Found it dead in my dishes
I think that’s the bug they put in Neo in the first Matrix film
Stomach bug
There’s one going around, I hear.
Drake got it, I believe
Everyone is saying they’re harmless, but we read house centipedes cam leave painful bites. I’ve never been bitten, that I know of, but when plagued with centipedes, I’d sometimes wake up with one of two types of mysterious bug bites: itchy, and painful. I know from prior experience that most North American spider bites are only ever itchy, so I always put the painful ones down to house centipedes. I can’t prove it, though. Here are the facts I do know about house centipedes, from empiricle evidence:
- They like damp. You’ll find them in damp spots, drains, around toilets, around damp areas in basements, etc. Not exclusively, but predominantly.
- They wage a secret war with spiders. Sometimes the spider wins, but usually the centipede does unless it gets trapped by a web.
- Alive, they move like the wind. Shockingly, alarmingly fast.
- When smacked, they explode into air and legs. So many legs, and not much else.
- Despite reports that they control other bugs, they are useless against real nuisance bugs like soldier and stink bugs. And for fly control, spiders do a better job. The only real thing we ever saw centipedes hunting were spiders.
- Small glue traps work really well at controlling them. I caution against large glue traps, as they might catch small rodentia, and if you want to know true horror, find a YouTube video of a mouse caught in a glue trap.
I’m team spider.
This pretty well captures things! Insects that eat other insects are worth rooting for, but like you, I’m on team spider.
Spiders are no insects technically. But whatever…
Are either centipedes or spiders insects? I thought insects only had 6 legs
They are arthropods, just like lobsters and insects, but no, they are not insects. Spiders are arachnids.
Centepides actually only have 6 legs. You can see the six real legs if you look closely at a picture. The other “legs” work like legs, but are not actually legs.
Dumb question but I thought centipedes had like… 95 legs or something.
The one in the op doesn’t have that many. Why are people thinking it’s a centipede?
Because centipedes vary a lot between species. The house centipede only has up to 15 pairs (30 legs): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata
They can actually range from roughly 30-350 legs! Fun fact
As far as I’m aware, if it’s got upwards of 350 legs, those are called millipedes, not centipedes.
Also, I’ve never in my life seen either a centipede or a millipede with legs anywhere near that long, so my mind is still stuck on WTF is that damn thing?
Any which way you go, I’d say kill it with fire! Even though it’s already dead, I wouldn’t wanna take any chances if it happens to have eggs in it or possibly a parasite or anything…
The difference between centipedes and millipedes actually has to do with how many pairs of legs they have per body segment. Centipedes have one pair per segment, millipedes have two pairs per segment. The centipede with 354 legs is indeed a centipede (: the millipede with the most legs actually tops out around 750 legs! Pill *millipedes seem to be the smallest millipede with only 14-42 legs!
Also, if you google pics of centipedes, there is indeed a species with terrifyingly long legs just like this picture, the house centipede.
*pill bugs != pill millipedes, pill bugs are crustaceans apparently, cool!
No, a pill bug is not a type of millipede, they’re actually crustaceans, and not closely related.
Pill bugs used to be one of the few exclusively terrestrial crustaceans, but now almost all insects are classified as crustaceans, so, i’d have to double check the phylogenies.
Ah, apparently pill bugs and pill millipedes are different! Thank you for the correction.
Huh, interesting. Well today I learned a little more about creepy-crawlies than I expected. Also, a pill bug is considered a type of millipede? Well hell, I never would have guessed that.
I was actually very surprised to learn about the pill bug as well, if I’d known they were millipedes as a kid I would not have found them so cute and fun lol
No, a pill bug is not a type of millipede, they’re actually crustaceans, and not closely related.
Pill bugs used to be one of the few exclusively terrestrial crustaceans, but now almost all insects are classified as crustaceans, so, i’d have to double check the phylogenies.
Oh? Okay then, well either way I’ve learned something new today. Interesting, not like it’s going to change the price of weed in Colorado for my daily life, but thanks for sharing. 👍
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So while I’m sure there are thousands of different kinds of milli- amd centipedes, in general:
- Millipedes have shorter legs
- Millipedes are slow. Like, slow enough to see them move unlike centipedes, creepy bastards
- Millipedes are vegetarians, and while crushing them can be bad news, they don’t bite
- Millipedes look kinda like long pill-bugs, whereas centipedes look like hell had a nightmare and it was given flesh and form
I’d say a small asteroid impact will take care of it. Something about the size of the tanushka event seems appropriate. Just be sure to pre-warn all of the neighbours within a 500 mile radius.
Small? We need larger, something like 10.5 elephants in size!
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I guess ninetyfivepede doesn’t really roll off the tongue.
That’s why you always find dead garden millipedes curled up in a spiral. The odd number of legs makes them walk in circles until they die from it. “True” story.
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I was bitten by one in my sleep as a kid, my foot swelled and it was pretty painful.
