House centipedes don’t pose a direct threat to humans; they may even help out by doing a little housekeeping for you. Still, a centipede infestation is not exactly a sign of a well-kept property, and besides, many of us think they’re gross. But how exactly can you tell when the multi-legged monsters have taken over your home?
The most obvious sign of house centipede infestation is spotting centipedes around your home. Centipede hideouts or entry points, centipede prey, and centipede babies can also point to a home invasion. Although rarer, centipedes may also bite humans, leaving tell-tale marks.
Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail so that you can spot any signs early and take quick action if you’d like to get rid of potential pests. Along the way, we’ll learn some fun facts about the little critters and gain a better understanding of why you may want to oust them from your property.
1. Centipedes in Your Home
It may seem obvious, but the clearest sign of an infestation is finding centipedes in your home. The more centipedes you see, the more advanced the degree of the infestation, so catching an infestation early can save you trouble. However, this is a little harder than it sounds.
To begin with, it is not exactly easy to pick a centipede out of a myriapod lineup. Although centipedes are widespread and can be found in most parts of the world; they are only one of nearly 13,000 individual species of many-legged insects and most people wouldn’t be able to tell their chilopods from their diplopods.
Moreover, being a lousy entomologist is not your only disadvantage when it comes to spotting the critters. These guys are fast and nocturnal. They do not leave trails and like to hide out in damp, dark spaces, like bathrooms and basements, or in rotting wood or leaf litter, where its more challenging to spot them.
They’re not interested in you, your food, furniture, or clothes, so they won’t leave much evidence lying around, even when they’ve comfortably settled in. Unlike other pests, there won’t be half-eaten food, ruined clothing, or signs of property damage announcing their presence.
But do not fear; all is not lost. If you’ve come this far, you probably know a teeny bit more about house centipedes than you did five minutes ago. And knowledge, my friend, is power. Now, you can keep an eye out for the first signs of house centipede infestation and spring into action immediately.
Stay particularly eagle-eyed during spring and fall: centipedes favor the moderate temperatures of these seasons and will usually not survive more extreme conditions.
2. A Centipede Bite
Although I’ve said that house centipedes aren’t particularly interested in humans and their stuff, this does not mean they will not bite us on rare occasions. Since you’re not their typical prey, this is more likely to happen in self-defense.
As centipedes are nocturnal, you may even encounter them in the middle of your sleep. Of course, if you are bitten mid-sleep, it can make it hard to tell if the culprit is a centipede or another type of insect.
Centipedes are venomous, though. Although their bite is not likely to cause serious injury, it can irritate skin and be painful. If you’re unsure how you got that painful bite, it may well be the handiwork of a certain nocturnal chilopod.
The discomfort itself will usually subside in a couple of days and will need no intervention other than a few splashes of water. It may, however, be time to do some spring cleaning.
3. Centipede Hideouts and Entry Points
Unlike many other insect species, centipedes cannot retain moisture for long in their bodies. They need to constantly access water to stay hydrated.
House centipedes enter your home through holes or cracks in floors and walls, drains, and gutters. Once inside, they like to hide out in basements and bathrooms. Any other features on your property that offer moisture and shade will also be attractive to them.
So, besides giving your home and surrounding property a once over to identify any damp spots, also look out for rotting logs and leaf litter where centipedes may be hiding out. If you notice such features, look around for centipedes, especially at night, when they are active.
Even if you can’t spot any, they may still be around; as I’ve mentioned earlier, centipedes can be hard to spot. However, apart from just being good home maintenance practice, cleaning up potential pest hideouts and entry points will at least act as a deterrent to future infestation and keep out not just centipedes, but several other pests too.
So, keep the exterior of your home in good condition, sealing up any crevices through which centipedes might enter. Do the same for your interiors to make sure it is not inviting to centipedes, taking particular care over any damp areas.
4. Insects That Centipedes Feed On
From what we’ve covered so far, it sounds like centipedes aren’t even pests, really. They do not generally harm or cause disease to humans. And, as I’ve mentioned before, do not eat our food or damage our goods. So, why exterminate them?
Well, centipedes have venom for a reason; they need it to attack and subdue their prey. House centipedes are voracious predators.
They’ll eat:
- Spiders
- Beetles
- Moths
- Flies
- Silverfish
- Cockroaches
- Almost every other bug, including other centipedes
But, hang on, doesn’t this sounds like pest control? If centipedes exterminate the other common household pests, shouldn’t that be considered another point in their favor?
Not quite. The presence of house centipedes in your home suggests that a plethora of other pests is flourishing there. And while centipedes may be eliminating some of them, the rest are going about doing their routine business unimpeded.
Many of these species can be dangerous or highly destructive. Flies, mosquitoes, and cockroaches can all spread hazardous viral and bacterial infections. If they are allowed to breed in your home, such pests can adversely affect your health or the health of your family.
Other pests can cause damage to your home or the valuables in it, costing you money and ruining irreplaceable possessions or items of emotional significance. For instance, silverfish can damage not just expensive clothes that have been stored without use for long, but rare books and old photos as well.
Similarly, termites can cause extensive property damage that can be expensive to fix and may not even be covered under your homeowner’s insurance policy. House centipede infestation might even indicate that there are damp or water-damaged spaces within your home.
Alternatively, a broken or leaking pipe may be causing dampness in parts of the house that you are unaware of. Many of the spaces centipedes like to hang out are parts of the home you may not often visit, such as basements. They may be hidden away under floorboards or in other hard-to-reach corners where you do not see them.
So, while your fear of centipedes might be merely irrational, their presence can highlight other issues you need to take seriously. By taking the infestation seriously and tackling it early, you can avoid property damage and dangers to the health of those living in your home.
5. Baby Centipedes
Coming across young centipedes is another sign of house centipede infestation in your home. While they are hard to tell apart from adults, if you see a large number of centipedes at once, they are likely newly hatched young. You are more likely to come across babies in the spring when centipedes lay their eggs.
Centipedes are watchful mothers. Unlike many other insects, they guard their eggs until they hatch and keep them warm during this time. If you come across a mother centipede with eggs, you may not want to wait for them to hatch. It may be better to get rid of them before the infestation gets worse.
In the worst cases, you may even have to call in a pest control professional to eliminate the problem. In this case, you should tell them which pests you’ve observed on your property and where on your property you have come across them.
Pest control agencies will be aware of all the possible locations pests can hide out and will have all the necessary tools to eradicate pests from your home. Additionally, a good professional service will conduct a thorough survey and service all areas of the home to ensure they have eliminated all pests possible.
Still, it would help to share any observations you have, as you have the advantage of staying on the property twenty-four hours a day and may have observed specific problems that even the best trained professional can miss on a single, short visit.
Taking care of the problem at the earliest will help you avoid expensive work later and protect your home and family. It will also keep your property looking its best and enhance its monetary value. As a bonus, you’ll no longer have to deal with yucky bugs.
