Is there any invertebrate creepier than the house centipede (AKA “thousand-legger”)? I grew up in Upstate New York, and had never encountered one of these until I first moved to southeastern PA around 1993. The first time I saw one skitter across the living room while I was watching TV, I thought for sure I’d seen some kind of demon–a lesser demon, granted, but a demon nonetheless.
Turns out it’s just Scutigera coleoptrata, a fast-moving type of centipede that lives mostly within human homes and eats spiders, roaches, bedbugs, silverfish, and other small insect-types that also invade human dwellings. Doesn’t sound like much, I know, and if you’ve been fortunate enough never to have encountered one, you have no idea just how disconcerting the sight of fifteen pairs of legs moving in a coordinated wave can be as this sizeable critter slashes across a floor or wall.
Since we got our dog, a Rhodesian ridgeback mix, we haven’t had much problem with these little guys. We just say “Copper, bug!” and he goes into full-on hunting dog mode, enthusiastically sniffing out the centipede before crushing it to death with his paws, and then typically tossing it around a bit before eating it. Unfortunately, he’s recently taken to retching — and I mean, retching — after eating one, so we’re not letting him do that any more. I looked up information on the house centipede, and it appears that their venom is not dangerous to house pets, though their bite is recorded as painful. After finding a close-up photo of a house centipede face, all I can say is yikes. I’m not surprised their bite is painful, check out those fangs!
(Photo after the jump)
If you do have these around, you might like to know that they are generally considered beneficial (see the list of undesirables that they are doing away with?) and that a concerted effort to kill off house centipedes might reveal a bug problem of another sort that you never knew you almost had… That, and their bites are apparently really painful to people, too. At least as painful as a bee sting.
On a related note, my search for information and photos of Scutigera coleoptrata led me to Dope on the Slope, a pretty cool Brooklyn-based blog of invertebrates and photography. It’s not many blogs that really catch my interest, so I figured I’d give this one a plug.
I was just talking to my Mom who lives in Georgia where I used to live (I’m now in Illinois). She was telling me that they just killed one of those nasty Eyelash Bugs. Those things are sooooo freaky. They move so fast and give me the willies. Yuck! Just having my Mom telling about it made me want to wretch. I never knew they were biters or hunters until finding this page. Thanks for all the info, and even though they eliminate some of those other nasty buggers, I’m certain my Mom will still be smooshin’ those suckers!
I had one in my room for maybe a half an hour/ I had never seen one before so my friend and I just stared, discussing weather it was a government spy or not. I hate killing bugs, but when I went to trap it so I could let it outside, i crushed it with the empty pickle jar. Oh well, if I left it there, it would have eaten my clothes D=
Ive been killing these nasty things for a few days now.. i thought they were roaches by the look of their underbelly. I came across this page while searching for info on roaches. So i’m glad i know what they are now.
They are extremly fast. I hate them. And yes I’m in Upstate NY too
I live in Virginia, lots of houses have them here. Specifically, basements. These things are completely repulsive.
NNNN-eee-way, the best way of dealing with them other than an exterminator that I have found is to set up a few of those sticky type mouse traps. Let a few Scutigera get stuck on there and it will actually attract more as a free meal. (To make them even more disgusting, they are cannibals!!) Change the sticky pads every few months or when there doesn’t appear to be any sticky room left on the pad.
I live in PA and every so often you will see them runnin across the floor like CRAZY FAST. I just saw one earlier tonight in the corner of my bedroom and when I turned the light on to kill it…it ran away and is hiding. Now I can’t friggin sleep and I’m sooo tired. But…that little fucker is in here. I have serious issues sharing the planet with these creatures. They are horrific demonic things that are nothing but evil. I don’t get why people are sticking up for them “They eat other insects”…well thats good but if there’s anything Im afraid of other than spiders it’s something that fucking EATS SPIDERS. Why have we not evolved into a world without bugs? There are some bugs that I don’t have issues with…but these are one of those bugs where you think “Run away” and then that is followed by “You must die.” These bugs cannot be allowed to live.
My basement has leaked 4 times in 3 weeks… we now have them all over. I killed one this morning I am assuming it is from the moisture. But I have 4 kids and well enough said. when they see them the cops come because of the frigging screaming. I hate them they all must die. I want to burn them leg by leg and give them the hell they give me. How do you get rid of them????
I found one of these fuckers crawling on my ceiling in my bedroom about a year ago. I dont see them very often but they scare the shit out of me when I do. Me and my friends have called them demon bugs ever since our first encounter, due to there obvious origins in hell, and kill every one we see. For the longest time we didnt know what the bastards were. We were fairly positive the official name was demon bug, and anything other than that obviously wasnt it. We saw one last night and, just to try it, searched Google images for demon bug. A picture of this fucker on this sight showed up as number 2.
