Greater Megapede

Megapede dereponecis

Megepede dereponecis (Greater Megapede) is the largest non-aquatic neopede on Skull Island and a voracious predator of the jungle undergrowth. At 1.5 meters, they eat anything they can latch onto, from rodents to even baby dinosaurs. Their dark brown carapace allows them blend into the undergrowth. When a suitable animal comes within range of the megapede, the arthropod is capable of launching itself into the air with its many legs. It will then latch onto it with its piecing mandibles and coil its long body around it, stabbing with its legs. When threatened, the megapede can rear its upper body up and sway side to side, similar to a cobra.

Females engage in simple parental care, guarding her nest which is usually a fallen rotten log or rocky outcrop. Clutches range up to 200 eggs which are encased in a sticky substance and glued to the ceiling of the nest. Once hatched, babies will possess a pheromone that prevents the mother from seeing them as food long enough for the young to scatter away from the nest. Baby megapedes feed primarily on detritus, earthworms and other small insects.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Myriapoda
Class: Chilopoda
Order: Neopedimorpha
Family: Megapedidae
Genus: Megapede
Species: M. dereponecis