Apparently You Shouldn’t Ever Kill a Centipede Inside Your Home. This Is Good To Know.
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Your home is supposed to be your sanctuary, a place where you can relax, unwind, and kick off your shoes. However, any sense of tranquility is easily shattered if you’ve ever spotted a house centipede crawling around your personal space. If you’re blissfully unaware of what a house centipede looks like, prepare to be enlightened.
The hideous looking creatures have what appear to be like a hundred legs, but according to Wikipedia there are actually only 15 pairs of legs, the key word being pairs! All of these long sets of legs stick out from their inch or longer bodies and to top it all off they have an extra long pair of antennae that makes them look way bigger than they actually are. They are downright ugly and unless you’re a fan of creepy crawlies, then you likely won’t enjoy these things running around your house.
Speaking of running, they are super fast so all of those spindly legs aren’t for nothing! Oftentimes people spot them because they suddenly dart out from whatever dark corner or crack they were hiding in. The sight is jarring and naturally your first instinct is to squash the sucker dead, but killing the bugs is precisely what you should NOT do! As odd as it sounds, once you know the reasons why they should be left alone, you’ll understand that it’s ultimately for the greater good.
First off, house centipedes are like tiny little pest controllers. They hunt out and kill other bugs that are invading your house and their appetites know no boundaries. They will eat spiders, moths, roaches, flies, silverfish, and even termites which can be a very damaging and expensive pest to have around your home. They themselves do not cause any structural damage, if anything the sight of them may take an emotional toll on you, but that’s it. Best of all, they’re a natural alternative to harsh chemical bug deterrents and they cost absolutely nothing.
Next, they are considered harmless to humans. They are more likely to run away from you rather than towards you, plus they’re mainly active at night time so you probably won’t ever even see them. While they do have poisonous venom, which they use to kill all those other bugs, their mouths and jaws are usually not big or strong enough to penetrate our skin.
However, on extremely rare occasions they have succeeded in biting a person and the effect is comparable to that of a bee sting. Minor redness, pain, and swelling may accompany it, but the chances of you getting munched on by one would be like winning the lottery or being killed by a shark; it’s just not going to happen.
Finally, if the thought of centipedes crawling through your home is too much for you to bear, simply take preventative measures to keep them out. Seal any cracks or places where they could possibly get in and keep all areas, especially basements and garages, damp-free and as dry as possible. You can leave sticky tape traps to catch them or call a professional pest controller in, but they really shouldn’t be a major issue unless you have an infestation or a severe phobia of bugs with a million legs!
The next time you spot one of the ugly insects crawling around, let it go because it’s likely killing all of the many other pests that are hiding in your home. In the end, if they aren’t bothering you, why bother them?
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