Centipedes are elongated creatures with flat, segmented bodies containing a pair of legs per segment. The name means ‘100 legs’. However, centipedes have anywhere between 15 to 177 pairs of legs. Have you ever wondered where do these centipedes come from?
Where do centipedes come from?
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Centipedes come from Mediterranean regions. They are seen in huge numbers in the North-eastern parts of the US. They thrive in leaf piles, dead logs, and moist dirt. They form a formidable part of our ecosystem. These creepy crawlers enter our homes mostly in the winters.
Centipedes can deposit the eggs in moist soil throughout the spring or summer. And a female centipede may lay more than 30 eggs each time. Before growing into the adults, the larvae can go through six phases.
Adults like wet, dark environments. Centipedes, unlike other insects, do not have any visible sign when they infect the house. You don’t know whether you have a centipede infestation unless you find them. Instead of building a nest, they prefer to crawl around the home. So, there will be no sign of centipede pee or excrement.
Because centipedes do not eat food, you will have no idea that they are present in your home. Ensure there is more than one centipede in your house if you observe one crawling around the drain.
Outside the home, centipedes are common. However, in severe weather, they need to enter the house. During the summer and the winter, the small pests are more likely to enter the house.
Centipedes do not carry any diseases that are deadly to humans. The centipedes’ bite causes relatively slight swelling and transient discomfort.
Where Do Centipedes Live in your house?
These tiny creatures never move in the open. You will never see them crawling up the floor or climbing up the wall in the living room. The locations where you will find centipedes in your house include; bathtubs, sump pump hoses, sinks, basement, and drain pipes. Moreover, these centipedes are nocturnal insects. You see them in the nights. If your home is not properly caulked, then you will find these creatures hiding in the cracks and holes; or even beside your furniture. You may even find them beneath the bark of firewood stored indoors.
Centipedes gather in moist areas, where there are lots of insects. Water and bugs are two things they can never resist. They may even enter your house from the cracks in the foundation and, not to forget, the gaps in your windows and front door.
Can centipedes get in through drains?
Centipedes rest in secluded areas during the daytime. They enter ground-level rooms from these areas through door thresholds or foundation gaps. They may never get in through the drains. If you wish to stop centipedes from coming up your drains, then pour white vinegar over it. You can also add half a cup of baking soda to create a bubbling reaction.
Do centipedes lay eggs?
Centipede eggs are hard to find. They are deposited in the soil. Centipedes lay eggs in spring and summer in temperate areas. In tropical and subtropical areas, they may lay eggs at any time.
Centipede eggs hatch into mini adult versions. Upon hatching, these centipedes carry only a fraction of their legs. They gain remaining legs along with a series of molts.
What attracts centipedes in your house?
Centipedes thrive in specific locations for protection, food sources, and favorable environmental conditions.
What do centipedes eat? Their preferable food sources include; Ground beetles, Spiders, Cockroaches, Ants, Crickets, Earthworms, Bed Bugs, Silverfish, and other Centipedes. Large centipedes consume small mice. So, an abundance of these pests can lure centipedes into your house.
Cool, dark, damp, and rarely disturbed locations attract centipedes.
A warm, safe, and heated home, attracts centipedes that also begin to reproduce. They come in during cold winters when they hardly survive outdoors. Severe dry outdoor conditions force them to stay indoors.
What do centipedes eat?
Centipedes stick to having meat. These multi-legged creatures are each hunter likewise as scavengers. They can even eat insects when they are dead. Their list includes spiders, ground beetles, earthworms, crickets, etc. Somehow, they eat plants and vegetables to survive.
Do centipedes bite?
If you handle them roughly, some centipedes leave a painful bite that can cause swelling and pain or break human skin. A huge Scolopendra inflicts a more painful bite, and therefore you need to handle them with great care. Moreover, centipedes are venomous.
Do centipedes eat ants?
Yes, centipedes eat ants. Centipedes have poor vision. They find their prey using antennae. After capturing a suitable prey, they use speed to capture, inject, and bite their prey with venom. The mandibles inside their mouth enable them to chew up and consume the prey.
Also Read: How To Get Rid Of Centipedes
How to Keep Centipedes out of your house
Some non-chemical methods to keep centipedes out of your house include:
- Repairing water leaks or utilizing dehumidifiers to reduce moisture.
- Removing clutter that serves as protection for centipedes to hide. Avoid storing items or stacking them right up against the wall or floor.
- Reducing the number of bugs, insects, and spiders in your house offers a food source for these centipedes.
- Sealing cracks, gaps, and holes that enable these centipedes and insects or spiders to enter homes.
- Consider removing centipedes by vacuuming.
- Removal of centipede habitats includes trash, rocks, boards, compost piles, and other hiding places. Removing leaf piles, logs, rock, and grass clippings inside your property.
- Storing firewood off the ground.
- Offering adequate ventilation in the basement, attics, and crawl spaces.
Some chemical repellents that can help you get rid of centipedes include; insecticide sprays, insecticide aerosols, and insecticide dust.
You can use foam spray like Pur Black NF Foam, which helps to seal openings and voids and prevent these centipedes from entering your house.
Insecticide sprays such as LambdaStar UltraCap, and Cyper WSP can help to control centipede activity inside your home. You can also use liquid applications on cracks and crevices that are potential centipede hiding places.
You can spray Invader HPX, an insecticide aerosol, around doors, windows, and other places where pests may enter premises easily.
A recommended dust that you can use for attic areas and below baseboards is D Fense Dust. You can use them with a hand duster or garden dusters.
