The whole truth about centipedes that you wanted to know

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The centipede is a nasty insect. This ugly creature is believed to be highly poisonous and can harm humans. But, despite their frightening appearance, most of them do not pose any particular danger, with the exception of monsters such as centipede and several other rarely encountered species.

Origin of the species and description

Photo: Centipede

Centipedes are classified as centipedes from the subclass of invertebrates, which unite four classes of terrestrial arthropods. There are more than 12,000 species of centipedes, including 11 fossils that lived about 450 million years ago. The clearly identified fossils date back to the late Silurian period and are considered to be the oldest arthropods to emerge from the ocean onto land to date.

Video: Centipede

Due to the similar structure of the limbs and a number of other characteristics, for quite a long time centipedes were classified as insects, but they are not. After much research, it was found that centipedes represent a sister group to ordinary insects, that is, they have a common ancient ancestor, but all kinship ends there. This species of arthropod formed a superclass of the same name - millipedes, which belongs to the subphylum tracheae.

Fun fact: Adult centipedes can have anywhere from 30 to 354 legs, but the number of pairs of legs is never even. The house centipede, or common flycatcher, as it is also called, has legs that grow gradually as the individual grows older, and as a result, mature centipedes have 15 pairs of limbs. If a flycatcher has fewer than 30 legs, it has not yet reached sexual maturity.

Appearance and features

Photo: What a centipede looks like

Centipedes have a very specific, even frightening appearance. An adult centipede grows up to 4-6 cm in length. Like all arthropods, the flycatcher has an exoskeleton, which consists of chitin. The body is highly flattened, divided into 15 separate segments, each of which has a pair of legs. The very last pair is much longer than the others and looks very much like a mustache. In females, the hind legs can be twice as long as the body itself. For this reason, it is very difficult for an ignorant person to determine where the head of this ugly creature is.

The body is yellowish-gray or brown with longitudinal red-violet stripes, the legs are also striped. In the process of evolution, the front pair of legs of the centipede turned into jaws, with which it defends itself and quite deftly captures prey. The head is small, with complex compound eyes located on each side. The whiskers of adult individuals are very long and whip-like, consisting of several hundred segments. With the help of its antennae, the centipede constantly evaluates many environmental parameters and can sense danger at a fairly large distance.

Interesting fact: Thanks to a special body structure consisting of very mobile segments, flycatchers are incredibly agile and are able to move at speeds of up to 50 meters per second, both on horizontal and vertical surfaces.

Now you know what a centipede looks like. Let's see what this insect eats.

Where does the centipede live?

Photo: Centipede in Russia

Centipedes are found in abundance in countries and regions with temperate, hot climates.

Its natural habitat is:

• the entire Middle East, northern Africa, central and southern Europe;
• southern regions, central Russia, Volga region;
• Ukraine, the entire Caucasus, Kazakhstan and Moldova;
• Mediterranean countries, India.

For reproduction and normal life, centipedes need moisture. In forests it is easy to find under almost any stone, at the roots of trees, among fallen leaves. With the onset of autumn, these creatures look for warmer, secluded places and quite often appear in human dwellings. They most often do not live permanently in apartments and houses, but only wait out the cold. In winter they hibernate, but with the first warmth they come to life and move to their natural habitat.

In human dwellings, flycatchers can be found:

• in basements and cellars;
• bathrooms;
• any rooms with high humidity.

Interesting fact: Penetrating into a living space through cracks in the walls or through a pipeline, centipedes live only in one specific place and do not move. They do not multiply to incredible numbers like cockroaches, and do not spoil food, furniture, flowers, and so on.

Sometimes flycatchers appear indoors even in summer. They can be attracted by various insects that live in abundance in human housing due to unsatisfactory sanitary conditions.

How to deal with it

Despite the positive qualities that insects have, not every person can see them in their home. Insects, no matter how useful they are, provide too little pleasure. The fact that an insect can bite does not make it a good neighbor for humans. Getting rid of the centipede that lives with you at home requires a lot of effort, but initially you need to determine the reasons why it appeared in the house.

If a centipede appears inside a building, in a bathhouse or basement, it is recommended to remove all rotting wood or other organic matter and dry the room. It is also recommended to remove all vegetation and organic waste located near the house. Centipedes are attracted to corrugated cardboard and paper, as well as shredded tree bark and clumps of straw.

Centipedes do not live in large colonies, and if you see one of them, it is advisable to catch it, although this is quite difficult.

For those who do not have time to evict the centipede from the apartment without causing harm to it, an effective method is to use a toxic substance designed to destroy the flytrap.

The best thing is to turn to professionals involved in pest control, but it is worth remembering that in some countries the law is to protect these insects and their appearance in the apartment is considered a blessing.

To get rid of centipedes, you need to remove dead grass and rotten wood

What does a centipede eat?

Photo: Centipede insect

All centipedes are predators, including flycatchers.

