this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Found it dead in my dishes

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[–] [email protected] 220 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think that's the bug they put in Neo in the first Matrix film

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 189 points 1 year ago (31 children)

Everyone is saying they're harmless, but we read house centipedes cam leave painful bites. I've never been bitten, that I know of, but when plagued with centipedes, I'd sometimes wake up with one of two types of mysterious bug bites: itchy, and painful. I know from prior experience that most North American spider bites are only ever itchy, so I always put the painful ones down to house centipedes. I can't prove it, though. Here are the facts I do know about house centipedes, from empiricle evidence:

  • They like damp. You'll find them in damp spots, drains, around toilets, around damp areas in basements, etc. Not exclusively, but predominantly.
  • They wage a secret war with spiders. Sometimes the spider wins, but usually the centipede does unless it gets trapped by a web.
  • Alive, they move like the wind. Shockingly, alarmingly fast.
  • When smacked, they explode into air and legs. So many legs, and not much else.
  • Despite reports that they control other bugs, they are useless against real nuisance bugs like soldier and stink bugs. And for fly control, spiders do a better job. The only real thing we ever saw centipedes hunting were spiders.
  • Small glue traps work really well at controlling them. I caution against large glue traps, as they might catch small rodentia, and if you want to know true horror, find a YouTube video of a mouse caught in a glue trap.

I'm team spider.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 1 year ago (5 children)

This pretty well captures things! Insects that eat other insects are worth rooting for, but like you, I’m on team spider.

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[–] [email protected] 118 points 1 year ago (18 children)

Thats a house centipede. Looks creepy, but its a nice house pet. It eats all of the other, undesireable, pests in your house.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 year ago

Ok, thanks! Unfortunatelly this one doesnt qualify anymore as a pet but i am sure there are others around in the garden eg

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[–] [email protected] 113 points 1 year ago (5 children)

It's a common house centipede.

Generally good critters. They do bite though.

[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 year ago (15 children)

I know they're generally harmless (they eat bugs and won't bite you if you leave it alone) but they make my skin crawl and I can't help but kill them with extreme prejudice when I find one.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago

The big thing for me is it's a sign there are bugs for them to eat in your walls or house.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 102 points 1 year ago (13 children)

That's a house centipede. They will leave you alone and eat lots of pests.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Thanks for taking the useful approach, rather than parroting the usual drivel

Edit It turns out they feed on bed bugs - surely that should sway a few people.

...And they can detach their legs? I want one!

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Just so people who see them aren't worried, they don't just eat bed bugs. They will eat basically any insect that is smaller than they are up to and including spiders. I even saw one eating a yellowjacket once. So having house centipedes in your home doesn't mean that you have bedbugs.

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[–] [email protected] 70 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

For the love of God could you not?

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I think it's a mindflyer parasite. If you hear it talking to you, make sure not to listen.

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 57 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 48 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

just a hard-working protector house centipede I think. harmless

[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Well, of course it's harmless, it's dead, SMH.

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 year ago

My brother/sister in christ, have you considered nuking your neighborhood from orbit ?

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Looks like a house centipede to me. Something for scale would be useful

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago

Oh that’s no problem. Don’t worry about it.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's a house centipede, which means you probably have an infestation somewhere. Poor thing just walked into the sink.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago (4 children)

House centipedes may look like some prehistoric creature from the depths of hell, but really they're like spiders, they're your friends - they kill and eat bugs. You just don't see them as often because they're terrified of humans and zoom away at light speed when they see you.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Whenever I hear my wife scream, I know it's another house centipede I need to trap and throw outside (or smash and kill if I'm pressed on time)

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Might as well kill it then as they don't survive well outside if at all. They are a good beneficial insect that will hunt and kill bad insects in and around your home.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Spiders are okay, at least they hang around the ceiling. But this thing is giant and crawls on the floor and walls. No thanks.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Welp time to burn down the house

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Do what I did and weld your house out of 20mm steel plate and have tightly controlled, thoroughly monitored and analyzed airflow, with a single two-stage entry hallway for washing off and inspecting your terran exploration suit and all acquisitions before entering your home.

I can pull a serious vacuum on this bitch, nothing's getting in unless I want it in.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

House centipede. They eat other bugs and while scary looking are harmless. They like spiders appear from time to time without anything being wrong. They’re just looking for other bugs to eat.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

a good ol' centipede. they like crawling out of drains and usually completely harmless (they can bite afaik, but never happened to me, even though i liked to rip their legs off as a kid for some reason... also depends on the species)
this one is super chonky tho and has less legs then regular ones I've seen before... ~~probably American one~~ /s

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm not an expert but it looks like a dead bug.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What’s the size scale here … is that corn??

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago

It's a full sized human head.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I stayed a night in a dorm room before a bike race. I saw one of these before I went to sleep but couldn't catch/kill it. I still slept like a baby.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not sure whether to respect, fear, or worry about you.

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