I. D. this crazy looking bug, please.
July 13, 2010
Dear bugman: I think I’ve seen this bug before back in a summer night of 1992 in Japan. To my surprise, I saw this one at my dad’s house in Roseburg, Oregon. It was not easy to catch!!! With 30 legs it was very quick and could turn and move like Micheal Jordan!
Thank you, Dr. Lee Willis DDS
Southern OREGON
House Centipede
Dear Dr. Willis,
This common House Centipede is frequently found in the home where it startles residents. House Centipedes are harmless nocturnal predators that will help keep the home clear of cockroaches and other undesirable creatures.
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¶ Posted 14 July 2010 § ‡ ° Giant Texas Red-Headed Centipede
July 9, 2010
Just thought you would enjoy this pic. This is an older picture (2008 or so), shot by my ex-boyfriend, from a house we lived in that was never sprayed with chemical insecticides. We didn’t believe in them, and luckily neither did our landlady, so we had a menagerie of critters. No real bug problems though–they left us alone and stayed outside for the most part. We had a family of these under the house as well as a family of tarantulas. I had never heard of them prior to seeing this one, and we originally thought it was a snake. Impressive guy! From what I hear they hurt like hell though if they walk across you. We never got much closer than this. Wish I could find another property manager that would leave the land alone. Most people would think I was crazy, but it was fun to have so much rare wildlife right in our back yard.
Laura
Austin, Texas
Giant Red Headed Centipede
Hi Laura,
Thanks for sending us your photo of a Giant Red Headed Centipede, Scolopendra heros, a magnificent creature. Most of our reports are from Texas and Oklahoma.
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¶ Posted 09 July 2010 § ‡ ° Interested to know what the heck this is.
June 29, 2010
The past couple of months something has been biting me and my family members. I haven’t ever seen it though. I was thinking it might have been a spider of some kind but i think this is the culprit. I saw him dart across my floor and i gave chase. i tried to save the little guy but my girlfriend freaked out and killed it. I still managed to get some pics of it. I would really like to know what this is, Thank you!
p.s. its a little less than an inch long and maybe 2 to 3 millimeters wide.
Chuck
Southern Virginia, great dismal swamp area
House Centipede
Hi Chuck,
Thank you for writing in to inquire about this unfortunate harmless House Centipede, a frequent victim of Unnecessary Carnage. Few examples of Unnecessary Carnage sadden us more that that of the beneficial predatory House Centipede. Though it is too late to benefit the individual in your tragic photograph, perhaps future House Centipedes will be spared through education. House Centipedes are generally nocturnal hunters that will prey upon cockroaches and other undesirable household intruders. House Centipedes should be considered as household visitors despite their startling appearance.
23
Stripey Bug found in Private Forrest
June 9, 2010
Found this bug walking through my room, thought it was brought in from firewood from our private forest. It was fairly slow, even when running.
Nathan
Drouin, Victoria, Australia
House Centipede
Hi Nathan,
This is a harmless House Centipede. It appears to be Allothereua maculata, a species found in Asia and Australia, and you can compare your specimen to the image on the Natural History Museum of London website. The species is different from our common North American species, Scutigera coleoptrata, which though it is found in many places throughout the world, it is believed to have originated in the Mediterranean area, according to BugGuide. Since we know we will be out of the office from June 15 through June 22, we are setting your letter and photo to post live during our absence so our readership can get daily updates in our absence.
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High-Def Photo of House Centipede
June 2, 2010
Hello! I love your website, and am also an amateur photographer. A lovely house centipede was resting in my basement office and was patient enough with me to let me test out the macro features on my camera. I hope to get a chance to photograph some more interesting bugs sometime soon!
(also, I’m sorry if I sent multiple emails. I was having issues with the form.)
Katy
Toledo, OH
House Centipede
Hi Katy,
YOur House Centipede photo is quite nice. We look forward to getting additional images from you in the future.
¶ Posted 03 June 2010 § ‡ ° Nothing I’ve Seen Before
May 18, 2010
Hello,
This bug was found scurrying across the floor of my workplace in Columbus, Ohio. I found it yesterday (May 16th) around midnight on a damp, cloudy/rainy day. Our store is next to the interstate, in an industrial part of town.
Shawn
Midwest – Ohio
House Centipede
Hi Shawn,
The House Centipede is a common nocturnal household predator that is found throughout North America as well as in many other parts of the world. House Centipedes are harmless.
¶ Posted 18 May 2010 § ‡ ° No clue what this is, found at school computer lab, should i be scared?
February 21, 2010
Hi my friend and I saw this bug at the computer lab at our school crawling up on the wall, we have no clue what it is. It looked black and gray as you can tell it has a lot of legs. Please help! We go to college on a mountain and we swear they have some undiscovered species of insects roaming around.
Sam
Brentwood California
House Centipede
Hi Sam,
The House Centipede is not only harmless, it is actually beneficial since it will eat potentially problematic household intruders.
¶ Posted 21 February 2010 § ‡ ° Most Horrific Thing I’ve Ever Seen
November 18, 2009
Hello!
My roommates and I have been finding these disgusting looking bugs around our house. They are in all rooms and have been found on the floor, walls, and ceililng. Aside from their gross appearance (if it’s not obvious by now, we are a bunch of girls – literally), when they die, all their legs seem to pop off. This makes sense when we smash them, but they’ve also died because we sprayed for them and as they crawl along, slowly dying, the legs seemed to disconnect. Perhaps I should mention they have more legs then I thought possible. They seem to go all around their body. The one in the picture is the biggest we’ve seen so far, it is about two inches in length. The average is 1-1 1/2 inches. Please help!
Horrified in the Heartland
Central Illinois
House Centipede
Dear Horrified,
If you are not seeing any cockroaches, it is probably because these beneficial and harmless House Centipedes are feeding upon them at night. Should you succeed in eliminating all the House Centipedes, you may find that the Cockroaches and Bedbugs and Silverfish will proliferate. Our advice is to learn to live in harmony with the House Centipedes and allow them to keep your home pest free.
Thanks Daniel! It would be nice if the “good” bugs would clearly identify themselves and not look so scary. Perhaps I will try and convey that to them next time I see one. Thanks again!
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¶ Posted 18 November 2009 § ‡ ° 
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