Big ol’ centipede?
I found this big critter right outside my front door this morning. I found your site a short time later – and think it just an Austin Texas sized multi-colored centipede. I saw a few really good pictures on similar ones on your site, but didn’t see many that provided a good indicator of the overall size, so I’ve attached a picture of it on a one dollar bill with bricks in background. Please let me know if I did a bad thing by putting it back in the flower bed. Thanks,
Steve W
Hi Steve,
You really know how to “do the right thing” and releasing your gorgeous Giant Red Headed Centipede, Scolopendra heros, is an excellent example. It is true that centipedes are venomous, and the bite of the Giant Red Headed Centipede is said to be quite painful, but the species is a valuable predator in the ecosystem that will rid your garden of many unwanted creatures. Centipedes are not aggressive and will not bit a human unles mishandled or otherwise provoked.
Edibility Update: (05/08/2008)
Edibility update: big centipedes!
Hi Daniel,
Sometime this year I’m going to finally dine on one of these large centipedes. They’re traditionally consumed in…. in….. well darn it, of all the edible insects/arachnids/other arthropods I’ve learned about, I can’t recall exactly where it’s eaten. I’ll hazard Peru. More importanly, David George Gordon’s Eat-A-Bug Cookbook features a recipe, so that makes it totally legit. All the best,
Dave
www.slshrimp.com
Centipede?
Hello,
I was recently at a home at Lake Travis 30 minutes north of Austin, Texas, when I came across this awesome insect. I have never seen anything like this before especially out in the open. I was wondering what you call this type of insect, if it was native to central Texas, and it if is harmful. Thanks,
Michael
Hi Michael,
First off, Centipedes are not insects as they have more than 6 legs. That is just the most obvious difference. Your centipede is a Giant Red Headed Centipede, Scolopendra heros. Though your photo shows the classic color variation of this species, there are many other color forms depicted on BugGuide. Like other centipedes, the Giant Red Headed Centipede does have a venomous bite, and the bite is reported to be quite painful. That said, it is not an aggressive species, unless you are small enough to be food. Food can consist of small vertibrates including reptiles, amphibians and rodents. We do not consider this to be a harmful species, but it is a formidible predator that will bite a person who disturbs it.
2nd try, I forgot to attach
OK, I did not kill it, I would never kill a bug What is this guy? I just moved across country and know nothing of bugs here. He was big.. he was cool. I let him go in the yard after his photo shoot hehe. Is he dangerous to my kids/pets? TY, I love you guys and use you more then you know!
Robin Lewis
Hi Robin,
Because of the frequency of queries, and because of the nearly worldwide distribution, we always keep a photo of a harmless House Centipede on our homepage. Actually, more than harmless, they are beneficial predators. Thanks for doing a good deed and releasing it.
Peruvian centipede
Hi!
Can you tell me what the name of this centipede is? I found in on a night hike in Manu Biosphere Reserve,
Peru. Thanks,
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
We started to research the Tropical Centipede genus Scolopendra, and we found a Wikipedia entry (with no photograph) of Scolopendra gigantea, the Peruvian Giant Yellowleg Centipede, or Amazonian Giant Centipede. It can reach 30 centimeters in length. Later photographs we found online on Damn Interesting do not really resemble your specimen. You will have to be happy with just the genus name Scolopendra. Interestingly, it looks very much like the Chinese Red Head, Scolopendra mutilans pictured on Golden Phoenix. At any rate, your photo is one of the most beautiful Tropical Centipedes we have ever seen, and perhaps some reader will provide us with a more exact identification.
African Assassins
Hiya from Mossel Bay, South Africa. I thought you might be interested in these assassin bug nymphs (Ectrichodia crux) feeding on a millipede. It looks so organised! Kind regards
Sally
Hi Sally,
Over the years, we have received a few truly memorable Food Chain images, and this is one of the best. Thanks so much for sending us your image of a “pack” of immature Assassin Bugs feeding on a Millipede. More research led us to a photo of an adult Ectrichodia crux, and the common name Millipede Assassin Bug. We promptly located another photo of an adult. We will contact Rowland Shelley, who identified all of our Millipedes, to see if he knows the Millipede species. Here is his response: “The milliped could be one of several things, but I’d say it’s a representative of the family Spirostreptidae, order Spirostreptida. Best I can do. Rowland”
What is this bug?
Can you help me. It just crawled from under my couch. I’m in NYC. Thank You.
