Insect centipede or centipede, how to get rid of it in an apartment and why is it dangerous?

1. What does a centipede flycatcher look like, what kind of “beast” is it?
2. How do flycatchers hunt and who do they eat?
3. Centipedes in the apartment: reasons for their appearance
4. Is the house centipede dangerous or not?
5. How to drive away centipedes
6. Harmless ways to get rid of house scolopendra
7. Chemical control agents
8. Centipede flytrap and traps

We are not afraid of flies, spiders, cockroaches, because we see these insects more often and are familiar with the behavior. The common house centipede flycatcher is a cautious insect, hunts at night, is rare, so the frightening appearance of the alien frightens and arouses mistrust. In addition, apartment residents do not know the habits of the unfamiliar creature or how to behave with it.

What does a centipede flycatcher look like, what kind of “beast” is it?

So, they call it: house centipede, common flycatcher, centipede, house centipede. This is not an insect, but an arthropod, breathing through tracheas.

Arthropods of the order of bipedal centipedes are divided into groups:

• Kivsyakov (forest invertebrate centipedes);
• Multilinks (blind centipedes that live everywhere);
• Armadillos (order of woodlice millipedes);
• Pauropods and symphylos (blind arthropod polypods that live in the soil);
• Labiopods (scolopendra).

The apartment from this entire set is inhabited by the common house centipede flycatcher - with a flat oblong body 3-6 cm long, light brown in color, rarely gray.

The legs and body are covered with stripes and hairs. The body of the arthropod consists of 15 segments, each with a pair of legs on the sides. A young centipede has 4 pairs of legs. An adult centipede flycatcher has 15-40 pairs of legs 3 mm each.

The last limbs are long, even exceeding the length of the body. Interestingly, a damaged or lost leg grows back. The domestic scolopendra runs 30-40 cm per second.

The whiskers are the same length as the legs, so it is easy to confuse the head with the back. With the help of antennae-catchers, which work like locators, the house centipede explores space, senses changes in environmental temperature and navigates the area.

Since the centipede insect lives in an apartment and feeds on insects, its pair of front legs has acquired the role of jaws for obtaining food in hard-to-reach places. On both sides of the head there are organs of vision that help to see in a dark room.

These inhabitants are hunted by rats and cats, which is harmful for the hunters themselves, because the house flycatchers are infected with parasites.

Centipedes are fertile: the female's clutch consists of 60 eggs protected by stickiness and hidden in a hole or crack, which the female covers with her body and legs.

The lifespan of these arthropods is 7 years and more often in one place, but they come to the apartment with the onset of cold weather. During severe cold weather, they sometimes go into suspended animation, waking up in the spring.

Habitat

The common flycatcher can be found in many temperate regions. In Russia, this is the Volga region, the southern regions, the insect lives in the northern part of Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Mediterranean countries. Under natural conditions, centipedes hide under stones, fallen leaves, and plant remains. The domestic centipede hunts at any time of the day.

They move to human housing with the onset of autumn cold weather. Prefer dark and damp places:

• basement;
• bathroom;
• toilet.

During the winter, the insect hibernates and becomes active only when the weather warms up. In southern countries, centipedes are treated kindly, because they help exterminate pests.

How do flycatchers hunt and who do they eat?

Flycatchers choose places with insects and beetles harmful to humans: black cockroaches, flies and fleas, moths and spiders, crickets or termites. They go hunting at night, but there are also hunters who wait for prey during the day, settling on the floor, climbing onto the ceiling or onto the wall.

They sit for hours without moving. As the prey approaches, they attack at lightning speed, neutralizing the prey by injecting poison into 2-3 insects at once. He slowly eats one dish and holds another with his legs.

Village housing

Most often, in a country house or village, centipedes attack bedrooms and kitchens in the fall, with the onset of cold weather. Our distant ancestors knew how to get rid of such “visitors” in the house on their own, at home:

• the wooden floor was treated with special compounds to prevent the boards from rotting. Whatever it is - chemical or based on natural resins, flycatchers do not like it;
• used boric acid, scattering it abundantly in their habitats;
• They actively knocked out flycatchers using any available means, which is not very effective, given their speed of movement, etc.

