What does a centipede look like, does it bite, is it dangerous or not?
Centipede, or flytrap
The centipede actually does not have 40 legs, but only 30. And it is not an insect, as we used to think, but belongs to the genus of arthropods.
The centipede, or another name for the flycatcher, belongs to the family of centipedes, of which there are up to 12 thousand individuals. Let's take a closer look at the flycatcher.
An adult centipede has a jointed body measuring 3-6 cm, covered with chitin, and 15 legs on one and the other side of the body. The small centipede has fewer legs (only 4 pairs). In an adult, they grow back as they grow older. The first pair of legs are shaped like jaws to capture prey. The last pair of legs is longer than the body itself to allow it to run fast. Flycatchers live 3-7 years.
The flycatcher is a predator. She catches and eats:
- Much
- Cockroaches
- Mole
- Moshek
- Spiders
- Larvae
- Chervyakov
- Bloch
- silverfish
The flycatcher is not dangerous to humans . When meeting people, she does not attack, but quickly hides in a gap. She can only bite when she is in danger. Its venom is weak, there may be a slight redness at the bite site.
If you are nevertheless bitten by a flycatcher, you need to:
- Treat the wound with hydrogen peroxide or alcohol infusion.
- For pain, apply a cold compress.
- There are rare cases of centipede allergies, then take antiallergic and painkillers.
How to remove scolopendra with insecticides?
Anyone interested in how to deal with centipedes should not ignore the use of special chemicals. There are not many aerosols and sprays against centipedes. Therefore, any means developed against most types of insects will be suitable here. Their effect on flycatchers will be similar to what they have on bedbugs and cockroaches.
Having chosen this method of control, it is important to observe personal precautions: protect your eyes with goggles, your hands with gloves, your face with a mask or respirator, and the rest of the body with a protective suit. List of chemicals against centipedes
List of chemicals against centipedes
Raid aerosol against crawling and flying insects. The product exudes a pleasant lavender aroma. Non-toxic. Allows you not to leave the room after treatment. But airing the rooms won't hurt. Medilis-Ziper is a liquid. Designed for dilution with water and spraying with a spray bottle. Spectrum of action - most known insects. Due to the specificity of the odor, the use of protective agents during processing is recommended. Starex is a spray for treating cracks with skirting boards. Gives excellent results despite the low price. Lambda Zone. The composition of the product includes lambda-cyhalothrin (2.5%), harmless to people and their pets, odorless. Globol Original - a product like a paste with deltamethrin, diflubenzuron
There is almost no smell, but extreme caution is required. The centipede will leave the house for a long time. Henkel Combat is an aerosol product with a convenient applicator that allows you to inject the substance into hard-to-reach places - into the ventilation shaft, narrow cracks, under the bathtub
Effective and has a strong scent. Personal safety precautions should be observed when using aerosols.
Some people prefer to use only natural remedies. To do this, you can choose aerosols with natural pyrethrin. Experienced owners also have a control method such as the use of boric acid and diatomaceous earth powder.
If you cannot achieve the desired result on your own, you can resort to the help of professional disinfectors.
How to get rid of centipedes? First you need to put things in order: clean the premises, clear away debris, reduce the concentration of moisture. Apply the recommendations suggested above. Then the house will be clean and life will be calm.
Any insects in the house are an unpleasant occurrence. Centipedes are more of a nuisance than others. These insects do not cause serious trouble, however, they look too scary. This is the main reason that forces us to fight them.
Another name is flycatcher, scolopendra. Color yellow with black stripes. The body is oblong (reaches 3 cm), flattened and segmented. An insect has 15-20 pairs of legs; if each leg is lost or damaged, a new one grows in place. To be able to hold the victim, pincers are provided on the front two legs.
Centipedes are absolutely harmless and even useful, but they invariably cause hostility in humans
When bitten by a person, no negative effects are noted, except for minor pain. The poison through which the centipede affects its prey is dangerous only for insects (flies, cockroaches), snails, and slugs. The flycatcher has excellent vision, which allows it to move unhindered not only during the day, but also at night. The movement speed develops up to 40 cm/s. Villi are distributed on the surface of the body.
They are quite harmless. They are not dangerous to people, do not damage furniture, and do not harm plants.
The average life expectancy is 7 years, due to the ability to restore lost limbs. As a result, the speed of movement of insects does not decrease, and they can avoid dangers. Favorite habitats are where the humidity level is high.
This means that centipedes are more often noticed in the bathroom, toilet, and basement. Thanks to the flattened shape of their bodies, centipedes are able to penetrate into the smallest crevices.
Why do centipedes appear in a house or apartment, and what do they eat in the house?
The centipede will settle in a house where it is damp and humid.
Centipedes live in temperate climates. In the natural environment, they look for damp places under stones and plants. To reproduce, the female flycatcher lays fertilized eggs (60-130 pieces) in moist soil.