Needless to say, we werent surprised.
We got them ever since we got rid of the carpet in these two rooms. They are at least as fast as any living mortal and are the fucking creepiest things I have ever seen.
Though the information was helpful, I will have to disagree. I am positive they do in fact eat humans, and must be exterminated. If you see one, kill it on the spot. One less bug will breed, and one less bug will have a chance of coming to my house.
I live in southeastern kansas, btw.
This is perhaps the greatest house centipede support group ever.
My girlfriend and I have been dealing with an infestation for about a week now at our new apartment (in southern CT). It’s like frickin’ Starship Troopers out here.
A few nights ago, we were on the couch watching a movie. As I looked over at her, I noticed a 30-legged demon on the wall behind her. She shrieked as I was asked to perform my manly duties and dispatch the Godless creature.
Startled, it began to make it’s way down the wall, behind the couch and towards the floor. I fixed my gaze upon the monster as I pulled away the couch while calling for my trusty RAID sidearm. My arm outstretched behind me as I looked intently upon my enemy, the beast tried to hide in a crack below the window sill just as my girlfriend delivered the payload.
“DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!” I shouted as I unleashed fury. With that, it fell behind the couch and began to move out of my line of sight. I pulled the couch toward me even further where, much to my amazement, my enemy had surrendered in a pool of destruction—it’s death rattle consisting of a weak pedaling of it 30 frightening legs as it lay on it’s back.
“Stomp on it two…three times to be sure…” my girlfriend sheepishly asked. I hesitated for a moment as I made sure my slippers were on tight. Then…I went in for the final death blow, slipping on the sloppy mixture of RAID and juicy, purple bug guts. Catching myself on the couch, I shivered in fear as my adrenaline boner waned.
After flushing the carcass, I began waging my research campaign to develop an extermination strategy. They must not live. And for all you dirty, nature-loving hippies out there, don’t even start with all the “Bu…bu…but they eat spiders and cockroaches…” bullshit. THEY WILL EAT YOUR FIRST-BORN CHILD! THEY WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING THAT YOU LOVE!
KILL! KILL! KILL!
Lepisma saccharina (generally known as the fishmoth, urban silverfish or silverfish) is a small, wingless insect generally measuring from half to one inch (12-25 mm). http://www.silverfish-insect.info/
they are our enemies.
omg i hate these things!!!!
they are all over my apartment!
i saw one like last week and it was big enough to hop on and ride him around my apartment!!
they are soo creepy, but theyre attracted to light, and they hate people….and are more scared of us then we are them.
i have my stepdad kill them :]
OMFG one time my dad was over& there was one on my ceiling and i had him squish it and blue guts came out! it was soo cool, hahahaha :]
It’s rare that I see them, but at first glance, yes, they appear as some Martian-bug. Since I’ve known that they are, in fact, harmless and beneficial for the household, I never kill them… and the times where I’ve caught them bare-handed (not having anything else to use) I’ve never been bitten. Just a quick, and casual, catch-and-release back outdoors is an easy fix. Again, I’ll say it, I’ve NEVER been bitten!!! They’re creepy, they’re fast, and they appear in the oddest of places, but not a concerning matter.
Welp…
I am once again being invaded by these sick creatures. I had them back at my first apartment 14 years ago. And here they are back in my life. I will tell you that no matter what these little SOBs will never stop sacring the bejesus out of me. I cannot stand them and i scream and freak out everytime i see one! It never gets better….if you have them you will be freaked out for life…sorry!
I have lived in Central Indiana my whole life, and never saw one of these things until about 6 years ago when I bought my first house. There are no words to describe the horror that raced through me when I saw this huge horrifying THING run across my floor at top speed. I had no idea what it was. I found out soon though, because I continued to see them regularly until I started doing heavy duty extermination.
Although I have always been afraid of spiders, I have never been afraid of any other bug. In fact, I have always found bugs fascinating. NOT THIS ONE, THOUGH! This monstrocity is almost like a spider on steroids. The sight of it is mortifying enough, but when you see how fast they run, you’ll shit yourself.
Anyway, I started buying pesticide and exterminating my house like clockwork. (I use BUG STOP.) I would spray ever six months. I didn’t want to WAIT until I saw these things come back, I wanted to make sure I always had a poisonous barrier down (both inside and outside my house). Anyway, I read up on them and they like dampness and moisture. The article I read said that if you had anything like old bricks or anything laying around the outside of your house, to get rid of them.
