The centipede we see in Hawai‘i is called the Vietnamese Centipede (Scolopendra subspinipes). It isn't the biggest in the world -- that prize goes to this South American species -- but it's big enough, thank you very much.
As a Boy Scout I used to run into these guys when camping at Bellows under the ironwood trees. They love the ground cover provided by all those fallen ironwood needles. We'd be taking down our tents at the end of the weekend, and garans we'd find at least one snuggled underneath our ground cloths. Yipes! I tried stepping on one once, but forgot that I was wearing slippers not shoes. My slipper caught it halfway down its length, and the thing whipped its front section around trying to get at my bare foot. Good thing it was a thick kamaboko slipper, not the cheap thin kind! Boy, that was one good adrenaline rush.
As a Boy Scout I used to run into these guys when camping at Bellows under the ironwood trees. They love the ground cover provided by all those fallen ironwood needles. We'd be taking down our tents at the end of the weekend, and garans we'd find at least one snuggled underneath our ground cloths. Yipes! I tried stepping on one once, but forgot that I was wearing slippers not shoes. My slipper caught it halfway down its length, and the thing whipped its front section around trying to get at my bare foot. Good thing it was a thick kamaboko slipper, not the cheap thin kind! Boy, that was one good adrenaline rush.
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