Nice looking chestnut coloured bug
Location: Kilcowera Station, SW Queensland, Australia
February 3, 2011 5:44 am
This bug has never been seen before here or anywhere else. It’s body is about 4 cm long and is segmented, a bit like a centrepede, it has 15 legs on either side, the 2 at the end are very long. It has nippers at its mouth end like a centrepede too. And beady eyes.
Signature: Toni
House Centipede
Dear Toni,
There is a good reason your creature reminds you of a Centipede. It is a House Centipede.
Thanks Daniel, I would have commented on wtb site but I can’t login even though I have registerd. Thanks for identifying my bug! It’s a great blog, cheers Toni
What is this?
Location: Middle Tennessee
January 13, 2011 3:03 pm
I have never seen a bug like this before, would love some insight as to what the heck it is! I saw this crawling around in a public restroom.
Signature: Courtney
House Centipede
Hi Courtney,
Despite being found in a public restroom, this common and harmless predator is known as a House Centipede.
¶ Posted 14 January 2011 § ‡ ° Media Inquiry about your book
November 17, 2010 2:19 am
Hello, Daniel,
I’m a fan of your site–years ago you helped me identify a house centipede–and I heard about your book while I was at Comic-Con this year. I write for Wired.com’s GeekDad blog, and I wondered if there’s any chance I could get a review copy of your book to write up on the site.
Thanks!
Signature: Jonathan Liu
Hi Jonathan,
How nice to hear we were helpful in the past and that you are still a fan. Thanks for the mention of The Curious World of Bugs already on Wired.com. I will contact my publicist with your request.
Daniel
¶ Posted 17 November 2010 § ‡ ° Tagged: fanmail Millipede from Maldives
Location: Maldives (Lhaviyani Atoll)
November 15, 2010 1:37 pm
Hello bugman,
This millipede was on the wall of my room on Maldivian island last summer.
We moved it out of the room (the reddish color frightened us).
It was about three inches long.
Can you help me?
Thanks
Signature: Saverio
Centipede
Dear Saverio,
This is a Centipede and not a Millipede. Centipedes have one pair of legs per body segment and millipedes have two pairs of legs per body segment. Of the four orders of Centipedes represented on BugGuide, this looks the most like the Soil Centipedes, but we do not believe this is a Soil Centipede because the antennae look different and BugGuide indicates: “Slender eyeless centipedes that have 31 to 177 pairs of legs and antennae with 14 segments. The number of pairs of legs is always odd.“ Perhaps one of our readers will be able to provide some additional information on your Centipede’s identity, otherwise you will have to be content with a general identification to the class Chilopoda.
2
¶ Posted 16 November 2010 § ‡ ° Happy house centipede with fast food
Location: Carroll County Maryland
September 29, 2010 9:50 pm
This site is one of the best on the web! I’ve used it many times for myself, and helped to educate my young daughters (and ok, my wife) on some amazing bugs. Thanks for all your work.
Just wanted to submit this beautiful house centipede enjoying a meal, helping us rid our garage of crickets. (It’s a big one – this is September, so that’s not a baby cricket!) I’ve seen many pics of them on your site, but none having lunch – as proof to the frightened humans out there of their beneficial ways!
I’m no bugman, but I do think these are amazing.
Signature: Barry in Maryland
House Centipede Eats Cricket
Hi Barry,
Thanks so much for the compliment. Though we have countless images of House Centipedes on our website and we always extoll their status as harmless and beneficial hunters, we don’t have many images of them eating. House Centipedes are fast and they are adept hunters, and though they frequently become Unnecessary Carnage, we always advise our readership to allow them to live in the home so that they can hunt cockroaches and other undesirable intruders. Thanks for your submission.
Yes, the centipedes are quick- but I actually get this sense that they are smart. Aside from the neural power it must take for something with 15 pairs of legs to move with that speed, they don’t seem just reactionary.
For a sense of intelligence, I put them right up there in my mind behind praying mantids, jumping spiders, and wolf spiders…just something a little more going on in there! Doesn’t mean my wife doesn’t shriek a little…!
On a side note, I wanted to thank you for making me look smart on identifying some unusual bugs in the past: An Eyed Elater that once landed on my leg up on the bluffs overlooking Harper’s Ferry, WV; a huge Dobsonfly I found on my truck hood last year; and the awesome Wheel (Assassin) Bug a few years back – we had a ton of them outside the house, they must have hatched from a nest in our yard somewhere, as I’ve only ever seen one or two since.
With regard to the Wheel Bug, in the Fall that year we capture a giant and pregnant orb weaver, and also a Wheel Bug and pitted them against each other in a bug container we have. The kids and I watched a fascinating match that was a standoff with the bug as the aggressor (I don’t think we’d have actually allowed carnage), and we eventually released both.
As a bugman, thought you might enjoy that story! I’m not a bug lover, but I do like to learn about and respect nature, and teach my kids to as well. Your site really helps with that.
Barry
Luminescent centripede
Fire Centipede and glowing slime
Luminescent centripede
Location: Fougamou, Gabon 1°13`S 10°36`E
September 19, 2010 5:19 am
Hello,
during a stay in Gabon I took this picture of a centripede. After contact he showed this green fluorescence.
Do you know how it is called?
