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While house centipedes themselves do not pose health risks, their presence indicates that there are other pests around. Centipedes are generally dark brown or yellow and sometimes have darker colors and markings. Adult centipedes have three dark parallel lines running from their head to the rear end of their bodies and a hair-covered pair of antennae on their heads. While some centipede species have compound eyes containing up to 200 optical units, others have a few simple eyes on each side of the head.
What Are House Centipedes?
Centipedes are rarely seen by humans due to their nocturnal activity and the speed in which they move. Most centipedes live for more than a year and some up to six years. House centipedes don’t harm or destroy stored products, fabrics, pets, humans, or the structural integrity of your building and are generally only considered a nuisance. All house centipedes are venomous, but they typically run away from humans, and they very rarely bite. Even if house centipedes bite you, it’s considered harmless.
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Inside the home, they can be found in bathrooms and lavatories, which tend to be humid, but they can also be found in drier places like offices, bedrooms and dining rooms. They are usually seen crawling along the ground or floor, but they are capable of climbing walls. The greatest likelihood of encountering them is in spring, when they emerge due to warmer weather and in autumn/fall, when the cooling weather forces them to seek shelter in human habitats. Although they can look disgusting to some, they don’t harm humans. On the contrary, they help you by preying on other common household pests such as cockroaches, silverfish, firebrats, carpet beetle larvae, spiders, termites, bed bugs, and other small arthropods.
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In summary, protecting your home from house centipedes involves sealing entry points, removing pest attractants, and maintaining a dry home environment. By following these steps, your home will become less appealing to these pests, ultimately keeping it centipede-free. To prevent house centipedes from entering your home, seal cracks and gaps in doors, windows, and walls. One example of sealing entry points is using weather-stripping on doors and caulking around windows. House centipedes can’t enter if there are no openings for them to pass through. If you see house centipedes emerging from various cracks or crawl spaces, try using a high-powered vacuum cleaner to suck them out.
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Empty the vacuum cup or vacuum bag into a sealable plastic bag and dispose of it in an outdoor trash can. Because house centipedes help you control infestations of other, more bothersome pests, there’s little reason to exterminate them. Pesticides are of limited effectiveness in eliminating house centipedes. With their long legs, they hold their bodies high when they move, allowing them limited contact with pesticide-laden surfaces, making most pesticides less effective. The house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) is the most common centipede found in the U.S. These centipedes are sometimes referred to as “hundred-leggers,” due to their many pairs of legs.
Remove piles of leaves and grass clippings, logs, stones and rocks on your property. Provide adequate ventilation in basements, attics and crawl spaces. Seal holes, cracks and gaps that enable outdoor centipedes to get inside a home. Centipedes are generally considered nuisance pests, as they do not pose significant health or property threats. However, all house centipedes have poison jaws with which they inject venom into their prey.
Using their legs to beat prey has also been described.[8] Like other centipedes they can stridulate. Discovering a population of centipedes in your home could indicate other insects sharing your home. House centipedes will only stay where they have an ample food source.
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Coleoptrata has developed automimicry in that its tail-like hind legs present the appearance of antennae. When the centipede is at rest, it is not easy to tell its cranial end from its caudal end. Since centipedes are nocturnal, it can be tough to determine whether you have them in your house.
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For example, centipedes will have 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 pairs of legs respectively after each molting stage, while after the final molt, they have 15 pairs of legs. They undergo four post-larval instars before reaching maturity. These predators can contribute to a natural balance and help reduce the number of house centipedes in your home. Overall, understanding the behavior and diet of house centipedes can be helpful for managing their presence in your home. While their appearance can be alarming, gaining a better understanding of house centipedes can help ease fears and promote a more peaceful coexistence with these speedy, unique inhabitants. In this article, we will explore the characteristics, behavior, and natural role of these intriguing crawlers, shedding light on their place within our indoor ecosystems.
They are classified with Insects in the phyllum Arthropoda. Remove leaves and weeds and seal cracks to prevent any seepage of moisture into your home. Centipedes are nocturnal, leaving their daytime cover to find food. They will enter a house through cracks or openings in the foundation, so checking your home for unwanted entrances is crucial to establishing a pest-free home. In North America, you most often will find centipedes outside in moist locations, hiding under protective areas such as stones, leaves, and logs. They will also come indoors, so it’s not unusual to find one in your house.
You can find one near you with the helpful zip code search below. Some of the plates covering the body segments fused and became smaller during the evolution to the current state of S. The resulting mismatch between body segments and dorsal plates (tergites) is the cause for this centipede's rigid body. Dear Malia, Though it looks quite fearsome, this common House Centipede is actually a shy nocturnal hunter. It is a beneficial creature that will help keep the Cockroach population down.
While millipedes do closely resemble centipedes, millipedes are herbivores and detritivores, surviving on dead and decaying plant material, including wood or cellulose material. Although house centipedes are “good” bugs, they may still make your skin crawl. If you don’t want to share your home with them, rather than squash them, relocate them outside, where they’ll continue to provide pest control. Trap a centipede the same way you would a spider, by dropping a cup or jar over it and then sliding a piece of paper underneath to seal it inside. House centipedes are predators that mainly feed on insects, including spiders, silverfish, and cockroaches.
Centipedes typically leave no direct signs of an infestation other than the sighting of the pest itself. Hi Again Fred, Many years ago we posted a similar looking Cave Centipede from Borneo, and there are also similar Centipedes from Vietnam in our archives. Though they are not in homes, we do classify them with the House Centipedes. Mary Marlowe Leverette is one of the industry's most highly-regarded housekeeping and fabric care experts, sharing her knowledge on efficient housekeeping, laundry, and textile conservation. She is also a Master Gardener with over 40+ years of experience and 20+ years of writing experience. Mary is also a member of The Spruce Gardening and Plant Care Review Board.
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