Their usual diet:

• ants and their eggs;
• cockroaches, including domestic ones;
• flies, ticks and a number of other harmful insects.

They are not dangerous for people and animals. The poison that the centipede is capable of producing can paralyze and kill only small insects. This creature, despite its vile appearance, brings many benefits to agriculture, which is why it is protected in a number of agricultural countries.

Having caught a fly or cockroach, the centipede does not immediately start eating - it injects a portion of its poison into the living victim and waits until it completely immobilizes it, and only then eats it in a secluded corner. The flycatcher holds insects with its many legs and powerful jaws, and the victim has no chance of escape. From 3 to 5 insects can be destroyed at a time.

Despite the fact that house centipedes are not dangerous to humans and do not attack them, you should not handle these creatures with your bare hands, as they may bite in defense. Their sting is similar to that of a bee and can cause allergic reactions in children and allergy sufferers.

Interesting fact: If centipedes are infested in a living room, then it is very difficult to get rid of them, since they are not tempted by bait, sticky tapes do not cause significant harm to them - lost limbs are regenerated in a fairly short period of time.

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.”

Features of character and lifestyle

Photo: Black centipede

Centipedes are predominantly nocturnal, but can also be found during daylight hours in shaded areas. Flycatchers are true sprinters among all their relatives. If at rest this creature presses tightly to the surface, then while running it raises its body as much as possible.

Excellent eyesight and sense of smell, a special structure of the legs that allows them to stay on steep walls, made centipedes excellent hunters. Thanks to the flexibility of the body, they are able to penetrate even the narrowest crevices. For normal life functions, a lot of energy is needed, so they are almost constantly in search of food, tracking down unwary flies or spiders.

Sometimes centipedes are called centipedes, although these creatures have a lot of differences, and not only in appearance. Scolopendras, which live primarily in the tropics, are not as harmless as their centipede relatives. Their poisonous bite can cause significant harm to human health, including death.

Interesting fact: After touching centipedes, you must wash your hands and never touch your eyes, since there are poisonous glands on the sides of the body of these creatures, and the poison can cause severe irritation of the mucous membranes.

Social structure and reproduction

Photo: Centipede at home

All centipedes are loners, but in case of a chance meeting, individuals usually quietly crawl away and fights between them are extremely rare. There were no cases of cannibalism among these creatures. The last days of May or the beginning of June is the breeding season of centipedes. By this time, females begin to produce special substances, attracting a male.

Their fertilization process is peculiar:

• the male closes the entrance to his dwelling in the ground with a web and deposits his spermaphore in the resulting sac;
• the female crawls under the sperm sac and grabs it with her genital appendages, and after a few days lays eggs in a dug hole, which she then covers with sticky mucus.

The clutch may consist of 70-130 eggs. For several weeks, the female guards the clutch, clasping it with her paws. To protect against mold, it secretes a special substance. The larvae emerge together. They are initially white in color and very soft with four pairs of legs. With each molt, the young grow new pairs of legs, and the body color gradually darkens. Only after the fifth or sixth molt the larvae will have 15 pairs of limbs. Under natural conditions, centipedes live 4-6 years. Young animals become completely similar to adults only after puberty.

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.

Natural enemies of centipedes

Photo: What a centipede looks like

Centipedes have a small number of enemies, since due to the large number of poisonous glands, they are not to the taste of many predators, and for some they can also be dangerous. However, centipedes do not mind snacking on snakes, rats and even cats. For rats and pets, snacking on these creatures risks becoming infected with parasites that can inhabit the bodies of poisonous “caterpillars.”

It has been noticed that some species of centipedes, for example scolopendra, in an artificial habitat can eat their own relatives, especially young animals. In nature, this happens extremely rarely and only when there is not enough usual food. Most often, these creatures coexist peacefully without getting into fights. Only sometimes males can cling together with their many legs and lie curled up in a ball for 10-15 minutes, and then disengage and go about their business again.

Interesting fact: The largest representative of the centipede superclass reaches a length of 35 centimeters. This is a poisonous giant scolopendra that is found only in the tropics and its bite is often fatal to humans.

If a young, inexperienced bird accidentally grabs a centipede from the ground for a snack, it immediately spits it out. More experienced individuals do not touch centipedes at all.

Why are people afraid of flycatchers?

The fear of centipedes and the hostility towards them on the part of people is explained mainly by two facts: disgust for their appearance and fear that they might get into the ear. The last statement is more related to the common myth about earwigs, which, according to some people, are able to get into the ear of a sleeping person, bite through the eardrum and penetrate the brain. Flycatchers are confused with earwigs, so they are just as feared.

In fact, neither the flycatcher nor the earwig has any intention of getting into human ears, much less capable of gnawing on the eardrum and brain. Besides, they don’t need it at all; they don’t feed on the brain.

It happens that small insects get into people's ears (most often these are flies, midges or cockroaches). Under no circumstances will a flycatcher climb into the ear canal - there is nothing attractive there for it and with its long legs it is completely inconvenient.