this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Found it dead in my dishes

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[–] OmegaMouse@feddit.uk 220 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think that's the bug they put in Neo in the first Matrix film

[–] retrolasered@lemmy.zip 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] sxan@midwest.social 172 points 1 year ago (30 children)

Everyone is saying they're harmless, but we read house centipedes cam leave painful bites. I've never been bitten, that I know of, but when plagued with centipedes, I'd sometimes wake up with one of two types of mysterious bug bites: itchy, and painful. I know from prior experience that most North American spider bites are only ever itchy, so I always put the painful ones down to house centipedes. I can't prove it, though. Here are the facts I do know about house centipedes, from empiricle evidence:

  • They like damp. You'll find them in damp spots, drains, around toilets, around damp areas in basements, etc. Not exclusively, but predominantly.
  • They wage a secret war with spiders. Sometimes the spider wins, but usually the centipede does unless it gets trapped by a web.
  • Alive, they move like the wind. Shockingly, alarmingly fast.
  • When smacked, they explode into air and legs. So many legs, and not much else.
  • Despite reports that they control other bugs, they are useless against real nuisance bugs like soldier and stink bugs. And for fly control, spiders do a better job. The only real thing we ever saw centipedes hunting were spiders.
  • Small glue traps work really well at controlling them. I caution against large glue traps, as they might catch small rodentia, and if you want to know true horror, find a YouTube video of a mouse caught in a glue trap.

I'm team spider.

[–] n3mo@programming.dev 41 points 1 year ago (4 children)

This pretty well captures things! Insects that eat other insects are worth rooting for, but like you, I’m on team spider.

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[–] greyhaven7@lemmy.world 113 points 1 year ago (5 children)

It's a common house centipede.

Generally good critters. They do bite though.

[–] nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca 53 points 1 year ago (15 children)

I know they're generally harmless (they eat bugs and won't bite you if you leave it alone) but they make my skin crawl and I can't help but kill them with extreme prejudice when I find one.

[–] feminalpanda@lemmings.world 29 points 1 year ago

The big thing for me is it's a sign there are bugs for them to eat in your walls or house.

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[–] Haphazard9479@lemm.ee 112 points 1 year ago (17 children)

Thats a house centipede. Looks creepy, but its a nice house pet. It eats all of the other, undesireable, pests in your house.

[–] Eudaimonia@lemmy.ml 54 points 1 year ago

Ok, thanks! Unfortunatelly this one doesnt qualify anymore as a pet but i am sure there are others around in the garden eg

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[–] iesou@lemm.ee 95 points 1 year ago (12 children)

That's a house centipede. They will leave you alone and eat lots of pests.

[–] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 36 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Thanks for taking the useful approach, rather than parroting the usual drivel

Edit It turns out they feed on bed bugs - surely that should sway a few people.

...And they can detach their legs? I want one!

[–] Fosheze@lemmy.world 33 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Just so people who see them aren't worried, they don't just eat bed bugs. They will eat basically any insect that is smaller than they are up to and including spiders. I even saw one eating a yellowjacket once. So having house centipedes in your home doesn't mean that you have bedbugs.

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[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 58 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] tubbadu@lemmy.kde.social 56 points 1 year ago (3 children)
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[–] dingleberry@discuss.tchncs.de 53 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] Chefdano3@lemm.ee 52 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think it's a mindflyer parasite. If you hear it talking to you, make sure not to listen.

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[–] set_secret@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

just a hard-working protector house centipede I think. harmless

[–] derpgon@programming.dev 50 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Well, of course it's harmless, it's dead, SMH.

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[–] needthosepylons@lemmy.world 42 points 1 year ago

My brother/sister in christ, have you considered nuking your neighborhood from orbit ?

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 37 points 1 year ago

Oh that’s no problem. Don’t worry about it.

[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 32 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Looks like a house centipede to me. Something for scale would be useful

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata

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[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Welp time to burn down the house

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[–] RalphFurley@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Whenever I hear my wife scream, I know it's another house centipede I need to trap and throw outside (or smash and kill if I'm pressed on time)

[–] StopSpazzing@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Might as well kill it then as they don't survive well outside if at all. They are a good beneficial insect that will hunt and kill bad insects in and around your home.

[–] derpgon@programming.dev 21 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Spiders are okay, at least they hang around the ceiling. But this thing is giant and crawls on the floor and walls. No thanks.

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[–] Comment105@lemm.ee 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Do what I did and weld your house out of 20mm steel plate and have tightly controlled, thoroughly monitored and analyzed airflow, with a single two-stage entry hallway for washing off and inspecting your terran exploration suit and all acquisitions before entering your home.

I can pull a serious vacuum on this bitch, nothing's getting in unless I want it in.

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[–] Secret300@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] yoz@aussie.zone 21 points 1 year ago
[–] ExLisper@linux.community 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm not an expert but it looks like a dead bug.

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[–] vox@sopuli.xyz 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

a good ol' centipede. they like crawling out of drains and usually completely harmless (they can bite afaik, but never happened to me, even though i liked to rip their legs off as a kid for some reason... also depends on the species)
this one is super chonky tho and has less legs then regular ones I've seen before... ~~probably American one~~ /s

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[–] Majestic@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

House centipede. They eat other bugs and while scary looking are harmless. They like spiders appear from time to time without anything being wrong. They’re just looking for other bugs to eat.

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[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What’s the size scale here … is that corn??

[–] chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 1 year ago

It's a full sized human head.

[–] Pulptastic@midwest.social 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I stayed a night in a dorm room before a bike race. I saw one of these before I went to sleep but couldn't catch/kill it. I still slept like a baby.

[–] tacosplease@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not sure whether to respect, fear, or worry about you.

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