What is this insect?
July 30, 2009 11:07 AM Subscribe
Insect ID please. What is this and any tips about reducing their number?
Best answer: House Centipede. Harmless but admittedly gross. That Wikipedia article suggests sealing cracks, keeping things dry, and getting rid of any other kind of bug that's living in your house.
posted by Nomiconic at 11:13 AM on July 30, 2009
posted by Nomiconic at 11:13 AM on July 30, 2009
Those things squick me out like nothing else. They are tough too. I once smashed one with a hardcover book, and it only resulted in a slight limp.
On the bright side, they prey on any other bugs in your house. So try to think of them as allies ;)
posted by diogenes at 11:19 AM on July 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
On the bright side, they prey on any other bugs in your house. So try to think of them as allies ;)
posted by diogenes at 11:19 AM on July 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
Nomiconic has it right. That is a house centipede, aka a "fluffy". They eat other insects. If you are seeing a large number of them, it means they have lots to eat - lots of OTHER insects. Your prime way of getting rid of any predator like a fluffy is to get rid of the food source. Find what it is eating (carpet beetles are a big one) and get rid of those, and the number of fluffies will go down dramatically.
posted by strixus at 11:32 AM on July 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by strixus at 11:32 AM on July 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
House centipedes! I hates them!
But no, there's nothing you can do. Sadly, they're not like cockroaches where they live around filth. They're just kind of a normal bug that shows up.
Get a cat, it will eat them.
posted by phrakture at 11:33 AM on July 30, 2009
But no, there's nothing you can do. Sadly, they're not like cockroaches where they live around filth. They're just kind of a normal bug that shows up.
Get a cat, it will eat them.
posted by phrakture at 11:33 AM on July 30, 2009
Response by poster: Yeah, generally bugs don't bother me much, and I don't care about bugs outdoors, but don't much like seeing this one racing across the floor. I see it eats silverfish, which explains why we've seen these around lately, as there seems to be more of those around this year. Thanks!
posted by Zinger at 11:34 AM on July 30, 2009
posted by Zinger at 11:34 AM on July 30, 2009
It's a house centipede and it's carnivorous. Sleep well, knowing they are behind your walls, working hard to hunt down and devour "bedbugs, termites, cockroaches, silverfish, ants and other household arthropods" that might otherwise make your life a living hell.
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:34 AM on July 30, 2009
posted by bonobothegreat at 11:34 AM on July 30, 2009
(pedanticfilter: they are arthropods but they are not insects...)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:35 AM on July 30, 2009
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:35 AM on July 30, 2009
We call those Nightmare Bugs in my house. They're fast, too!
*Shudder*
posted by milarepa at 11:50 AM on July 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
*Shudder*
posted by milarepa at 11:50 AM on July 30, 2009 [1 favorite]
We get these in our apartment in Canada, but unfortunately our cat does not eat them. Instead, she follows them around makes an unusual sound that alerts us to their presence so we can dispatch them ourselves.
Thanks a lot, cat.
posted by onshi at 12:04 PM on July 30, 2009 [2 favorites]
Thanks a lot, cat.
posted by onshi at 12:04 PM on July 30, 2009 [2 favorites]
Fun facts: They live up to 7 years, and
"In Japan, these creatures are referred to as gejigeji and enjoy a level of popularity. They can often be seen for sale in pet stores."
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 12:06 PM on July 30, 2009
"In Japan, these creatures are referred to as gejigeji and enjoy a level of popularity. They can often be seen for sale in pet stores."
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 12:06 PM on July 30, 2009
They actually can bite you, I've heard, so watch out. Not poisonous but it's supposed to hurt like a bee sting.
They tend to show up more when it rains. You can have an exterminator spray for them.
posted by np312 at 12:20 PM on July 30, 2009
They tend to show up more when it rains. You can have an exterminator spray for them.
posted by np312 at 12:20 PM on July 30, 2009
Ah, the good old house centipede. I love these guys. Ever since I've stopped killing em I've stopped seeing silverfish and other pests around the house. I wish I could buy em buy the bucket so that they'll take care of the ant problem now.
posted by enamon at 12:38 PM on July 30, 2009
posted by enamon at 12:38 PM on July 30, 2009
They actually can bite you, I've heard, so watch out. Not poisonous but it's supposed to hurt like a bee sting.
Yeah, they can, but I believe they usually don't. Unless they're pressed up against your skin in bedsheets or something.
(Often they can't pierce the skin. Charming! I'm going to go vomit now.)
posted by Solon and Thanks at 1:17 PM on July 30, 2009
Yeah, they can, but I believe they usually don't. Unless they're pressed up against your skin in bedsheets or something.
(Often they can't pierce the skin. Charming! I'm going to go vomit now.)
posted by Solon and Thanks at 1:17 PM on July 30, 2009
From qxntpqbbbqxl's link: The largest recorded specimen is 6 1/2 inches.
