Centipedes bite - they do not sting. This warning from a local biology teacher who was concerned that readers of Wednesday's Royal Gazette could get hurt if they followed the lead of a gardener who caught one on Tuesday.

Home gardener Vernon Smith told The Royal Gazette that he grabbed a six inch centipede around the tail to prevent it stinging him.

Bermuda Aquarium and Zoo curator Dr. Wolfgang Sterrer confirmed the biology teacher's information and said that Mr. Smith was lucky not to have been bitten.

"They have poison glands in two big jaws on the underside of the head," he said. "There is no stinger in the tail."

Mr. Smith had thought the arthropod was poised to sting him because its tail was up in the air. But Dr. Sterrer said that the species of centipede found in Bermuda often adopts this pose.

"The misconception about these centipedes stinging from the tail end comes I think from the fact that the last pair of legs is always carried upward pointing into the air. This makes it look like pincers and while it may be able to a certain extent to act like pincers and actually pinch you, this is not the business end of the animal.

"There is no poison or sting associated with the tail end. The poison is in the glands of the jaws in the underside of the head."