House Centipedes in Your Home?

October 12th, 2009 Posted in Centipedes & Millipedes


If you’ve ever come across a creepy 30-legged bug in your home, it’s probably a house centipede.

centipede



These speedy little bugs are commonly found inside and outside, but hiding around the house can make them infinitely more creepy.

Want to learn more?

This article covers all sorts of things about these little critters:



Identification

House centipedes are usually brown to grayish-yellow in color, and grow to be about 1 1/2 inches in length.

House centipedes, like most centipedes, do not have 100 legs like their name suggests.

A centipede’s body is segmented into about 15 different segments. Each segment has a single pair of legs.

The front legs of a house centipede are modified into pincers. These are how the centipedes “bite.”

The back legs of centipedes are long, sometimes longer than the body. They have grown this way for defense and mating.



House Centipedes Life Cycle

House centipedes live several years and can produce up to 150 offspring in that time.

House centipedes do not carry eggs, but give birth individually.

Young are born with 4 pairs of legs. As the young molt, their bodies grow new segments, each with a new pair of legs.

Young go through 5 molts, and once they have 15 legs, they reach adolescence.

Adolescent centipedes go through 4 more molts before becoming an adult.


Where to Find House Centipedes

Though most likely to be found outside under rocks and forest debris, centipedes can also be found around the home.

Centipedes are most likely to show up in damp dark places, like basements and attics.

House centipedes, so named because they find their way into your home, will move into the living quarters, especially the bathroom. You’ll likely come across them in sinks, bathtubs, or toilets.

Contrary to popular belief, centipedes don’t come up through drains.

sink



Control House Centipedes

Centipedes aren’t (technically) considered pests, though many people who come across them would think differently.

Centipedes are actually predators, feeding on spiders, silverfish, and carpet beetles. If you have a large number of centipedes, that may mean you have a large number of any of their prey—a likely, more serious threat.

House centipedes usually enter the home through unsealed cracks in foundations, especially in basements. Seal these cracks to help keep them out.

They will also enter through holes in mortar around bricks, piping, and unfinished crawlspaces. Caulking around these spots will help control numbers.

If you need to kill house centipedes, chemicals sprays can work, but residual insecticides have a lingering effect and there are health concerns associated with chemical pesticides.

Chemical-free control, like EcoSMART’s home pest control, are a great way to protect your family and pets, both from creepy crawlies, like house centipedes, and from chemicals.






  1. 30 Comments | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers!

  2. By Angel on Oct 18, 2009

    AGGGHHHHHHH !!!
    I have centipedes…all the time. I also have 2 cats and a 5yr old so chemicals aren’t an option for me. Please send a sample for me to try. The 5 yr old is often scared to go to the bathroom cause one runs out and scares her all the time.
    Help!!!
    Angel

  3. By Brad on Oct 21, 2009

    My wife and I are dealing with a centipede problem. The apartment building we moved into is old and has a rather dark and damp basement. That’s probably where these things are coming from. We would love to test or win EcoSMART to get rid of these pests without any harmful side effects.

  4. By dennis macie on Oct 23, 2009

    i really need help with my centipedes i hope this works for me

  5. By W. on Oct 23, 2009

    We have this house centipede problem expecially in our basement. Sometimes, we also found it upstairs. It always creeps us out when we saw it. I don’t trust regular pesticide and I am afraid it will cause harm to kids. I really need EcoSmart to solve this problem.

  6. By Wynnde on Oct 23, 2009

    House centipedes are everywhere in our home. We could benefit from using your products.

  7. By Jane Saybolt on Oct 23, 2009

    Centipedes or roaches – which is worse to find and get rid of? After getting stung once, I now chase centipedes with a hammer, and would like to find something that really worked and is safe to use in the home. I learned a lot reading postings on the EcoSmart website. Thanks.

  8. By manson on Oct 23, 2009

    Not sure if Earwigs can be vanished with this product, but I sure would like to try.

  9. By Tom DeMott on Oct 24, 2009

    I have had a house centipede problem in my home since purchasing it 10 years ago. Pesticides are not an option and with the onset of winer in the northeast, I am looking for a solution before the critters come inside for the season.

  10. By Amanda on Oct 25, 2009

    Yep, we rent the basement out to Centipedes. They’re so crazy looking. One made it upstairs to the second floor a few months ago…had to give him the boot…well the flip flop.

  11. By missy m. on Oct 25, 2009

    yes could you please send me a sample .I was killing those bugs with bleach and it works but. it smells up the house. I also have a cat and now a small baby in the house.

  12. By missy m. on Oct 25, 2009

    Thankyou.

  13. By Robin on Oct 25, 2009

    We have these often and Im scared of them. Im glad to find out that they are harmless and killing off other insects but I still rather them be gone. I cant wait to try this product sicne I have a newborn and 2 other girls and also some inside dogs.

