To my knowledge there has not been a single case in which centipede venom was conclusively proven to have killed anyone.
There is a common reference to a Filipino girl in the 1950's who was bit on the head on the head and died. I have read a cite to the original reference in The Biology of Centipedes by Lewis, 1981 so i expect *something* happened. As it was a Scolopendra subspinipes that bit her, and that is one of the nastiest species for a human to get bit by, i suspect that their is the potential for some kind of truth here. S. subspinipes subspinipes and S. s. dehaani can cause some pretty impressive local soft tissue swelling. i would easily believe that a bite to the head/neck area could swell the soft tissue to the point that some critical blood flow was interupted or something like that.
Another case cited is that of a Turkish or Greek man that was bit by S. morsitans and died of necrotizing fasciatus. I have problem saying that "the centipede bite killed him" as it was a bacteria that actually killed him. It would be akin to saying a cat scratch killed someone when it was the complicating infection that actually killed them. While i have little doubt the centipede bite played a role in the man's death i have a VERY hard time saying it was even the primary cause.
There are a few more spotty references that can be found in online and print literature and a few more rumors of fatalities floating around. Due to the complete dearth of fully substatiatable centipede caused human fatalities i would have to say that i do NOT consider centipedes to be deadly to humans... but some species do deserve a healthy respect.
"The lethal dose for all subjects (LD100)
in juvenile mice was found to be 0.01 venom glands per
gram body weight, which might account for the lack of
human lethality (extrapolating to humans, the contents
of almost 1000 venom glands would be required for a
fatal sting in an average adult)."
http://www.wemjournal.org/pdfserv/i1080-6032-012-02-0093.pdf
the above is refering to either Scolopendra heros or Scolopendromorpha in general, it is unclear from the reading which is meant.
"No fatality due to a centipede sting has ever been
reported in the United States, although 1 fatality was
reported following a sting by a large specimen of S subspinipes
(the same species responsible for cases 3 and 4
in our series) to the head of a small Filipino child.14"
http://www.wemjournal.org/pdfserv/i1080-6032-012-02-0093.pdf
references:
Remington CL. The bite and habits of a giant centipede
(Scolopendra subspinipes) in the Philippine Islands. Am J
Trop Med. 1950;30:453–455.
This is a hard question to answer, as the question might mean different things to different people. To my way of thinking, one must first identify what the key attributes are for a beginner centipede. A list of possible attributes would include: venom potency, price, size at purchase, maximum attainable size, color (at purchase/as a pling might be different than adult colors which might be different than oldling colors), availability, ease of care/resiliancy of species, and possibly locality (if you want to catch your own). Typically, the highest concern *seems* to be the venomousness of the species, so i will discuss that first.
S. heros and S. alternans are also fairly terrible to get bit by.
A number of species seem to have very mild venom. Scolopocryptops spp., Theatops spp., S. polymorpha, S. viridis, Hemiscolopendra marginata, S. morsitans (EGYPTIAN EMERALD ONLY!!), Ethomostigmus sp. trigonopodus (BLUE (RING) LEGS ONLY!!!) all seem to have relativey inoffensive venoms.
In the U.S. S. polymorpha are collected by a number of hobbyists and dealers and are typically available for $20USD2007 or less. Globally S. subspinipes are widely available. You can typically find adults for ~$35USD2007 from online dealers. Ethmostigmus spp. are seemingly widely available for less than $30. The various locality/colorforms of S. morsitans are periodically available globally and should be at or under $20.
In the U.S. S. gigantea, S. robusta, S. viridicornis are not commonly available and adults go for upwards of $300 sometimes. Expecct babies to sell for $50-$100.
Globally those three king species seem slightly more available... but are still not going to be cheap!
Typically, larger centipedes are easier to keep alive than smaller ones. Small centipedes can dehydrate to death in an unbelievably short amount of time... especially if you are used to baby scorpions or tarantulas that are typically much more resistant to dessication. Smaller centipedes can fit out of amazingly small holes, so any caging solution must use pinholes for ventilation and that is it! This will also help to retain moisture in a centipede's container.
Something to consider... it seems like older, larger centipedes are more prone to mysteriously dying on an owner... this could be an "old age" thing or it could be that larger specimens are not paid as much consideration as smaller ones... i personally sort of think it is a care issue but it is something to think about.
Touching back on price, sometimes a dealer will have a few sizes of centipedes available and will charge more for the larger sizes and less for the smaller sizes. Sometimes they price all their specimens the same. You might even be able to request a smaller or larger centipede if a dealer has more than one.
The longest/largest you could expect a centipede's body length to reach is about 16"/40cm... but there might be 10-1000 of those on the planet and none in captivity. As far as pet trade is concerned the largest speccies might hit 12"/30cm body length (not counting legs and/or antenna) but 8"/20cm is MUCH more reasonable expectation.
Largest species (8"/20cm average; 12"/30cm monster length): Scolopendra subspinipes subspinipes, S. subspinipes de haani, S. gigantea, S. robusta, S. galapogoensis, S. heros, S. alternans.
Largish species (4-5"/10-13cm average; 7-8"/18-20cm monster): Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans, Ethmostigmus spp., Scolopendra polymorpha.
Medium species (3-4"/8-10cm average; 5+"/13+cm monster): Scolopendra viridis, Scolopocryptops spp., S. morsitans. Rhysida spp., S. mirabilis
Smaller species (<=3"/8cm average; 4"/10cm monster): Hemiscolopendra marginata, Theatops spp.
Another note about color... this is true more in the tarantula world, but probably bears mentioning here... some colors, especially the cooler colors (blues and greens, i mean) sometimes show up as black in "real" life for live viewing. Pictures taken in full sunlight or with a flash tend to show a creature's colors to the best effect. Also, there is variation in coloration amongst individuals... some individuals in a species might be more spectacularily colored than others. A dealer's stock picture is almost certainly NOT the individual your are going to purchase. Some dealers might be able to provide a picture of the actual specimen you are interested in purchasing, if a specific coloration is important to you.
I am not an expert and have little formal training in buggery. Er, wait a minute...
Anyhow, everything expressed in my web page is only my opinion unless stated (and cited) differently. So take it all with a rather large grain of salt.
