Centipedes
Common Name
Scientific Name
House Centipede
Scutigera coleoptrata
Identification:
House Centipedes are grayish-yellow, with three dark lines running down its back, it has 15 sets of long slender legs making it appear larger than it actually is. The House Centipede without its legs is only about an inch long, but when you include its legs it can look up to three to four inches long. The larva of the House Centipede only have 4 sets of legs, but once they go through the larval and adolescent stages they will be full adults.
Biology:
Centipedes when indoors mate in dark, cool, damp cracks and crevices, either in basements, crawlspaces, cellars, cupboards near damp areas, or bathrooms. When the eggs hatch the larvae go through 5 to 6 molts, where they grown a set of legs each molt, they then go through 4 more adolescent molts before they reach full grown adults. Centipedes are very long lived creatures, sometimes in the right conditions up to 6 years.
Habits:
When House Centipedes are found are found indoors you may find them in basements, crawlspaces, cellars, unfinished areas of a home, under the foundations of homes, bathrooms, etc. These creatures run swiftly when disturbed and may even seem to be running toward you at time, but this is only because they feel your clothing may be a suitable hiding place for them. The House Centipede may look scary, but they are harmless to humans, they are found in small numbers maybe three at the most, and if they are handled carelessly, one may be bitten which only equates to a slight bee sting, possibly no reaction at all.