You’re team spider unless you live in Australia and like all animals in Australia the spiders are no exception.Spiders kill, spiders eat burbs, spiders fly. Yup they fly, it’s nightmare material.
I’ve also been bitten by a centipede in bed while sleeping and woken up in so much pain I threw up(#australiathings). How did I know it was a centipede? It was still in the bed. They are not nice. But I’m still all for them eating the spiders.
Generally bug bites are more often from beetles than centipedes or spiders, meaning centipedes and spiders generally lower how many bug bites you’d be getting.
Dude, what kind of beetles do you have around you‽ Where I live, I’m pretty confident there are no biting beetles - at least, none that can do any harm to humans.
You have way more beetles than you think you do, and far more beetles than you believe can bite. If you can find a spider, there are dozens of beetles that it’s feeding on, in an over simplified way.
Oh, I know we have tons of beetles. They invade our house every fall. I’ve never encountered a biting one, though.
I’ve been bitten in the ass by centipede… twice. Took a few weeks until the bite mark disappear.
Your bullet points sound like an RTS (real time strategy) game’s description of a unit. I would prefer neither around me, let them wage war (or set up home) elsewhere preferably.
Wouldn’t it be inhumane to catch centipedes with glue traps if it is with rodents?
Alive, they move like the wind. Shockingly, alarmingly fast.
This is true. It was both shocking and alarming how fast it moved when I first spotted one in my room after moving to the east coast.
Thats a house centipede. Looks creepy, but its a nice house pet. It eats all of the other, undesireable, pests in your house.
Ok, thanks! Unfortunatelly this one doesnt qualify anymore as a pet but i am sure there are others around in the garden eg
Oh so it’s a rest of the world huntsman spider, cool. I’ve got one in my bedroom, love having little buggy helpers around
People love to say that they are harmless. But then why give it the most harmful sounding name imaginable?
HUNTS
MAN
And not just the men. The women and children too!
I don’t like sand. It’s course and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.
You see, I think spiders are incredibly interesting animals. But I really can’t look at them. I guess my Mum screaming every time something with more than 4 legs appeared had a lasting impact on me. So having one next to me while I sleep is nightmare stuff to me.
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Depends on the spider. I would not want something like a huntsman spider, but I don’t mind the small ones that just sit in their corner webbing.
I always say that I don’t mind spiders. They’re very respectful. They stay in their corner and eat the bugs I don’t like.
That’s the spider’s way of paying rent, in our household. If they come out into the spaces where we are, it goes against the rental agreement, and they are …evicted.
I too have the same policy in my house. Respect each other’s personal spaces, and we’re all good
When I was younger and I had roommates I hated it when they killed the house spiders. It was the reason we had so many other bugs. Once that roommate moved out, the rest of us stopped killing the spiders and after a burst of spiders the rest of the bugs were gone. House bugs are very creepy but they keep the bad house bugs away. Like bedbugs. Fuck bedbugs and the evolutionary niche they’ve crawled out from.
Does it come as good news that cockroaches are bedbug predators? Some real “pick your poison” shit, huh?
Honestly yeah, actually the building I previously moved out of had both. So I just kept very tidy by keeping everything they’d be attracted to sealed and away and left the cockroaches alone. It was a lot though, every night throw out all the garbage. Seal and put away all the food, if food can not be easily sealed put it in the fridge. Clean up all the crumbs and any drops of water on the floors, counters shelfs, ect. Lightly Borax the sinks, toilet, tubs. Then wake up, collect the ones that died overnight, clean up and go about my day. Oh and make sure you take apart then make your bed every morning and night to make sure nothing else crawled in there. They were never more than a small nuisance and I never had bedbugs compared to my neighbors. Yay adorable housing… So glad to be outta there.
Yay adorable housing…
Yep, they are pretty cool ! Until there is no other pests left…
This is centipede propaganda, long live the spider queen, death to the centipedes!
It’s a common house centipede.
Generally good critters. They do bite though.
I know they’re generally harmless (they eat bugs and won’t bite you if you leave it alone) but they make my skin crawl and I can’t help but kill them with extreme prejudice when I find one.
The big thing for me is it’s a sign there are bugs for them to eat in your walls or house.
If it has more appendages than I do, I immediately dislike it.
You’re just jealous that you don’t have than many limbs.
I actually wonder if it becomes possible, how many people will get more hands
Dogs tho
My person, arms and legs are both appendages. But now that you mention it… is a trail an appendage?
We got tail bones too, close enough.
Good point!
Same. Just seeing one makes me gag. My physical response to them is wild, and I WILL kill it.
Same. They’re just too damn creepy to let live.
Wait, common!?
Oh yeah
Midwest here, insanely common.
Or at least, it was.
they bite???
Not only do they bite, they are venomous. So if one does manage to bite you, it will hurt like a bitch.
On the other hand, one will most likely not bite you.
That’s a house centipede. They will leave you alone and eat lots of pests.
