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.
Insecticides for centipedes
Centipedes can be completely destroyed only with the help of insecticides. Not the most humane method, but the most effective and fastest. Gel preparations designed to bait cockroaches may not be effective against centipedes. Prussians are attracted to gels by the aroma of the product, and only after the insect has tasted the poison and brought it on its legs to the nest, a chain reaction begins. Multi-legged arthropods are predators and food baits can remain unattended for a long time.
The best poison against centipedes are insecticides in the form of aerosols, sprays, and concentrates. Products are applied to potential habitats of centipedes: in bathrooms, toilets, along baseboards. Disinsection is carried out using a respirator and rubber gloves in the absence of household members. At the end of the procedure, you must leave the room for several hours.
How to poison centipedes:
- “Clean House” - an aerosol product that has an instant destructive effect, a flexible nozzle is attached to the bottle;
- “Raptor” - the aerosol contains 2 insecticides and a synergist that enhances their effect, due to which all crawling insects that fall within the area of action of the drug have no chance of survival;
- “Combat” - Multispray and Superspray aerosols are equipped with a long, comfortable nozzle, which allows you to treat hard-to-reach places; they retain their properties for 2-3 days;
- “Raid” is an effective aerosol for killing insects with the smell of lavender, characterized by a prolonged action;
- emulsions "Medilis" - inexpensive concentrates Supersil, Ziper, which are diluted with water before use in accordance with the instructions, the effect of the active components lasts for 30 days, it is advisable to use for rooms with large populations of insects and centipedes.
If there are too many centipedes in the apartment, then they do not lack food supply, which indicates the appearance of colonies of cockroaches and ants in the apartment. In this case, you can use the Raptor aquafumigator. It is a metal container that contains potent insecticides and a vapor-creating agent. After assembling the structure, which will take 2-3 minutes, the aquafumigator is installed in the center of the room. Steam comes out of it and penetrates into all corners of the room, instantly destroying all insects, and centipedes will not be an exception.
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..
Reasons for appearance
In their natural environment, centipedes live in damp places where there are many small insects for food. And in residential buildings, an “invasion” of flycatchers is observed in late autumn, when it becomes cold outside, and these creatures have to look for shelter and food.
Despite the fact that the appearance of a centipede may well frighten even an adult, it does not pose a serious danger to people.
Millipedes easily make their way into apartments, even on the highest floors, through cracks in walls and ventilation ducts. Since moisture is vital for them, they most often settle in bathrooms or in the kitchen, closer to the sink. And in private homes, basements and attics become their favorite habitat.
The venom of this arthropod is harmful exclusively to insects (cockroaches, bedbugs, flies, etc.)
Flycatchers are nocturnal creatures, so it is almost impossible to notice them during the day. But when it gets dark, they go out hunting and move around the apartment very quickly.
Interesting fact: a centipede can catch several insects at once with its legs.
In fact, the house centipede can be very useful - it destroys harmful insects.
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 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
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.
Traditional recipes against centipedes
All folk recipes are aimed at expelling these animals, and not at destruction. There are not many of them in nature, so there is no point in destroying them in vain. But they can mark the boundaries of the inviolable territory.
This is interesting!
Millipedes can run into human homes with entire families. But they are unlikely to and will be able to reproduce under human conditions. Therefore, they lay eggs exclusively in natural conditions.
And this is even great, since there are many different ways to get rid of centipedes, without endangering yourself or your pets.
Below are the most popular methods and means in the fight against centipedes.
Red pepper
In a place inaccessible to others, scatter hot dry pepper where a potential millipede lair has been discovered. They will not withstand such an attack and will leave the territory voluntarily. For them, it emits a sharp smell, behind which they cannot sensitively detect prey, and it burns itself if it gets on the body. Any living beings on earth strive to leave an area that has become unfavorable for living and reproduction.
Boric acid
It is used to sprinkle the paths of possible crawling of centipedes, and also to treat the premises themselves. This is safe for people, but unpleasant for centipedes - the acid burns their bodies.
Freezing
This is an interesting method that is only possible for private residential buildings. Our grandmothers also used this option when they had to fight parasites that had infested the hut. The owners left the house for several days, and the parasites froze naturally. But this cannot be done in city apartments in winter.
If you come across a flytrap in a warm house in winter, you can cover it with a jar and catch it. Leave it until spring and then release it. And in winter it will die outside, especially if there are frosty nights.
It is useless to set traps - if the trap is sticky, then this animal will simply tear off the stuck parts of its paws and run away. And new paws will grow.
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.
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.
Village housing
Most often, in a country house or village, centipedes attack bedrooms and kitchens in the fall, with the onset of cold weather. Our distant ancestors knew how to get rid of such “visitors” in the house on their own, at home:
- the wooden floor was treated with special compounds to prevent the boards from rotting. Whatever it is - chemical or based on natural resins, flycatchers do not like it;
- used boric acid, scattering it abundantly in their habitats;
- They actively knocked out flycatchers using any available means, which is not very effective, given their speed of movement, etc.
Boric acid from centipedes
If the invasion of unpleasant insects does not stop even after actively combating them with insecticides, the location of farmsteads and devices on the site should be reconsidered. Since flycatchers love concentrations of other arthropods, you will have to move the waste pit, compost heap or garbage container away from the house.
In any case, only cleanliness in and around your home will help save you from constant rustling at night and an unpleasant meeting with an uninvited tenant. Centipedes do not breed in the kitchen or bathroom, they come to people to hunt, so you need to change the conditions for flies and other insects to live in the house. An apartment or cottage without mold and prey is absolutely uninteresting for flycatchers.
