Megarian Banded Centipede
(Scolopendra cingulata)
Habitat
General Information:
The Scolopendra cingulata is European based organism that resides around the Mediterrenean sea, hence where its common name, Megerian banded centipede, comes from. They tend to be found mostly in the mountainous regions around the sea. These creepy crawlies are also commonly found in Spain, Italy, France, Greece, and even North africa (Fouskaris, 2001).
The Climate:
This region of the globe is a tropic area with jungle like terrain and warm temperatures. Temperatures there range from about thirty to fourty degrees celsius. There arent four seasons, instead there are dry summers and wet winters. This region of the globe is very suiting for the S. cingulata with all the terrain and vegatation. All this vegatation provides great cover for the S. cingulata to live and stay protected from possible predation. This also provides cover from the harsh sun and allows the S. cingulata to hind in the shade, waiting for its next meal to walk by. This climate is comparable to those of California and Australia (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2014).
This habitat also provides a wide variety of prey options for the S. cingulata. Mountainous jungle terrains have many different species of insects and other organisms smaller than the S. cingulata that can become easy prey sources. To learn more on there diet, head over to the Form and Function page.
Other organisms in the area:
Besides this fascinating organism, there is a wide variety of wildlife tha inhabit this region of the world. There is the presence of larger mammals like cattle, sheep and goats but this is from farmers. On the smaller side of the scale, the S. cingulata lives along with many different species of lizards, snakes, frogs and insects many being possible items of prey. Many different rodents also roam the areas and some of the smaller species are prey options for the S. cingulata as well (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2014).
Andre McMillion and Jaelen Yach of the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. Bio 203 - Spring 2014