Centipedes

• Centipedes are easily seen in moist and protected environments, such as under rocks, leaf litter, and woodpiles.
• Indoors, centipedes hide in cracks and crevices in walls.
• Centipedes also hide under carpet edges and behind baseboards in the basement.

• House centipedes (the common indoor species of centipedes) are grayish-yellow and usually marked with three dark longitudinal stripes visible from above.
• Centipedes can grow to more than 1” in length.
• Depending on the species, adults may have from 15 to 191 pairs of legs (Edgecombe and Giribet. 2007).
• There is one pair of legs on each segment of a centipede’s body.
• The legs are clearly striped.
• Centipedes have a pair of antennae that extends forward from the head.

• Depending on the species, yes.
• Though centipede means "one hundred legs," centipedes can have as few as 15 pairs of legs, or as many as 191 pairs.
• Centipedes always have an odd number of leg pairs, so they never have exactly 100 legs.

• Centipedes have one pair of legs per segment, while millipedes have two pairs of legs per segment.
• Centipedes are predators of insects, spiders, and small animals; while millipedes are scavengers that eat decaying leaves, decaying plant matter, and some fungi.

• Although not considered dangerous, centipedes can deliver a painful “pinch”, especially when handled.
• Centipedes do not really bite; they inject venom from modified claws found in their front legs.
• The injected venom of centipedes is not usually fatal. It causes a slight swelling and irritation similar to that of a bee or wasp sting.

Despite their "fearful" appearance, centipedes cause no structural damage to your home and do not contaminate food.

• During cold weather, adult centipedes overwinter in protected places.
• Centipedes can survive indoors, especially in damp, moist basements, cellars, bathrooms, crawlspaces or unexcavated areas under the house.
• Centipedes usually gain access via holes and cracks in the foundation walls or by crawling under door gaps.
• Centipedes become active during spring and live outdoors in damp and shaded areas.
• During the summer, centipedes may enter buildings seeking shelter, where they become a nuisance pest.

• Centipedes feed on small creatures, such as bed bugs, termites, cockroaches, silverfish, spiders, and other household insects, and even small animals.
• Centipedes bite with their modified front legs.
• The centipede’s front pair legs are pointed, fang-like appendages called forcipules, which connect to poison glands on the first body segment immediately behind the centipede’s head.
• Centipedes use their forcipules to pierce their prey’s skin and then inject venom into the cut; paralyzing the prey.

• After mating, females usually lay their eggs in the soil or in rotting wood.
• Some species curl around the eggs to protect and clean them. Other species cover the eggs with dirt and leave them alone.
• Eggs hatch into larvae, which have four pairs of legs.
• Every time the larvae molt, the number of legs increases.
• The common house centipede can live for more than a year, while other species have been known to live for up to 6 years.

• Centipedes are not insects; centipedes are arthropods. In order to be considered an arthropod, the animal must be an invertebrate with an exoskeleton (external skeleton), a segmented body, and jointed appendages.
• Centipedes groom themselves. After a meal, centipedes use their forcipules to clean each leg from base to tip, in order. If a leg is missing, the centipede will still try to clean it in its correct order
• Centipedes are mostly nocturnal hunters
• Centipedes hunt their prey by leaping upon it or using their back legs in a technique described as "lassoing."
• Centipedes are fast and can reach speeds of 16 inches per second.
• Centipedes can regenerate lost legs.
• Centipedes have poor eyesight. In fact, some centipede species don't even have eyes.
• Centipedes detect prey through their antennae.