This is a House Centipede and it is high time we replace the image of a House Centipede on our homepage and your image will do nicely. House Centipedes are harmless, or more accurately beneficial. Chances are this specimen has been feeding on cockroaches, bed bugs and other undesireable roommates in your apartment.
Bugs?
Hi,
I went hiking in feather falls near oraville in northern California on Sunday October 30th, 2007. I came upon a log cut off with tons of pinkesh red insects in a cluster on them. It was damp and starting to get dark outside at the time I found them. Got any idea of what they might be? Thanks,
Shawn J. Ledet
Hi Shawn,
This is a cluster of Millipedes. When we searched BugGuide for a species, we found images of Brachycybe lecontii with the description: “One frequently finds clusters with several sizes and age-classes under bark on decaying logs & stumps” that is credited to Dr. Rowland Shelley. The submissions to BugGuide came from Louisiana, Georgia and Tennessee, not the Pacific Northwest, so we did more research. There is reference on BugGuide that the species is covered in books on the Pacific Northwest.
Update: (01/20/2008) Millipede IDs
Here are ids. for the millipedes on the millipede page. Most are quite old; don’t people submit new ones more often than this? 10/30/07 . Cluster from Calif. They are probably Brachycybe rosea Murray (order Platydesmida: family Andrognathidae).
Rowland Shelley
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Science
Pictures for You of Red-Headed Centipede and Hummingbird Moth
Hi Bugman! I love your site and consult it regularly since I moved to the Hill Country of Texas. I wanted to send you a couple of pictures I’ve taken of the subject bugs. The centipede was on the outside of my house just after I moved to Wimberely, Texas. It was about six inches long. The hummingbird moth was taken at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in South Austin this spring. I hope you enjoy them! Thank you for your wonderful site! Gratefully,
Heather Putnam
Hi Heather,
The photo you sent us of the Red Headed Centipede is especially nice.
millipedes
Trying to id this millipede from pa in the poconos.
This is a Flatbacked Millipede in the order Polydesmida. That is the best we can provide at the moment.
Update: (01/20/2008) Millipede IDs
Here are ids. for the millipedes on the millipede page. Most are quite old; don’t people submit new ones more often than this? (07/03/2007) PA. Poconos. Sigmoria (Rudiloria) trimaculata trimaculata (Wood) (Polydesmida: Xystodesmidae)
Rowland Shelley
North Carolina State Museum of Natural Science
What kind of bug is this?
I have been seeing alot of bugs of this kind in my house. They come out at night time and crawl on walls around the same time at night. I want to get rid of them. Can you give me some info about them and also how to get rid of these critters? Thank you.
Phil
Hi PHil,
We do not recommend ridding your home of House Centipedes. They are harmless predators that will eat more destructive and harmful arthropods in your home.
cannibal centipede found this centipede feast a few nights ago here on mt. washington. i didn’t know they ate each other, but their food supply may be low (from the lack of rain this year, i’m supposing). this spring i haven’t been seeing many arthropods other than centipedes and a few types of spiders. yours,
phil
Hi Phil,
Are we neighbors in Mt Washington, Los Angeles??? We have been wanting to change the image of the House Centipede on our homepage, but have been waiting for an awesome image. Thanks so much for providing one. House Centipedes will obviously eat one another as well as including spiders insects in their diets.
"Welcome to Hawaii "guest
Aloha!
Two years ago, my family moved to Oahu. Shortly after arriving in our new home, we were surprised by a LARGE centipede. My daughters had never seen one before. I was upstairs when my 6 year old screamed that there was a "big bug" crawling on the floor. I told her it was probably a roach–since they are in OVER abundance here. She said, "NO! It has a LOT of LEGS!!" My first thought was a millipede. I came to investigate and was shocked! I have never seen one so big. I know they can be bigger, but this was big enough. We all climbed on the couch and I screamed for my husband to come catch it. He caught it after some effort. It seems they are very fast too. After taking some pictures, we kept it overnight and fed it 2 crickets and a roach. It was a voracious eater! It caught ALL THREE insects in its legs and just "conveyor belted" them to its jaws so it could chew off their heads. The next morning, all that was left was a wing and a leg. We then released it into a storm drain. Despite its size, I would rather have a 7 inch centipede outside eating roaches instead of a gooey memory on the bottom of my shoe. The centipede is in a fish bowl and that is my hand holding it. It was the only way we could get size perspective without getting bitten or it running off.
Dawn
Hi Dawn,
Thank you so much for writing in with your thrilling account of an encounter with a Tropical Centipede.
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