Unidentified Bugs In My House

Hi, I have had this problem with a strange bug in my house. I have taken pictures below. It has tons of legs with super long antennae, is 2 to 2.5 inches long, and runs really fast. It likes damp places and crevices along the wall. Here are the pics:

Thanks Amy! I had looked at photos from the net after I did a search for "pests", but the centipedes looked different in those photos. But I just did a search for centipede, and you're right. That's what it is.

"Julie P." wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Fifteen or so years ago in another house in another city, we had a truckload of bulk mulch delivered for our flower and landscape beds. Our house was literally surrounded with beds which ran right up to the foundation.

About a week after the mulch had all been spread on the beds, the floors of our house were covered with literally thousands of centipedes. Ugh!

It took an exterminator several visits to eradicate them, both inside and outside. We were still finding dead ones in crevices for years.

wow. maybe you got a delivery of bad mulch? I just know they give me the creeps. I just looked at about 20 websites about them. I tend to be up at night, so I see them a lot, since they are nocturnal. They're also hard to catch, so I have a can of insecticide near me most of the time.

"Julie P." wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Without a doubt, the mulch was infested with live centipedes and eggs.

I hope they paid for the extermination service then!

"Julie P." wrote in news:17SdncDc1_8NGUvdRVn- snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

I didn't win on that one either. The company said I should have specified "sterilized" mulch as insurance against any critters. Hell, I didn't even know there was sterlized mulch at the time. I'll never make that mistake again!

hmmm. I'm wondering if that would hold up in court. Seems like knowingly delivering non-sterilized mulch to a place close to where a home is is asking for trouble. IOW, the company should have known better, not expected the homeowner to.

Maybe your homeowner's insurance?

Well, I just killed another one. They are fast, but they don't run too far. Once it thought it was hiding, I just moved the box out of the way and sprayed insecticide. That had the effect of blasting it out its hiding place. Then you spray it again, and it staggers for a few minutes before beginning to writhe in pain. Terrible sight, but I am terrified they are going to crawl on my bed when I go to sleep, especially since it is on the floor (no frame of boxspring). Fortunately, it seems they prefer floors, and baseboards for the most part, and sometimes walls. This whole incident reminds me when I cuaght scabies and bedbugs in 1998 (wasn't my fault). Now that was a nightmare, and they do attack you on your bed! I still have a scar to show for it.

"Julie P." wrote in news:bredneanO5afE0vdRVn snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Yes, you'd think they'd know better.

I didn't pursue it. Perhaps I should have.

Luckily, at the time, it was a two story house and the bedrooms were on the second floor. They never made it up there, but it gave me the creeps just the same. About half the floor area on the first floor was covered in cream colored carpeting, the remainder in tile. The first morning I noticed the centipedes, I was just coming downstairs and I could see the carpet covered with the damned things, I'd guess at least 8-10 per square foot. I never set foot down there again without slippers until several months later when they were all gone. Ugh! Disgusting.

You're right that they do seem to prefer baseboards and crevices and the low flat surfaces like floors. I never saw one climb anything, and only a couple on the carpeted stairs.

Well, good luck eradicating them. It's certainly not fun.

Just a thought about the insects. They eat other insects and are generally not harmful to people. Unless there are unusual numbers of them, I don't see any need to exterminate them. They are living on something and keeping other insect populations in check. Pesticides have a lot of potential toxicity for people and pets. They are a first cousin to nerve agents, so they should be used with great caution. That can of Raid may be doing far more harm than getting an occasional glimpse of a creepy insect. The other thing you might worry about is that you have damp places. If you addressed that issue the insects might not be able to thrive.

The Company you purchased it from actually said there was such a thing as sterilized mulch? Wow I bet it costs out the nose. That is a new one on me. Mulch lays on the ground and causes a moisture problem which attracts centipedes, millipedes, sow bugs, pill bugs, and a host of other insects including Termites. It doesn't attract Termites they simply find it and start eating on it then they can make their way into your house from there.

I was watching an exterminator working in an apartment building and he had a large can with a pump strapped to his back and a handheld sprayer. He walked down the corridor and along the floor at the wall he would spray a couple of inches as he walked, then a long space, and then spray again another couple of inches. So, in your house you can do the same thing with a can of Raid Ant and Roach spray. The insects walk through it and are forever changed. They may walk on for a few more feet, but then are affected by this and die. It should last a couple of months. Spray also in cabinets, especially under sinks where the pipes come out of the walls. You don't have to spray heavy, just enough to leave a little residue. I recall one time I sprayed some into a space in a wall where a drain pipe came out of the wall in an undersink cabinet and a few days later it smelled like an animal had died in the wall. After a couple of days the smell faded away. It is possible that a mouse, or whatever, made contact with the sprayed surface and died from the contact. Good riddance...

You could also use the Raid Ant and Roach spray in a square around your bed. Insects have to walk through it to get to your bed and they won't last long after that. I have found several insects around the bed dead after spraying like this, especially boxelder bugs. Of course, if you have pets in the house, it isn't wise to use this stuff.

A minor quibble: centipedes are arthropods not insects. But I do agree with your sentiment about live and let live when possible which is probably why I have so many skinks, also great insect eaters, around my place. Besides, I think that centipedes are a lot better at eating insects than any insect. One thing though, some of them are quite capable of delivering a painful bite to human flesh with those wicked mandibles so everyone might want to think twice before making friendly with one.

Yes, point taken with the arthropod issue. Having a degree in zoology, I should have made that point myself instead of perpetuating the error. Here is a link to an excellent article dealing with house centipedes that addresses the OP's concerns.

I have skinks, lizards, geckos, snakes, toads, and who knows what else. I love them all for their insect-eating ways!

Actually, I have seen two on my radiators, one on a third floor door (a baby one), one on a third floor bedroom wall, a baby on a first floor wall, and one in a crevice on a first floor door. And at least two have crawled on my computer desk, one near my keyboard!!

And another time a daddy long legs spider decided to prance across my keyboard, *as* I was using it!

thanks for your advice! the problem is I am seeing about one a day, along with beetles, wasps, spiders, moths, etc. The centipedes often come near my computer, since I am up late at night into the morning. I live in an old house, built in the 1800's. Needs lots of work. Lots of holes where the pipes come up from the basement, radiators leak a little in the winter, basement is damp, but not wet. I am a renter. Plus there are lots of vines and high bushes all along the house. My landlord, who lives next door though, does have lots of cats. Maybe they will take care of these pests. :)

thanks. This will definitely help conserve the insecticide.

The insects walk through it and are

Even if it has dried up? It dries in just a few minutes.

It should last a couple of months. Spray also in

ok. will do. one problem is I do have tons of boxes lining all the walls, which creates lots of hiding spaces for them. but i will try.

I recall

agreed. one time I blasted a hole in the floor leading to the basement with the spray, and all of a sudden a centipede came running out! The other time, I walked in the basement trying to string some cable wiring, and had to squeeze myself between a pallet and the oil tank (basement is very cluttered). When I came upstairs, I had 5-6 fleas on me!!