“…and today we’re talking about an insect that doesn’t stay in its lane. But more on that later.”
Squirming the soil of a windswept island, lurks a many-legged menace with a taste that…raises eyebrows. It’s a wriggling, writhing ribbon of ruthless efficiency, equal parts nightmare noodle and avian scourge. While most creepy crawlies shy away from winged terrors, the Phillip Island Centipede turns the tables on them. But sometimes, the hunter must become the hunted here in Life, Death, and Taxonomy.
Description of the Phillip Island Centipede
Its body is long, flattened, and distinctly segmented (typically with 21 pairs of legs in adults
The body is primarily reddish-brown to deep orange-brown, often with a glossy sheen.
The segments show subtle darker banding or plating contrasts, while the legs and antennae are noticeably lighter — usually pale yellowish to orange or amber.
The head is robust with prominent, powerful forcipules (the modified front legs that form venom-injecting pincers). These forcipules are often a brighter yellowish or greenish hue, tipped with sharp black claws, and they stand out prominently at the front. The antennae are long, slender, and whip-like, also in that lighter yellowish tone.
It has two legs that point backwards… like antennae…like a false head to fool predators.
Measure Up
Welcome to the beloved Measure Up segment. The official listener’s favorite part of the show! The part of the show when we present the animal’s size and dimension in relatable terms through a quiz that’s fun for the whole family. It’s also the part of the show that’s introduced by you when you send in audio of yourself saying, singing, or chittering the words Measure Up into ldtaxonomy at gmail dot com.
Length
Adults can grow up to about 23–30 cm (9–12 inches) long, making it one of the larger centipede species.
The frilled lizard is an Australian reptile that flares a large, colorful frill to scare off predators or rivals. True or false – the frilled neck of the frilled lizard is the same length as the Phillip Island Centipede.
Weight
40 grams (0.7–1.4 ounces)
Cherry Ripe chocolate is a classic Aussie treat with dark chocolate coating cherry & coconut filling. True or False – A standard bar is the same as weight as a Philip Island Centipede.
A Cherry Ripe chocolate bar is 44 grams.
Fast Facts about the Phillip Island Centipede
They are nocturnal hunters, foraging through thick leaf litter and under logs on the forest floor.
They eat insects like crickets, reptiles such as geckos and skinks…and other things…
It lives only on two tiny, uninhabited islands in the South Pacific Ocean.
Phillip (Norfolk) Island, a small volcanic island about 2–3 km² in size, and Nepean Island, a nearby even smaller islet (around 0.1 km²).
The ecosystem lacks typical large predators…so it doesn’t have many natural predators to worry about..unless an opportunist beast stumbles upon it and just has to take a bite.
They thrive in subtropical forest and scrubland, rocky cliffs, valleys with Norfolk Island pines, and areas of bare rock or soil, providing plenty of hiding spots and prey access.
Its venom is highly potent and fast-acting to prey… primarily causing rapid paralysis and immobilization. For people, a bite would likely be extremely painful.
Major Fact: I Got 99 Legs and a Chick Ate One
- This centipede has been documented preying on small seabird chicks—yes, birds.
- It hunts at night, emerging from rocky crevices like a horror movie extra with too many legs.
- Using venomous forcipules (modified front legs), it injects toxins to immobilize prey quickly.
- The chicks, often left unattended in burrows, are vulnerable to these stealthy assaults.
- Its venom is potent enough to subdue animals significantly larger than typical insect prey.
- This behavior is rare among centipedes, making it an ecological oddity and overachiever.
- By feeding on birds, it taps into a high-calorie food source not usually available to arthropods.
- This predation may influence local seabird populations, especially in confined island ecosystems.
- It demonstrates extreme opportunism—if it fits (or can be subdued), it’s food.
- The discovery of this behavior reshaped how scientists view invertebrate predation limits.
Ending
So put your dozens of hands together, punch above your weight, and like me at Thanksgiving, eat a bird many times your own size like the phillip island centipede here in LDT.