Anyhow, a few months ago I moved. My current house has them, too! INTERESTINGLY, both this house and my previous house had been sitting vacant for about a year before I purchased them. That gave the critters plenty of time to make themselves comfy.
I am now going through the process that I went through with the other house. I am getting the poison routine established, and I have already seen a drastic reduction. I’m going to do another heavy extermination in a couple of weeks, and then I should be good for the winter.
Heavy chemicals. That’s all I can say. Do it like clockwork. It works!
I moved into my apt in sept 07 and have seen theese creepy crawlies on the walls and running across floors every now and then. I usually kill them with a flip flop. I dont think pesticides are necessary or good for us to breathe. Although they creep me out to no end I have to admit i’ve never seen a spider or any other bug in my apt (knocking on wood right now) since i moved into my BX apt. Maybe they are good for keeping the other more harmful insects away. I still get creeped out though. Eh!
They are truly the scariest creatures on the planet, perhaps because they look like they are from another solar system. I was a church janitor for several years, and the old, damp basement was a perfect breeding ground for them. I have seen them speed across the floor and off a step and their momentum carried them 10-12 inches before landing. And I have seen large ones barrel through 1/4 inch deep puddles on the floor and leave a huge wake behind them. The largest one I ever saw was easily 4 inches long. Just the other day I saw one in my studio for the first time and they still scare the hell out of me.
I don’t kill them (I’m vegan). I take them outside. But oh my god it is tempting.
I live in NE Ohio, and first saw one in our school cafeteria. It was easily 5 or 6 inches long. I saw football players scream and stand on their chairs “WHat is it??!!!!WHat is it??!!!!”
I’ve seen them in the tub, scurrying across the wall, once even had one on my chest as I pressed a stack of laundry against myself.
They are the devil, and I can think of no more frightening creature than a LARGE specimen of these lighning fast, other worldly spectacles.
gosh i hate those things !!! that a horrible bug !!!
The other day I pressure washed my patio and basement stairwell and by the time I was finished I was drenched. I went to my bedroom to change. After I put on my jeans the tag was out of place and uncomfortable so I reached back to fix it. It moved. On it’s own. I pulled my hand out and one of these creatures was in it. With a speed that far surpassed any pitch I have ever thrown, I fired it onto the floor and promptly shortened it’s life span. Luckily it did not sting me, which is suprising because it was right up against my ass crack. Although the bug died, I feel like I have sustained the greatest loss because I will never be able to put clothing on again without turning it inside out and checking it thoroughly.
first time i saw one i was at work. it was about ten feet away from me as it hauled ass across the floor into a nearby hole. just last night as i was getting ready for bed i saw one in my bathroom. it was, atleast, no joke, two inches long!! in fear of it attacking me if i were to try and smash it, i grabbed a can of hair-spray and went to town. as i sprayed the little shit, he stood up on his back legs as if he were trying to fight me!!! after about ten minutes of sprayuing him he finnally died!!! staight up not cool. i fear we are being invaded by aliens:0
I just mashed a 2″er that fell onto my desk. – From where? I’ll never know
Dad always called them Sumbitches…
’cause they ran like one once discovered
i live in Minnesota and i see these nasty buggers every day in our basement. i too thought they were some type of new species and they were pissing me off and it was totally serendipitous that i found this site…but how the hell do you get rid of them??
well i just killed my second one… these things are unholy…
i have never seen anything like these fuc%3rs before…
the first one i saw was in my kitchen… it sprinted across the floor… i stopped breathing for like a 30 seconds…
these things run like its nobody’s business…
from now on its kill on site. i’ll take spiders any day over these ungodly things.
im still convinced they are from a “Zerg” Colony that landed on earth.
I lived in a house built in 1897 so, needless to say, it was teeming with life. We had mice, cockroaches and spiders big enough to have conversations with. None of those creeped me out like those little thousand leg bastards. 1″ long? PFFT! I had one that was at least 3 inches long that took up residence in my pants that I left them on the floor while I took a shower. (wont’ be doing that again)
Seeing them in the kitchen or the bathroom doesn’t bother me anymore. It’s when I find them crawling on me while I sleep that nearly scares me to a bowel movement.
I smashed one in the basement with a HAMMER the other night. Half of the carcas was splatted against the wall – still wiggling – and the other half ran away.
How do you get rid of them?
ew ew ew ew ew! we found one of those this morning and we call it Pedey ( like Petey but with a d like in centipede) we have it in a plastic cup and are debating it’s future. I hope it doesn’t bit one of us! yuck! as much as I hate bugs, I don’t want to kill it.