When cold weather sets in, centipedes find secluded places, hide there and hibernate until spring. Some flycatchers can crawl into a person’s home and live until the weather warms up, and if the centipede finds a lot of food, it will stay longer.
In a house or apartment, centipedes live in damp basements, toilets and bathrooms. They feed on insects and hunt for them, especially at night. The flycatcher senses its prey by smell and vibration when moving, rushes at it with lightning speed, injects poison that paralyzes the victim, and eats it. If you have a lot of “living creatures”, the centipede will eventually cope with it - it has a good appetite.
Flycatchers do not touch food, books, or flowers stored by humans; they do not hunt domestic animals..
Are centipedes harmful to humans?
In fact, apart from its terrifying appearance, the centipede is absolutely safe for apartment residents and for pets and other pets. As a rule, the flycatcher comes out to hunt at night, so many owners do not even suspect the existence of this insect in their home. If you do not try to pick it up (even in this case the flycatcher will not bite a person), then this may not end very pleasantly, since there is poison on the insect’s legs. This can lead to redness of the skin. To get rid of discomfort, just place your hand under a stream of cold water. Pets do not suffer in any way from such a neighborhood. And a person, if he does not do anything unnecessary or unreasonable, cannot suffer either.
Centipedes in a private house, apartment, why they should not be killed: folk signs
According to folk superstitions, you cannot kill a centipede; if it bothers you, throw it out into the street.
Folk superstitions arose as a result of observations of various incidents in people’s lives over the centuries.
If you believe the signs:
- The appearance of a centipede in the house foreshadows some news or letter.
- To see a centipede running during the day means heavy rain.
- If there are many centipedes in the house, you cannot kill them, but you need to catch one centipede and throw it outside, the rest will run away on their own.
How to poison, remove a centipede from a house or apartment forever: means of control, poison
You cannot poison centipedes; throw them into wet leaves outside the window.
You cannot kill or poison centipedes with various means because of their small number on our Earth . Usually one or several centipedes can wander into a home, and their reproduction occurs in nature.
If you are uncomfortable with a flycatcher, you can catch it in a jar and release it outside in the spring or summer.
Preventing the appearance of centipedes in a house or apartment: tips
If you keep your house clean, ventilate, and prevent dampness in the bathroom and toilet, centipedes will not get in.
Despite the unpleasant appearance of the centipede, it only brings benefits to people . And if you don’t want to meet her in a house or garden, then you need to clean up the area and prevent humidity in the premises.
To prevent centipedes from starting in your house or apartment, you need to:
- Repair leaking sewer and water pipes.
- Remove everything unnecessary under the bathtub and in the toilet.
- Avoid leaving puddles or wet rags on the bathroom floor.
- Wash off the mold, establish ventilation and ventilate rooms with high humidity.
- Make sure that the kitchen, bathroom and toilet are free of flies, cockroaches, moths, fleas, and silverfish.
- Seal all the cracks in the apartment or house with cement mortar, close the cracks in the wooden floor, and put a mosquito net on the windows.
- Remove rotten boards, old paper and any debris from the basement.
- In the spring, remove last year's leaves from your garden plot in time.
So, if you remove potential food for the flytrap, put things in order in your house, or make living conditions for the centipede not entirely comfortable, it will leave your house or apartment on its own.
What measures will help get rid of it?
To get rid of an unpleasant neighbor, it is not enough to run after him with a slipper. Considering the centipede's high speed, this is quite difficult and will not save you from the general problem. A more humane way is to try to catch it and take it outside. But to clear a home of centipedes in the long term, it is necessary to deprive it of living conditions. Having achieved this, you will not have to worry about their return or the brood of a whole nest of insects.
Below is a list of actions that will resolve the problem:
- Food deprivation. Destroy the insects they feed on, and then the centipedes will be forced to leave you.
- Make repairs. The arthropod lives in cracks and holes near drains. Seal them up and deprive them of access to housing.
- Eliminate dampness. The insect is moisture-loving; if you get rid of mold and high humidity, they will not be comfortable.
- Deprivation of water. Do not allow water to accumulate; dry your laundry outside.
- Check the condition of your home's basement. This is where all kinds of unpleasant guests usually accumulate.
After getting rid of centipedes, owners need to use prevention methods. Arthropods will not be able to enter the apartment if these conditions are met:
- maintain order in the local area;
- promptly clear the garden of fallen leaves and the vegetable garden of dry grass;
- clean and remove construction waste from the yard;
- remove climbing plants from external walls;
- carefully seal cracks in walls, floors, and window frames;
- strengthen small mesh on ventilation ducts;
- ventilate wet areas well;
- quickly eliminate leaks and condensation;
- fight insects that have entered your home.
