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WASHINGTON (AP) — As if the largest bug to ever live – a monster nearly 9 feet long with several dozen legs – wasn’t terrifying enough, scientists could only just imagine what the extinct beast’s head looked like. That’s because many of the fossils of these creatures are headless shells that were left behind when they molted, squirming out of their exoskeletons through the head opening as they grew ever bigger — up to 8 to 9 feet (2.6 meters) and more than 100 pounds (50 kilograms). Now, scientists have produced a mug shot after studying fossils of juveniles that...

A rare snake died while attempting to eat a giant centipede at a South Florida park, according to the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. Researchers said a hiker found the rare snake at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Pictures showed the snake dead with the rear portion of a centipede protruding from its mouth. “The state-threatened rim rock crowned snake lives in pine rockland and hammock habitats in eastern Miami-Dade County and the Keys,” FWC said in a Facebook post. Researchers said the snake usually grows between seven and nine inches long, but is rarely seen because it...

A golden head centipede attacks a Kunming mouse. Credit: PNAS ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A team of researchers from several institutions in China has identified the toxin in golden head centipede venom. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes how they found the toxin that makes the venom so deadly to prey and also identified a possible antidote for it. Researchers have known for quite some time that golden head centipedes (aka the Chinese red-headed centipede), which live in Asia and Hawaii are able to subdue prey larger than its own size, in some...

This picture has been terrifying the Internet ever since the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department posted it to their social media pages late last week. It depicts a very healthy, very large, very intimidating centipede with a vibrant red head and lengthy fangs. Although it might appear to be some sort of foreign beast to the uninitiated, this bug is actually a Texas native. Called the Texas or giant redheaded centipede, the species has been known to grow to 8 inches in length. This particular specimen, found in Garner State Park, certainly looks to be one of the big ones.

SAN ANTONIO - Along with the high number of sightings of roaches and snakes as a result of the rainfall this spring and summer, the Texas cherry headed centipede is also coming out of hiding, creating a bit of an Internet sensation. One boy pulled one from his ear, the subject of viral photos and new stories. At Garner State Park, another giant centipede was found at the park headquarters and circulated on Facebook. Now more people are noticing the arthropods, which are coming out to hunt other pests like mice, rats and roaches. Jacob Galvan is an expert of...

TEXAS -- A giant redheaded centipede was found crawling on a broom in a park in Texas. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department posted a photo of the insect on Twitter. The centipede was discovered at Garner State Park in Uvalde County in the Hill Country. This is one scary looking insect. In the wild, it can grow to be 8 inches long with a brightly colored body and legs. Officials at the University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum describe this species of centipede as "fast moving and aggressive titans." The giant redheaded centipede is a predator that primarily feeds on...

The newly discovered Hades centipede. Credit: J. Bedek An international team of scientists has discovered the deepest underground dwelling centipede. The animal was found by members of the Croatian Biospeleological Society in three caves in Velebit Mts, Croatia. Recorded as deep as -1100 m the new species was named Geophilus hadesi, after Hades, the God of the Underworld in the Greek Mythology. The research was published in the open access journal ZooKeys. Lurking in the dark vaults of some of the world's deepest caves, the Hades centipede has also had its name picked to pair another underground-dwelling relative named after...

Grisly fight for freedomThe picture as published in 'Ecologica Montenegrina' showing the centipede bursting out of the snake's stomach. (Pic courtesy: Ecologica Montenegrina) The picture is not for those with weak stomachs and the report itself is as creepy as its protagonist. However, if you are looking at the picture, then you may well be looking at the most famous centipede known to man. Also famous now is the Ecologica Montenegrina a hithertho Montenegro college journal of science that published the find. A viper is believed to have swallowed centipede alive. The centipede then fought back – and the paper...

Freedom was so close, yet so far for this centipede. After being swallowed whole by a snake, it made one last desperate attempt to escape by eating its way out of her stomach. Researchers found the dead nose-horned female viper with its prey exploding from its side during a field study in Macedonia on May 14 last year. Both creatures were dead.

HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) - Would you like your crickets deep fried and crispy? Peppered and presented in a neat circle on a bed of green leaves? Breeders of crickets say the insects have become "finger food for beer drinkers" in an age of increasing prosperity in Vietnam compared with the recent past when they might have been food for the hungry or for wartime soldiers surviving in the jungle. Businessman Le Thanh Tung raises hundreds of thousands of the flying insects in barrels and sells them to restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City, the Southeast Asian country's largest...

LONDON (AP) -- Aaron Balick expected to find a tiny mouse rustling behind the TV in his apartment. Instead, he found a venomous giant centipede that somehow hitched a ride from South America to Britain. "Thinking it was a mouse, I went to investigate the sound. The sound was coming from under some papers which I lifted, expecting to see the mouse scamper away," the 32-year-old psychotherapist said Wednesday. "Instead, when I lifted the papers, I saw this prehistoric looking animal skitter away behind a stack of books." He trapped the 9-inch-long creature between a stack of books and put...