The mode of sperm transfer in the scolopendromorph centipede: Cormocephalus anceps anceps Porat

Abstract

The laboratory conditions under which the centipedes were kept and their general behaviour are described. No indication of sexual recognition between adult centipedes was found during studies made of encounters between members of the same or opposite sexes. All displayed the same avoiding reaction on the first encounter and later adopted the defence posture by which fatal attacks were prevented. Where attacks were not successfully countered, biting may or may not be accompanied by injection of poison into the wound. These centipedes are not immune to the poison of their own species, therefore, fatalities and cannibalism can result from aggressive encounters. The mating behaviour of Cormocephalus anceps was witnessed once in early autumn in South Africa. It was preceded by the typical avoiding reaction and defence posture assumed by either sex towards the other, the male being the more dominant. After adopting this posture, a situation which may last a variable length of time, the subsequent stages of mating behaviour were initiated by the male. The courting behaviour could be followed in five sequences which are described in some detail. The problems of sperm transfer faced by the Arthropoda evolving towards a wholly terrestrial existence and the many modes adopted by this group are considered together with the recent knowledge of the modes of sperm transfer employed by the four orders of Chilopoda.

On the function of the ultimate legs of some Scolopendridae (Chilopoda, Scolopendromorpha)

“…Ritualised meeting reactions have been described for Scolopendra cingulata Latreille, 1829 (Klingel 1960), Cormocephalus anceps anceps Porat, 1871 (Brunhuber 1969) and observed in Scolopendra galapagoensis Bollman, 1899 (Kronmüller 2010, unpublished data). When two specimens meet, each attempts to grasp the posterior region of the trunk of the other with its last pair of legs (Figure 2C).…”

“…Tapping and/or stroking with the ultimate legs is carried out by both sexes. The ultimate legs are waved sideways and tapped irregularly up and down and quite quickly (Brunhuber 1969) [for a recent review see Rosenberg (2009)]. …”

Sexually dimorphic characters of the ultimate legs in lithobiid centipedes (Myriapoda, Chilopoda, and Lithobiomorpha): Morphology and implications for reproductive behavior

“…The sensory structures on the prefemora of E. liburnicus have been suggested to help the male get information about whether the female is correctly positioned and prepared for spermatophore uptake (Akkari et al, 2018). In other groups of centipedes, such as scolopendrids, concentration of spines along the medial side of the ultimate leg prefemur appears to play a role in improving grip during meeting rituals between conspecifics, with the ultimate legs being used to clasp the posterior part of the other's body (Brunhuber, 1969;Kronmüller & Lewis, 2015). For lithobiid females, the secondary sexual characters of males might act as signals of the quality of the potential mating partner, which can be assessed during courtship, a behavior described by Klingel (1959) for L. forficatus, involving several phases of repetitive touching of the ultimate legs of the male by the female with her antennae (Klingel, 1959).…”

The taxonomy, distribution and ecology of centipedes of the genus Asanada (Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae) in Nigeria

“…Other scolopendrids, for example Scolopendra cingulata Latreille, are solitary and exhibit a ritualized fighting reaction when they meet another individual of the same species (Klingel, 1960). Cormocephalus anceps anceps Porat exhibits similar behaviour but despite this a large number of specimens are killed as a result of contact with other animals of the same species (Brunhuber, 1969). N o ritualized fighting behaviour is shown by A. sokotrana and specimens can be kept together.…”