Centipedes

INFORMATION

Centipedes in the summer, lay 35 eggs or more in or on the soil. Newly hatched centipedes have four pairs of legs; during subsequent molts, the centipede progressively increases the number of legs until becoming adult. Adults of many species live a year and some as long as five to six years. Larger centipedes can bite. If one is injured, a light swelling may occur. A physician should be consulted if the bite has penetrated the skin. The centipede is beneficial, by eating other insects. Centipedes do not damage food supplies or household furnishings. Most centipedes are active at night. The house centipede is a common pest in many parts of the United States. Unlike other centipedes, this species generally lives its entire life inside a building. In homes, the house centipede will prefer to live in damp areas such as cellars, closets, bathrooms, attics (during the warmer months) and unexcavated areas under the house. Eggs are laid in these same damp places, as well as behind baseboards or beneath bark on firewood.

APPEARANCE

Centipedes are usually brownish, flattened, and elongate animals which have many body segments. Centipedes are flattened, with many different body segments. They have one pair of legs attached to most of these body segments. Centipedes differ from millipedes in that millipedes have two pairs of legs on most segments and bodies which are not flattened.

Centipedes are between 1-6 inches and the House Centipede is 1-1/12 inches. The house centipede is grey-yellow with three stripes down the back and has very long legs banded with white. The largest centipedes are found in the Southwest. The body of this centipede is usually only 1 to 1 1/2 inches long at the most, but it's 15 pairs of legs make it seem much larger.

CENTIPEDE CONTROL

Click Here to Read More on How to Control Centipedes