlarged ~3X (I think). Both have been run through Topaz Photo AI for maximum detail.

I photograph bugs and critters because I find many of them beautiful. House centipedes have lovely coloring, brown and black, with racing stripes. They are long and elegant, the Lamborghinis of arthropods.

The closeup at right is enlarged to see her wicked-looking forcipules through which she delivers venom to subdue even large prey. These are not part of their mandibles; they sting rather than bite. Note the prominent compound eyes that many centipedes do not have.

She is facing left. “S. coleoptrata has developed automimicry in that its tail-like hind legs present the appearance of antennae. When the centipede is at rest, it is not easy to tell its cranial end from its caudal end.“ — Wikipedia

These were made under a clear glass bowl, which accounts for the distortion in the legs. This specimen was very active and incredibly fast, with no interest in freezing, hence the bowl. Two speedlights were used to stop her motion.

The body of an adult Scutigera coleoptrata is typically 25 to 35 mm (0.98 to 1.38 in) in length, although larger specimens are sometimes encountered. Up to 15 pairs of long legs are attached to the rigid body. Together with the antennae, they give the centipede an appearance of being 75 to 100 mm (3 to 4 in) in length. The delicate legs enable it to reach surprising speeds of up to 0.4 meters per second (1.3 ft/s) running across floors, up walls, and along ceilings. — Wikipedia

Bonus — Mantis religiosa

“Is this my good side?”

“Mantises have large, triangular heads with a beak-like snout and mandibles. They have two bulbous compound eyes, three small, simple eyes, and a pair of antennae. The articulation of the neck is also remarkably flexible; some species of mantis can rotate their heads nearly 180°.” — Wikipedia.

A couple of years ago I was coming in from a shoot and caught flat-footed with a single body, no tripod or even a monopod, and my massive Sony FE 70–300mm f/4.5–5.6 G OSS Lens (105–450 equivalent) — 30 ounces — a real beast but a wonderful lens that has onboard macro capability. Many of my successes with critters in the wild are due to this lens, but here I was between the garage and the house in near-nonexistent light, forced to handhold wide open with almost three pounds of camera at high magnification. Plus she was skittish even though the big lens lets me maintain a very comfortable distance from my subject. I got these, at least sharp on her handsome face before she unfurled her wings and soared away.

As always, thank you for looking and reading. I truly appreciate it! 😊👍