House centipede
| House Centipede | ||||||||||||||||
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| Scutigera coleoptrata | ||||||||||||||||
The house centipede has 15 pairs of very long, delicate legs and a rigid body which enables it to run with incredible speed up walls, ceilings and along floors. The body is yellowish grey and has three dark colored dorsal stripes running down the length and the legs also have dark stripes on them too.
House Centipedes prefer to live in cool, damp places. Most live outside primarily under large rocks, piles of wood and especially in compost piles. Within the home, these centipedes are found in almost any part of the house but are most commonly encountered in basements and lavatories where there is a lot more water but can be found even in dry places like offices, bedrooms and dining rooms. The greatest likelihood of encountering them is during the spring when they come up when the weather gets warmer and during the fall when the cooling weather forces them to find shelter in human habitats.
House Centipedes feed on spiders, termites, cockroaches, silverfish, and other household pests. They do not cause damage to food or furniture. They kill their prey by injecting venom into them through their poison fangs and then feasting on the dead prey. For this reason, House Centipedes are considered among the most beneficial creatures that inhabit human dwellings but because of their alarming appearance few homeowners are willing to share their home with them.
The house centipede theoretically can bite humans but this seldom occurs and when it does, it is no worse than a minor bee sting but can cause health problems for those who are allergic to bug venom. The worst one can expect from a house centipede bite is some pain, and some swelling at the bite but the symptoms usually disappear after a few hours. The house centipede's venom is too weak to cause any serious harm to larger animals like dogs and cats. If you find one and don't want it in the house, a do not want to kill it. Do not pick it up with your bare hands. Instead, herd it into a clean glass container with a lid and take it and release the centipede outside.
Should one find it impossible to coexist with them, controlling house centipedes involves drying up the areas where they would thrive in. Another method would be eliminating large indoor insect populations and sealing cracks in the walls. Only during severe infestations should one use chemicals to kill the population because the fumes can be very harmful to pets and young children.
House centipedes are hatched and have as few as four pairs of legs but gain a new pair with each molting. They live anywhere from three years to as long as seven years depending on the environment.