Boric acid from centipedes

If the invasion of unpleasant insects does not stop even after actively combating them with insecticides, the location of farmsteads and devices on the site should be reconsidered. Since flycatchers love concentrations of other arthropods, you will have to move the waste pit, compost heap or garbage container away from the house.

In any case, only cleanliness in and around your home will help save you from constant rustling at night and an unpleasant meeting with an uninvited tenant. Centipedes do not breed in the kitchen or bathroom, they come to people to hunt, so you need to change the conditions for flies and other insects to live in the house. An apartment or cottage without mold and prey is absolutely uninteresting for flycatchers.

Is the house centipede dangerous or not?

The flycatcher does not harm humans. However, it should not be touched or frightened, because the centipede flytrap bites, however, only for the purpose of protection. The appearance of the centipede is frightening - the number of legs, long moving mustaches and lightning-fast movement.

Also, this arthropod does not harm furniture, wallpaper and other objects in human housing. Night hunting of creatures eliminates encounters and sometimes residents do not even know that centipedes live in the apartment.

If a bite occurs, which is unlikely, the skin turns red and a slight burning sensation is felt - cold water and hydrogen peroxide will help.

What to do if you are bitten by a scolopendra

But if you do get bitten by a scolopendra, be prepared for the following consequences (we’ll warn you right away, not fatal). The bites can be very painful and go away slowly over 1-2 days. The main symptoms that you may experience: at the very moment of the bite there will be a sharp and prolonged pain; the severity of the pain can vary (from slight to “10” on a 10-point pain scale); body temperature may increase; you may feel severe weakness; Most likely, the sensitivity of the skin in the bite area will significantly increase, swelling and redness will appear, and loss of sensitivity and a feeling of numbness may also occur.

Scolopendras are somewhat similar to wasps, which do not leave a sting in the wound and can sting a person several times in a row. Often, at the moment of detection by a person, this creature continues to inflict multiple punctures, introducing even more poison. Centipedes usually bite when a person is resting in bed, but they can also crawl into clothes and bite the moment you start getting dressed.

But there is good news: scolopendra bites are not fatal! For a person to die from its poison, he must be bitten by several thousand individuals at the same time!

Helpful advice: if you are bitten by a scolopendra, find a heating pad at home, fill it with moderately hot water (up to 45 degrees C) and apply it to the bite site - this simple measure should bring relief. Scientists have not yet found an explanation for this phenomenon, but they suspect that this is possible due to the fact that some components of scolopendra venom are unstable to heat. The second remedy is ice and analgesics.

Are centipedes dangerous for your home?

And you don’t have to worry about clothes, paper documents, furniture and other items. A centipede is not a moth or a silverfish. She is not at all interested in your things. Another thing is that some centipedes can spoil the air in the house due to the fact that they secrete a bad-smelling secretion - but even that is unlikely - there must be too many of these arthropods in your house for you to smell it. In addition, since centipedes are plant scavengers, they may become interested in rotting wood. We advise you to check attics and basements more often for moisture and for such “yummy things.”

We hope we didn't intimidate you. Therefore, at the end, in order to “whiten up” our heroes a little, let’s tell you how centipedes are useful. They are very active in destroying pests. Their diet includes bedbugs, flies, cockroaches, termites and even spiders. So sometimes centipedes turn into real “guardians of housing” from even more harmful creatures. Therefore, if you are not afraid of such many-legged neighbors, then live with them “in peace and harmony.”

Harmless ways to get rid of house scolopendra

1). Eliminate the source of moisture because flycatchers cannot live without water.

For this:

• Clean the kitchen and bathroom, clean places where a rag rarely penetrates, add bleach and chlorine to the water, do not store garbage;
• Remove wet sources (wet rags and towels, replace the bathroom rug);
• Eliminate condensation, wipe the walls and ventilate the bathroom;
• Install, if required, dryers and fans;
• Do not leave water in trays with indoor plants.

