rss What is this caterpillar? Does it eat wood?
January 10, 2010
We need to know what this is and if it eats wood because they are appearing all over our home. It is 1 inch long and only about 1/8 inch wide.
Debbie Roberts
Honolulu, Hawaii
Millipede
Hi Debbie,
This is a Millipede, not a caterpillar. They eat decomposing matter and will not harm wood. The Star Bulletin Hawaii News website has an online article on Millipedes in Hawaii.
Thanks for the quick response!!! 
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!
Striped, Gangly, 30-legged bug!
November 6, 2009
My friend Brandon sent me the photo along with this message: “I was pouring myself a soda next to the kitchen sink, when I turned around and spotted this on the wall. Not what you want to see behind you after you turn the lights on.”
Its body is about 3cm long, and including the legs it’s about 10cm long. I became very curious after seeing the photo, I just had to submit it!
Laura L. W., Roseville, CA
Lake of the Pines, Auburn, CA
House Centipede
Hi Laura,
What Brandon has labeled the Bug of Doom is a harmless, beneficial House Centipede. This nocturnal predator is not known to bite people, will run away when the lights are snapped on, and will eat cockroaches and other undesirable household intruders if left alone to forage.
redhead centipede
October 12, 2009
hi we live in arkansas and we found this centipede i have read some other post on here and now it has a name what i was wondering is this giant redheaded centipede a native of arkansas? all the other post that ive read the centipede are in texas
troy
van buren,arkansas
Red Headed Centipede
Hi Troy,
BugGuide reports sightings of the Red HEaded Centipede in Arkansas. Arkansas is contiguous with Texas. Wildlife does not recognize state or international borders. We would deduce that Red Headed Centipedes naturally range in Arkansas.
Red Headed Centipede
Huge Bug Killed Mouse, what is it?
September 30, 2009
We found this when we were checking our mouse traps yesterday. As you will notice, it is about the same length of the mouse and its thorax (don’t no if I am using this correctly, but the width of its body not including the legs) was as wide as a pencil. The mouse trap is still set, but the mouse is dead, presumably at the hands of the creature seen next to it, therefore, it is possibly posionous as well. Can you help us figure out what this is, and is it dangerous. P.S. Our house has many small centipide looking things, at the absolute biggest they are 2 inches, but very narrow, could this just be a mutated version of those?
Person who lives in the basement with this thing
Basement
House Centipede eats Mouse
Dear Person who lives in the basement,
WE are enthralled with your image of a House Centipede with a mouse. Though we have not heard of House Centipedes preying upon small mammals, your photo would indicate that this is a possibility. House Centipedes do have venom, but they are not dangerous to humans.
Thank You
August 22, 2009
Your website is the greatest! I am pretty phobic about bugs, but am trying to overcome it (and avoid Needless Carnage). I awoke earlier tonight to the sight of a extremely large specimen of house centipede on the ceiling directly over my bed. I had seen this guy once before in my bedroom, and really didn’t want to have to deal with disposing of him–yuck. Thanks to your website, I’ve learned that he is actually beneficial, so I’m going to stop freaking out and just leave him be for the time being (unless he ends up in bed with me!). I also wanted to share this entomology link on house centipedes with you: http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/house-centipedes. I particularly enjoyed the quote from a 1902 source, which is both amusing and still accurate today!
Casey
Found your site; saved a bug!
July 27, 2009
Dear WTB,
Today I had the wonderful experience of settling down comfortably at my computer…and promptly having a house centipede fall on me from my ceiling.
I’ve never seen one of these little guys, and as fond as I am of bugs (I tend to release them on my patio if they seem intimidating, or if my cat tries to eat them and I spot them before he can), I had a bit of a panic trying to figure out what it was. I only counted 10 legs (poor little guy seemed to have lost a few, according to descriptions of it having 15) and it didn’t seem too recognizable compared to anything else I’d seen.
Your website helped me figure out what it was, and what good it does in my household. I released it a bit aways from where I like to relax so it wouldn’t bother me, and it could hopefully go around eating pests I don’t like in my house. I’m so glad that I didn’t squish it out of initial fear; it didn’t do me any harm, no more than a little shock, and it turns out that it’s like a little buddy keeping things that bite away. But ,browsing through your site and finding it, did me a world of good. It’s always comforting to know what you have isn’t unusual or harmful, and whether or not you should be releasing it far away or just letting it mosey along on its own business.
I’ve been browsing your site and I love all the good you’re doing by spreading knowledge about insects and encouraging people not to kill them on sight. Hopefully I’ll find an interesting bug to take a picture of for one of your posts!
Many thanks for helping me identify my new housemate,
~Jenny~
Possible plot for a horror movie? I think not.
July 24, 2009
It was like a horror movie gone wrong. Margaret, our volunteer receptionist, came into my office to give me a postage stamp she’d saved for my Mum. At 80, Margaret has a few mobility problems and she’s really not walking too well at the moment. As she turned slowly to go back out to reception, she yelled, “What’s that? Oh my god, kill it, kill it!”
I turned and saw she was looking at the floor. I jumped up, expecting to see some monster ready to attack. At the same time, my survival instinct kicked in and I prepared myself to push Margaret out of the way and escape if I had to – compassion only goes so far, you know.
And then I saw it – the monster. In Margaret’s eyes it was so fat it looked pregnant. It was hideous, as far as she was concerned, and it had to die or it would kill us.
No, I told her, I wasn’t going to kill it. I had an empty plastic cup on my desk so I used that to scoop it up, though I did have to chase it to get it.
“Don’t let it come near me!” screamed Margaret.
With my head held high, hero fashion, I took my captive out to the scrubby area near the old warehouse along the street and set it free to live another day, thinking that if it wanted to, it would find its way into the warehouse soon enough.
Such are the everyday dramas at the Oswego NY Branch of the American Red Cross.
Susan, house centipede rescuer
Dear Susan,
Thanks so much for sending us your gripping account of an Unnecessary Carnage intervention.
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