That's about my month's ration of nightmare fuel, thanks.
But yeah, watch that standing water and dampness. I live in a humid area where this can be hard to do, so I also rely on insanely huge wads of toilet paper or paper towels.
posted by Ladybug Parade at 1:51 PM on July 30, 2009
That's about my month's ration of nightmare fuel, thanks.
But yeah, watch that standing water and dampness. I live in a humid area where this can be hard to do, so I also rely on insanely huge wads of toilet paper or paper towels.
posted by Ladybug Parade at 1:51 PM on July 30, 2009
My landlord friend captures these and drops them into his rental properties as a means of cockroach control; works pretty darn well, too.
posted by davejay at 3:15 PM on July 30, 2009
posted by davejay at 3:15 PM on July 30, 2009
Just curious: Where are these found? I've never heard of them (in Australia)
posted by lottie at 4:51 PM on July 30, 2009
I used to get totally weirded out by these. Occasionally I'd find their legless carcasses after the cat had finished with them, but they always freaked me when I spotted one zipping by on the wall or floor or ceiling...
Then I read all about them on "What's That Bug" (which I would link but they seem to have given up normal website design for some kind of ultra-shitty post-social networking mobile setup with no pictures or even explanation of the purpose of the site on their homepage....).
After viewing many, many uncomfortably closeup pictures, as well as learning about their attributes and harmlessness (to vertebrates), I became not only desensitized, but actually *fond* of them. I can actually see beauty and grace in their anatomy. Every time I see one now, I think "Ah, there goes one of my little soldiers."
I saw the tiniest one ever yesterday--about a 1/8 inch long--and actually said out loud, "Aw...how cute!" I wonder what he's eating...what's so small that she can make a meal of it? Are her tiny meals crawling in my eyelashes even as I type this?
Learn to love them, they will not let you down. I only wish I could identify individual ones so I could name them and think of them as pets.
posted by ViolaGrinder at 5:05 PM on July 30, 2009 [2 favorites]
Then I read all about them on "What's That Bug" (which I would link but they seem to have given up normal website design for some kind of ultra-shitty post-social networking mobile setup with no pictures or even explanation of the purpose of the site on their homepage....).
After viewing many, many uncomfortably closeup pictures, as well as learning about their attributes and harmlessness (to vertebrates), I became not only desensitized, but actually *fond* of them. I can actually see beauty and grace in their anatomy. Every time I see one now, I think "Ah, there goes one of my little soldiers."
I saw the tiniest one ever yesterday--about a 1/8 inch long--and actually said out loud, "Aw...how cute!" I wonder what he's eating...what's so small that she can make a meal of it? Are her tiny meals crawling in my eyelashes even as I type this?
Learn to love them, they will not let you down. I only wish I could identify individual ones so I could name them and think of them as pets.
posted by ViolaGrinder at 5:05 PM on July 30, 2009 [2 favorites]
"My landlord friend captures these and drops them into his rental properties as a means of cockroach control; works pretty darn well, too."
do the tenants know? these guys were a big part of why we moved from our last place. everytime I saw one, all I could think of was Kafka's description in the Metamorphosis: "ein ungeheueren Ungeziefer" (somehow it doesn't do the bug justice in English) and go screaming for my husband to do it in. I'm the type that will take care of the rodents (which we also saw on occasion) with my own hands, but these things were bigger and scarier. And I didn't even know until today that they could bite.
It is so nice not to pull back the bedsheets every night *all the way* before climbing in or to look down through all pant legs before getting dressed.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 6:26 PM on July 30, 2009
do the tenants know? these guys were a big part of why we moved from our last place. everytime I saw one, all I could think of was Kafka's description in the Metamorphosis: "ein ungeheueren Ungeziefer" (somehow it doesn't do the bug justice in English) and go screaming for my husband to do it in. I'm the type that will take care of the rodents (which we also saw on occasion) with my own hands, but these things were bigger and scarier. And I didn't even know until today that they could bite.
It is so nice not to pull back the bedsheets every night *all the way* before climbing in or to look down through all pant legs before getting dressed.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 6:26 PM on July 30, 2009
I used to see these buggers when I rented a small apartment while in my 20s. They are super fast and hard to catch.
One way I found to catch them (for dispatching) is to put a spray nozzle on a shaving foam can. This makes the can shoot a stream of foam which stops these babies cold. (You may then smush with any handy device, like a brick.)
posted by Drasher at 5:57 PM on July 31, 2009 [1 favorite]
One way I found to catch them (for dispatching) is to put a spray nozzle on a shaving foam can. This makes the can shoot a stream of foam which stops these babies cold. (You may then smush with any handy device, like a brick.)
posted by Drasher at 5:57 PM on July 31, 2009 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Julnyes at 11:11 AM on July 30, 2009