  14. By Kelly on Oct 25, 2009

    We have a centipede problem. Almost every night when we go into our kitchen we find them on the wall, on the floor…sometimes they even make it all the way upstairs into our bedroom or our daughters room. Yuck! Creepy! We have a dog and two children and are interested in using products that are non-toxic. Trying EcoSmart would really help our situation!

  15. By Jim Hart on Oct 25, 2009

    When I hear my wife yell “Jim there is a Hairy Scary” I know to grab something-a shoe, quickly! We have a split level home, without a basement, so the kitchen and living room is where we see them the most. A few have been found in our baby’s room, which concerns me. I have tried to keep the leaves from the outside of the house and sprinkled “poison” around the perimeter of the house but they still find their way inside. We live in the woods and the spider supply is endless. I would love to try EcoSmart! Hopefully that takes care of our centipede issues. THANKS!!

  16. By Robin Powell on Oct 26, 2009

    Please help! I don’t like to use pesticides, so I have had to chase these fast moving centipedes down in my home to smash them with a shoe. They make my flesh crawl! Please let me be one of the EcoSmart Product Testers!

  17. By Mari on Oct 28, 2009

    OMG. I found a centipede in our brand new home today and I had a total freak out. I cried and hyperventilated, my husband ran into the room to see what happened and ended up laughing at me. Needless to say I immediately when to the internet to find a solution… and here I am. I seriously need this stuff. I have a major bug phobia and if this works I will sing it’s praises on the highest mountain top!

  18. By Wayne Green on Nov 4, 2009

    We just built a straw bale house and we have house centipedes usually in the sinks or other drains. We have a gray water system and wonder if they could be entering the home there?. We are being ecologically sensitive
    Your website helped us identify the speedy insects.

  19. By Darryl on Nov 4, 2009

    Have centipedes in my house (basement)could they enter through sump pump pipe? need to test your product..

  20. By Zachary Tamburin on Nov 18, 2009

    Would something like EcoSMART work in apartment complexes? if i were to rid my unit of insects, would it also prevent insects from elsewhere in the building to sneak into my unit? how often would i have to “reapply” EcoSMART to keep bugs like this or spiders out?

  21. By kcmeredith on Dec 6, 2009

    We have a cat and just welcomed our first baby. We can’t use toxic sprays around the house. I need something that will kill these ugly suckers! I’ve been bit in bed and it burned for days!

  22. By steven blahyj on Jun 4, 2010

    We would LOVE to try some EcoSmart our centipedes here are huge and freaking my girlfriend out especialy with a 10 month old baby we cant use pesticides

  23. By Kevin on Jun 16, 2010

    I hate centipedes. Please send me a sample of EcoSMART.

  24. By Lisa Brown on Jul 19, 2010

    Hello EcoSmart, HELP! I have these little centipede critters all over my home. I would love to test this product. Thanks

  25. By Samantha on Aug 11, 2010

    Okay. It is 5am and I am on the internet researching more about these bugs. I woke up and saw one right over my head board where myself and my baby were still sleeping in the bed. I freaked out!! The sucka got away and now I am even more freaked out. I don’t want it to come back. I have seen them before but never right by my bed. I need something quick!!!

  26. By michelle rahrig on Aug 17, 2010

    Please help, these things are driving me nuts!
    I would really appreciate a sample to try.

  27. By james popov on Oct 24, 2010

    ok im freakin, my court yard half concrete half full on bush garden, is full of em,centipedes,spiders and other unwanted creepies my 3 young kidz are not scared to pick anything up crawling or not and these creepy crawlies also find their way in inside…..PLEASE eco smart help me be poison free

  28. By Christine on Oct 25, 2010

    Ive recently moved into my new apartment its an old building now I have a newborn and I got bitten by a centipede and it really hurt! ! We always find them in our bedroom almost every night I haven’t been able to put my baby to sleep in her crib alone for fear that she might get bitten I would really love to try this product it would be such a life saver.

  29. By joanne heiss on Apr 6, 2011

    help i found 2 of these icky creepy speedy things in my apartment.. upstairs..weird what do they fly too// my cat just watch it run across my living room… im concerned about why are they here.. there is carpet in this apartment and im wondering if they are eating something in it.. im creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppppppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddddddddddddddddddd out

  30. By EcoSMART Kait on Apr 8, 2011

    Hi joanne,

    Check for leaking pipes or any moist areas around your house first. Then go looking for other bugs centipedes might be after. Remember, they’re pretty harmless to humans. If you want to get rid of them, try EcoSMART Home Pest Control. Good luck!

  31. By Todd on May 9, 2011

    I’ve been in my house for three years now and like clock-work starting from mid-April to July, I kill 2-3 centipedes nightly. Then the cycle begins again in the Fall. Kids and I get freaked out as they startle you quite easily and also nobody wants to go in the basement.
    Hopefully by using EcoSMART we can enjoy the whole house.

30 Comments | The First 1,000 to Comment (Starting 12/21/2009) Will Become EcoSMART Product Testers! (details)