Thanks for taking the useful approach, rather than parroting the usual drivel
Edit It turns out they feed on bed bugs - surely that should sway a few people.
…And they can detach their legs? I want one!
Just so people who see them aren’t worried, they don’t just eat bed bugs. They will eat basically any insect that is smaller than they are up to and including spiders. I even saw one eating a yellowjacket once. So having house centipedes in your home doesn’t mean that you have bedbugs.
Spiders are creepy but they’re not bad either. Get rid of flies and mosquitos
This advice may not apply to Australia but in general, it’s true.
Do those giant spiders even make webs?
Underground ones sometimes.
Actually Huntsman’s don’t! They’re the big hairy brown ones that you’ve seen carrying mice on social media. They’re non-venemous and their whole schtick is that they run to catch their prey. They’re incredibly creepy but when I see one I cup+paper it and put it outside. It’ll probably find it’s way back in eventually but not before taking out a few insects in the process.
Yeah it means you have house centipedes which is only slightly less bad.
Very very very very wrong
I want one!
Don’t worry, you already have more than one, probably hiding in the walls.
Unless you live in a high rise building…
They probably have two, regardless of where they live. Unless they are in a wheelchair.
When I lived in a concrete high-rise, I never saw any centipedes. Now that I reside in a mostly wood/drywall house, I’ve seen at least three.
I lived in that high-rise for ~4 years, I’ve lived in this house for ~1 year.
I do what I can to leave the centipedes alone so they can do their thing. We also have spiders, which are all considered bro’s in our home.
It was a joke on
…And they can detach their legs? I want one!
The “one” can refer to both a leg, as well as a complete centipede.
I realize the joke didn’t land at all. Oh well!
I wish I had a few of those instead of a multitude of disgusting silverfish }:
But silverfish are not bad either? They don’t carry disease.
Silverfish eat the glue that’s used to bind books. So they’re a pest to someone with a personal library.
Huh. So that’s why they’re found in Minecraft strongholds.
They only have six legs, so very uncool. Also, they’re jumpscare experts. Chillin’ on the frickin’ ceiling, in packs of toilet paper, my dirty laundry bin… I despise them for it.
I’ve got regular silverfish in the bathroom, but gray silverfish (or paperfish as they are called here) in the rest of the house. Those things are larger and much more destructive, some found their way in my collection of sheet music… They literally eat their way through paper and even damage untreated wood, nasty critters. And worse, where ventilating your house helps against silverfish, it only seems to create even better living conditions for those buggers. I’d trade for house centipedes happily.
yeah it’s just zoomed in, discolored, and wet/squished. Poor thing. Theyre unnerving at first but once you get used to them you can think of them as eyelashes gliding around the floor.
that visualization doesn’t help, at all
Theyre just winking at you across the floor ;)
Was*
Yes, fair
Goa’uld
Kree lo tak!
Indeed
Forbidden shrimp
For the love of God could you not?
It really looks like a shrimp 🦐
Slimy yet satisfying
I couldn’t stand these guys
I think it’s a mindflyer parasite. If you hear it talking to you, make sure not to listen.
Don’t let it near your eye holes
just a hard-working protector house centipede I think. harmless
Well, of course it’s harmless, it’s dead, SMH.
So you’re saying I can eat it, right? Gotcha. 😉
You can eat anything at least once
How about if you eat it in moderation?
I’m not sure about centipedes, but if what goes for woodlice goes for them, you need to cook them/fry them for a bit because they’re toxic if you don’t, but then they’re great.
My brother/sister in christ, have you considered nuking your neighborhood from orbit ?
Oh that’s no problem. Don’t worry about it.
Looks like a house centipede to me. Something for scale would be useful
Hmm yes, could be, thanks! As i read, they do exist here where i live.
For scale: Small and big spoons…?
Banana for scale. This isnt the dark ages
Gee! I didn’t notice the spoons until you mentioned it, sorry! Must be a very small centipede then. Fully grown ones are about 10cm long, and they are very, very, very very fast. (But harmless)
Ah ok! havent seen them around here alive anywhere, maybe cause they re nightactive, as i read… The spoons are not too obvious in the pic, so understandable. Thank you again for all the info
Neither did i, thought i was looking at a giant bug i hadn’t seen before!
It’s a house centipede, which means you probably have an infestation somewhere. Poor thing just walked into the sink.
House centipedes may look like some prehistoric creature from the depths of hell, but really they’re like spiders, they’re your friends - they kill and eat bugs. You just don’t see them as often because they’re terrified of humans and zoom away at light speed when they see you.
I have learned to respect spiders in my house and leave them alone. Some time I even provide support or protection if needed.
But THAT thing? I would manually detonate a nuke in my house with my own hand if I ever saw one in my house.
I’m reflecting on how, to an ET alien, this thing probably doesn’t look that dissimilar to a nude human being.
I love them
Well thank God for that
Welp time to burn down the house
The only sensible answer.