Kind regards
Signature: Fabian
Fire Centipede
Hi Fabian,
We had never heard of a Centipede that exhibited bioluminescence, so we hit the search engines in an attempt to answer your questions. Surprisingly, the Orkin website had this information: “The so-called ‘fire centipede’ is a name used to refer to any centipede that exhibits bioluminescence. Often nocturnal, bioluminescent centipedes are uncommon and are not associated with any particular habitat. One fire centipede of repute is widely distributed in tropical Asia and Africa. Known to be the Orphaneus brevilabiatus, the said fire centipede would look something akin to a necklace of precious jewels if one were to come across it on a moonless night. A certain chemical substance secreted by the fire centipede produces this bioluminescence. The light appears to come from the secretions of two luminous patches near the ends of each segment of the centipede’s body. The source of the light is beneath the body of the insect and can be made out through the exterior. Another centipede that glows in the dark is the Geophilus electricus. This fire centipede is long and yellowish in color. Other than centipedes, millipedes also glow. Endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California, the species of millipedes designated as Luminodesmus sequoiae is known to emit light at night. From the moment they hatch, these millipedes glow. The source of their light is embedded in the deeper layers of their integument. Their luminescence is continuous, with no voluntary control.“ Our next stop was the Photochemistry and Photobiology page of the Wiley Online Library where the Biochemistry of Centipede Bioluminescense by James Michael Anderson was profiled along with this information: “The centipede (Orphaneous brevilabiatus) secretes a bioluminescent slime. The corrected emission spectrum of this luminescence was found to have maxima at about 510 and 480 nm. The reaction was found to require both a luciferin and luciferase and showed an unusually low pH optimum (4.6). Oxygen was required for the reaction, but oxygen could interact with one of the components allowing for anaerobic light emission.“ In an online article entitled Animals that use Bioluminescence by N. David, the author writes: “Some varieties of centipede, known collectively as fire centipedes, are also bioluminescent.“ A message board on the Wild About Britain website has an interesting dialog that refers to a Centipede that may be in the genus Geophilus. We were now satisfied that you actually encountered a bioluminescent Centipede which dispelled our first thought that somehow your camera captured a stray light source or that the digital photo file was somehow corrupted. We eventually found a photo of Geophilus carpophagus on the Natural England website where its bioluminescence was mentioned, and it does seem to resemble your specimen, but we are reluctant to provide any genus or species identification for you, preferring instead to have a chilopodist (could that be the name given to a centipede expert?) supply that information instead. We hope the more generic common name Fire Centipede will satisfy your curiosity.
Fire Centipede
Dear Daniel,
thank you very much for your quick and extensive answer!
¶ Posted 19 September 2010 § ‡ ° Baby’s New Friend
Location: Southern New Jersey
September 4, 2010 2:28 pm
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my 8 month old son reaching for this fast-crawling bug! My heart nearly jumped out of my chest as I whisked him away. I don’t want to teach him to be scared of bugs, but don’t know what this is! Please help, so if I see another one I will know whether my fear is justified!
Thank you =)
Signature: Scared Mommy
Possibly Stone Centipede
Dear Scared Mommy,
What we can say for certain is that this is a Centipede and it is not a House Centipede which we tell people is a benign predator that will help keep their homes free of cockroaches and spiders. The legs on your Centipede are too short for it to be a House Centipede. The angle of your photograph with its foreshortening makes it difficult to make out details on the Centipede that might aid in our identification. This may be a Stone Centipede in the order Lithobiomorpha which BugGuide describes as having fifteen pairs of legs. That is the number we get when attempting to count on your photograph. Centipedes have fangs and venom, and though the bite is not deadly, it can be painful. The University of Kentucky Entomology website has a Centipede page with some good information, and a photo of a Stone Centipede. There is also a really nice page on the Stone Centipede on the Backyard Arthropod Project Blog about creatures from Michigan, or more specifically “A Field Guide to the North Side of Old Mill Hill, Atlantic Mine, MI.” We doubt the Stone Centipede would have bitten your son, but in the event he was bitten, there would be little more than a local reaction.
Thank you so much for your thorough response and information! Although I didn’t get a better photo of our centipede, I think your descriptions you sent seem to match what we saw. I am happy to know that the bite is not deadly, but will still try to find better playmates for our baby!
¶ Posted 05 September 2010 § ‡ ° Long and Lean NOT every young girls dream!
Location: Hamlet, North Carolina
August 8, 2010 11:35 pm
Found this thing slithering along a base board in my son’ bedroom. What is it??
Thank You
House Centipede Carnage
While the lowly House Centipede may appear frightening, and it may not fulfill many expectations in the dreaminess department, it is nonetheless a beneficial predator. Tolerating its presence may help to prevent the proliferation of every homemaker’s nightmare, an infestation of Cockroaches. House Centipedes are harmless nocturnal predators that prey upon spiders and other unwanted insects and arthropods that enter the home and become a nuisance or otherwise cause harm or damage. We would encourage you to be tolerant the next time you see a House Centipede scurrying around indoors.
Thank you for identifying him for us. Had I seen it, I would have just removed him outside. My son (who killed it) has autism and he has a great fear of unknown bugs. I’ve tried to teach him to trap the bug and then show it to me, but he still kills them. 
I will be sure to let him know the bug is fine and explain to him their importance as well as their significance in the meaning of homeostasis. Again, thank you for your quick reply. You have just prevented any future demise to the house centipede. 
5
¶ Posted 09 August 2010 § ‡ ° 
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