How to identify and treat house centipedes

There’s something about a critter with lots of long legs that gives many people the shivers. Centipedes are no exception. Couple that with the fact that they can scurry quickly and unexpectedly across your floor, and you can understand why people wouldn’t want house centipedes in their homes.

House centipedes are a common centipede that often wanders into many homes across the US and the world. They are quite sensitive to sunlight so when one’s hiding place is uncovered, they dart away to find their next home for the day.

However, centipedes aren’t necessarily trying to take over your space when you find them in your home. They might be just looking for a snack on their way through the bathroom, kitchen, or garage.

House centipedes can be quickly identified by their many long legs. While the name centipede might mean 100 legs, house centipedes don’t even come close to half that. They have 15 pairs of legs and a long pair of antennae that they use to smell and feel for food.

Additionally, they will typically have black stripes on their body and bands on their legs.

How big are house centipedes?

While the body is only 1-1.4 inches long, the antennae and legs make it seem much bigger. Some house centipedes can be 3-4 inches long from end to end.

What other pests look like a house centipede?

There aren’t very many pests that look like a house centipede, although, at first glance, earwigs and silverfish might look like them. However, those long, banded legs on the house centipedes are a dead giveaway!

House centipedes come into a home or property for three things: food, shelter, and moisture. By eliminating these, you can greatly reduce the number of centipedes that stumble into your home.

House centipedes are active hunters, preying on spiders and common household insects, including pests like cockroaches, bed bugs, termites, silverfish, and ants. If you are noticing lots of centipedes in your home, you might have an underlying issue to take care of first.

Sticky traps near your baseboards or in a corner of a room can be an easy and mess-free way to capture house centipedes. You can also create an insect barrier around the property by adding diatomaceous earth, boric acid, or Pestie’s DIY solution to the perimeter.

Or, instead of trying to kill the centipede, since it practically does your pest control for you, you could remove it from your home unharmed and release it outside.

Their preferred habitat is away from sunlight and in a dark and moist area with lots of insects to eat. That can include places in your yard, like under rocks, in wood piles, under leaves, or in compost piles.

In your home, you’ll probably find house centipedes in cool, damp places like your basement, garage, or even the bathroom.