2). In a private house - clean the basement, get rid of mold and dampness.

3). If there are leaks, repair or replace leaking plumbing fixtures and pipes. Re-glue the peeling wallpaper and return the fallen tiles to their places.

4). Block the crawling paths of centipedes: fill cracks and crevices with silicone sealant, cover windows with mosquito nets, and cover ventilation ducts with fine-mesh grilles. Don't forget to clean the grates regularly.

5). Remove insects - the food of centipedes. But poisons that act on cockroaches and flies will not affect flycatchers - they develop a persistent addiction.

6). It is not difficult to remove using a humane method. Centipedes remember what happened and how they felt. With the caught animals, which were taken out and released on the street away from the house, others will also leave.

Prevention methods

The main way to protect against flycatchers is prevention:

1. Clean up the area around your home. Remove fallen leaves, dry grass, and construction debris.
2. Free the walls of your house from climbing plants.
3. Dry the subfloor and basements. House centipedes love moisture. If the conditions are unsuitable, the insects will leave on their own to find a more comfortable place.

If you live in a city apartment, then it is important, first of all, to limit the insect’s access both from the street and from the neighboring apartment. This can be done using the following mechanical methods:

1. Eliminate gaps and cracks in window frames.
2. Putty the baseboards (or renew them altogether).
3. Install mesh over ventilation holes.

Chemical control agents

The use of repellents or extended-spectrum insecticidal sprays, which have a high concentration, will help drive out multipedes that have multiped and come across even during daylight hours. There are no special preparations for house centipedes in the apartment.

Popular drugs:

1. Aerosol Raid. Non-toxic product with lavender scent.
2. Liquid Medilis-Ziper for dilution with water and spraying. It has a pungent odor and requires respiratory protection when working.
3. A strong insecticide with lambda-cyhalothrin has no pungent odor and does not harm people or pets.
4. Globol (odorless gel) has strong toxicity, flycatchers will not return soon.
5. Great Warrior (gel) fights cockroaches and ants, but flycatchers and earwigs also do not like this product.

As a home remedy, you can sprinkle boric acid powder where centipedes run around the apartment.

Reasons for appearance

A centipede will not live where it is not comfortable and has nothing to eat. Therefore, if the population is actively growing and flycatchers are increasingly seen, it means that they are satisfied with the conditions and have settled for a long time.

Possible causes of centipedes:

• Presence of moisture (leaking pipes, condensation);
• Favorable temperature (from 18 to 23 degrees);
• Food source (insects in the apartment).

Most often, a centipede is found in the bathroom, since ideal conditions are created for it there. She is rarely interested in other rooms. She is not attracted to crumbs from food in the kitchen and furniture, small insects - that's all that centipedes eat.

The sources where centipedes come from in an apartment are damp basements, sewer shafts, and ventilation. They emerge from these dark places in search of food, mainly at night.

Centipede flytrap and traps

Trap boxes help, but rarely. They need to be placed on the floor; insects and centipedes crawl in and stay there.

Adhesive tapes will not bring success. The centipede flycatcher will come off without sparing the remaining legs, which will later grow back.

When all else fails, they resort to the services of professionals to carry out disinfestation with chemical agents. After this, you need to leave the apartment for a walk for 4-5 hours, and when you return, open the windows for ventilation. Do not wash the floor for 2-3 days.

Reproduction, lifespan

The process of reproduction of scolopendra takes several hours, the sacrament is carried out in the dark. The male weaves a kind of cocoon containing sperm. The female draws seminal fluid into her body. After fertilization, egg laying begins within a few weeks; in unfavorable climatic conditions, after several months. On average, a female centipede lays 130 eggs. The development of the young generation of millipedes occurs in close proximity to the female. She holds them all in her paws, dragging them everywhere with her. Small centipedes appear after 3 months. At first, the babies stay with their mother in the nest. And then the most interesting thing happens - a young female can devour her babies or the young can eat their mature mother. It was not possible to establish exactly how long scolopendras live in nature. But in captivity they can live 7 years.