The Kid Should See This

The ‘Swiss Army knife’ legs of a house centipede

Watch more with these video collections:

So. Many. Legs. Thirty legs arranged in a fluttery burst-like arrangement. This is the Scutigera coleoptrata, a house centipede. And though some may think they’re creepy or gross, or dangerous to humans (they’re not), consider this: Their legs are useful in surprising ways. From Deep Look:

β€œBasically arthropods are Swiss army knives,” said Greg Edgecombe, a paleontologist who specializes in centipedes at the Natural History Museum, London. β€œThey differentiate the legs for different functions.”

When it hunts, for example, the house centipede uses its legs as a rope to restrain prey in a tactic called β€œlassoing.” The tip of each leg is so finely segmented and flexible that it can coil around its victim to prevent escape.

They have fangs that are venom-delivering, leg-cleaning, prey-grabbing modified legs called forciples, and hind-legs that seem to function like antennae. And they run fast, about 40.64 centimeters (16 inches) a second, “which is pound for pound about the same as a human running 42 mph.”

Bonus: They’re insectivores, so they help keep other bugs at bay.

Next, watch more Deep Look and more videos about insects, including Why Do Millipedes Have So Many Legs?


Get smart curated videos delivered to your inbox.