Giant Redheaded Centipede
A few weekends ago my husband and I were sitting on our couch in our apartment in Austin, TX when this brightly-colored lad (or lass) nonchalantly sauntered past my foot and went under the coffee table. I didn’t scream, but I must have had a look of terror in my eyes as I got up and backed away because my husband high-tailed it off the couch, too, and he hadn’t even seen it! We herded the beast out the front door, then my husband sort-of picked it up with a paper towel and deposited it as far away from our apartment as he could before it started wriggling out of his grasp. Unfortunately, in the process we accidentally divested it of one of its enlarged back legs (that look like stingers) – we found it under the coffee table later – but I’m guessing he/she/it will be fine nevertheless. We didn’t get a chance to measure it, but I would say it was approximately 7 inches long. We identified it from another website as a giant redheaded centipede, Class: Chilopoda, Order: Scolopendromorpha, Family: Scolopendridae, Genus and species: Scolopendra heros (Girard). Feel free to use this picture and/or e-mail if you would like to. Thanks for having such an interesting and informative website!
Sincerely,
Erica Sweeney
Hi Erica,
Your photo is awesome and we are glad to post it. About all we can add is the Giant Redheaded Centipede will probably regenerate its lost appendage, at least partially.
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Posted 24 August 2006
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BigPede with Pinchers??
Hello BugMan….
What is this?? He/she/it fell on a woman during a training class. We were a little surprised someone had finally screamed out loud but we soon found out it was not because of the material being presented. I was able to identify the Velvet Ant and Cicada Killer because of your site and am grateful for all the wonderful pictures! I am currently about and hour and a half outside of Oklahoma City and have been quite fascinated with the "larger than life" insects around here. I am from Oregon and we don’t see insect of this magnitude very often! Thank you in advance!
~S
Ps This bug was not killed, it was however, chilled to be transported for a collection… I do not what the future holds for this Pede.
Hi S,
We have heard that these centipedes in the genus Scolopendra from Oklahoma can grow to 8 inches long. They have venom and will bite.
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Posted 13 July 2006
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Centipede?
I am from Oklahoma and I have attached a picture of a bug that I found in my bathroom this morning. Not a nice thing to wake up to. I’m assuming it is a centipede. Are they poisonous? It’s body is black and legs an orange/yellow and its head is a dark orange. Its back pinchers are black with orange tips. It is the ugliest thing I have ever seen. I’m guessing it is about 4 inches long (I’m not going to get too close.) Please let me know about this thing.
Thanks,
Katrina Wilson
Hi Katrina,
Centipedes are poisonous, and they will bite. The bite is painful, but not dangerous. Some tropical species have more potent venom. We have read that the Oklahoma Centipedes grow to 8 inches. Your Centipede is in the Order Scolopendromorpha, but we do not know the species.
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Posted 11 July 2006
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bug to identify
Bugman,
Our cats and I killed two of these bugs last year in August. I found this smaller version in our central Iowa home today. Can you tell me what kind of bug this is? Thanks for your time and expertise,
Curious Homeowner
Hi Curious,
Many people are curious about House Centipedes, and they are probably our most frequent query subject. Your photo is quite beautiful.
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Posted 04 June 2006
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what in the world is this bug?
Hi Bugman,
I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in a basement appartment of a small but clean house. We see many of these creepy creatures scurrying around the place all the time. I finally got a photo oppurtunity and snapped on while it was crawling on the wall. This one is by far the biggest one I’ve seen. It messures about 5cm, and it was having a very hard time climbing the wall… maybe because he/she was overweight. Thanks
Dave
Hi Dave,
This is a harmless House Centipede.
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Posted 09 May 2006
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What the heck is this?
I live in Denver, Colorado. I’ve seen a couple of these in the basement. Fast and about 1 inch long.
Casey
Hi Casey,
One of our commonest query subjects is the House Centipede.
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Posted 04 April 2006
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House Centipede
Found this today in our hallway…thought you might enjoy this!
Brian Dyjak
Base Multimedia Center
McGuire AFB, NJ
Thanks Brian,
We always like new images of House Centipedes to post on our homepage.
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Posted 23 March 2006
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Another house centipede
This picture is a really up close and personal picture of a house centipede which at this very moment seems to be stalking a fly that is on the wall not far from it. I got this picture a few minutes ago, and figured you might like another to add to your collection. I send it to you in unaltered full 2592×1944x24bit color. The picture makes him look significantly larger than he is, he is in fact about an inch long, not counting legs or antennae. Matthew
St Louis, MO
Hi Matthew,
Since we always keep a House Centipede image on our homepage, your excellent photo will replace the one that has been there for several weeks. The little guy appearing larger than reality is no problem since our frightened readers are constantly exaggerating the size of these helpful creatures.
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Posted 18 March 2006
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Bug with lots of legs
We found this on the wall of our apartment. It moved quite fast. I’ve never seen anything with this many legs, apart from centipedes and millipedes, and am really curious to know what this is!
Best regards,
Thomas
Hi Thomas,
This is a House Centipede and it is harmless. It is the subject of numerous letters to our site and we are happy to have a new image for our homepage.
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Posted 10 March 2006
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ummm.what exactly is this thing? it was hanging out in our bathroom at my dorm suite.
So nice that even though you are living away from home, the House Centipede is living with you.
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Posted 10 February 2006
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centipede?
Hello Bugman -
I found this cute little guy in some leaf litter in oak/madrone forest in Oakland, CA. Any idea what she/he is? thanks,
Your Fan,
Allison
Hi Allison,
We have found similar Centipedes in our Mt. Washington garden. They are not very long, about two inches, and very thin. They are also very agile and delicate looking. Sadly, we have never properly identified them. Now that you have sent in a photo, we will try to do additional research.
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Posted 02 January 2006
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what’s this bug?
Hi bugman,
I was casually eating my cocopops and bran-flake breakfast in my apartment this morning, when I noticed this strange insect hanging from the underside of my table. The coin is a 20 Sen MYR coin, about 1 inch in diameter. The small white ‘cocoon’ was oval shape with a hole in each end, and the worm-like creature would coninuously poke its head out and crawl along a tiny distance each time. I assume it’s the larvae of some insect, but have no idea what. If you can identify it, I’d be highly grateful.
Best regards,
Chris
Sarawak, Malaysia
Ps, I thought you may appreciate a photo of what looks very similar to a house centipede, but was actually observed in a remote cave in the interior of Borneo, which if I’m not mistaken would make it a "Thereupoda decipiens" aka a Long-legged Centipede. All photos are my own, so do with them as you please.
Hi Chris,
Your mystery cocoon is a Case Bearing Moth Larva. These are benign creatures that feed on pet hair. We love the Long Legged Centipede photo.
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Posted 27 December 2005
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