Scolopendra alternans Leach, 1813

Shelley, Rowland M. & Sikes, Derek S., 2012, Centipedes and Millipeds (Arthropoda: Diplopoda, Chilopoda) from Saba Island, Lesser Antilles, and a Consolidation of Major References on the Myriapod Fauna of “ Lesser ” Caribbean Islands Rowland M. Shelley, Insecta Mundi 2012 (221), pp. 1-9 : 4

Scolopendra alternans Leach, 1813

Published record. Saba in general (Shelley 2006); Windward Side ( Shelley 2002a).

New localities. None.

Remarks. The most common Antillean scolopendrid, S. alternans is the only indigenous New World species of Scolopendra lacking an “anterior transverse suture” on the first tergite, a feature shared with the equivalently sized and nearly as common introduced species, S. subspinipes Leach, 1815 . They are readily distinguished by the number of ventral spines on the ultimate prefemora, 0–3 arranged linearly in S. subspinipes versus numerous, scattered ones in S. alternans , and by the presence ( S. alternans ) versus absence ( S. subspinipes ) of short spines, sometimes elevated on a slight tubercle, on the dorsal distomedial margins of the penultimate and antepenultimate prefemora. Scolopendra alternans is known from a host of Caribbean islands and island groups including Antigua, Bahamas (Andros, Cat, Exuma, Little Inagua, New Providence, North and South Bimini, Salt Cay, San Salvador), Barbuda, British Virgin Islands (Caiba, Guana, Pete’s I., Tortola), Dominica, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St. Barthélemy, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, and US Virgin Islands (St. Croix, St. Thomas) (records summarized in Shelley 2002a). It also inhabits the Keys and southernmost peninsular Florida, USA. Rafting from Cuba, as documented for the similarly distributed tree snail, Liguus fasciatus (Müller) ( Roth and Bogan 1984, Deisler-Seno 1994, Shelley 2002a), is the most plausible explanation for its occurrence in this corner of North America. Rafting may also explain its occurrence on Saba.