Stone Centipede

With 15 pairs of legs, the adult stone centipede can spare a few. Its first pair of legs is not used for walking at all. They have evolved into poisonous jaws, and the stone centipede uses them to bite and kill its prey. The stone centipede’s back legs break off easily. This is a handy trick if an enemy, such as a mouse, bites the centipede from behind. The legs simply pop off in the mouse’s mouth, allowing the centipede to escape. When a leg breaks, muscles at the top of the limb close around the wound. This prevents the centipede from bleeding to death. The injured centipede will grow a new leg the next time it sheds its skin.

Stone centipedes breed in early spring. After mating, the female lays her eggs, one at a time. She picks up each egg with a claw near her tail and carries the egg to an area where she can roll it in dirt. By covering her eggs with soil particles, the female disguises them from predators, as well as from her mate. Male centipedes will eat the eggs if they can find them.

When they are born, stone centipedes have only seven pairs of legs. During their first year of life, the young centipedes change shape, or metamorphose, four times. With each transformation, they gain a few legs. Stone centipedes may live to be three years old. As their name implies, they make their homes under stones, as well as rotting wood and fallen leaves.