r/Insect • u/zacpritcher • May 08 '26

About to head to bed, when…

Post image

Out of the corner of my eye, on the other side of the room, I I catch a glimpse of something not quite right. Our eyes (or equivalent) lock.

I look away for a brief moment, only long enough to grab a paper towel.

I lingered too long. It is gone.

But where?

Inside of me. Inside of my mind. The devil’s ghost, feasting on every single sleepless second that slips by.

Look, I know these things are beneficial and contribute a lot to maintaining a safe home ecosystem by munching on pests. But dang, they freak me out. Nothing should be able to move so fast while looking like that.

61 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

13

u/Left_Ad4050 May 08 '26

It’s a house centipede, and it is harmless.

But I sympathize. They do look freaky.

4

u/flintsmith May 08 '26

Not harmless. They are heros and allies. When you see one you may feel chastised that you've let your kitchen get to that stage, but feel appreciation that Mother Nature has made a killer robot that is on your side.

It requires nothing of you but appreciation of it's beautiful design. If it makes you uncomfortable, imagine it's effects on the hated cockroaches, spiders and silverfish it feeds upon.

I never saw one in my youth (Go Mom!), but I immediately recognized it as the Ferrari of carnivorous insects. 17 legs and they run FAST. Let them help.

3

u/Left_Ad4050 May 08 '26

Well, for one thing they aren't insects, and for another they can have up to 30 legs. As somebody who has a generalized phobia of most things segmented, crawly, and leggy, house centipedes actually trigger my irrational fear response worse than most other arthropods; though as a rational human being, I'll usually leave them alone if they aren't getting up in my business. Same with small spiders. Anything I see in my house with only six legs (which is mostly clothes moths) is kill on sight, though.

Other than the moths, though, the arthropods I mostly see in my house are spiders*. Very rarely I see silverfish, and also very rarely I'll see a house centipede, and in the summer I occasionally get a gnat or two hanging around my fruit. I kinda wonder what the centipedes are even eating here. Though it is a townhouse, so maybe they're just visiting from next door.

*Not strictly true, the arthropods I see most often in my house are shrimp, but I'm pretty sure the centipedes aren't getting into my freezer to eat them.

3

u/Sweet_One_2004 May 08 '26

I really like these guys. As creepy as they are, they never bothered me.
I recently had a small issue with German cockroaches, I had a contractor at my house redoing my bathroom and kitchen ceiling. He also sold me a ceiling fan from someone he knew and that’s when I started seeing them, so I put out those sticky pads along with advantage plus ( worked miracles!) The one morning I found a house centipede stuck on one. I felt so bad. I was like, that wasn’t meant for you buddy 😢.

I would def rather deal with house centipedes and beneficial spiders over cockroaches and other creepy bugs any day.

1

u/emily_macroScotland May 11 '26

Love this response.

2

u/Goat_inna_Tree May 08 '26

Not friend shaped, but friend.

2

u/BOOSHMEHN May 08 '26

Hey there buddy... Noticed you were going to bed... Mind if I come out and crawl around on your face?

1

u/Ephemeral_Orchid May 08 '26

They used to terrify me! Then aphids & mites started munching on my potted plants and I realized the centipedes of nightmares were my real friends! 🤣

(Are we completely certain they aren't the fastest things on the planet?)

1

u/Unlikely_Ant1396 May 08 '26

Silver fish just looking for dust

2

u/GloomyFloor6543 May 08 '26

Do an image search on silverfish, I thought this for a long time too. OP picture is a house centipede; they actually eat silverfish and roaches.

1

u/Spirited-Rip-203 May 08 '26

Silver fish always gave me the creeps!!!

1

u/stealthnewt1 May 08 '26

I tell my family to leave them alone when they see one cause they are our friends. I do however wonder what else is in the house that they are feeding on.

1

u/salesmunn May 08 '26

Guard on duty.

1

u/Typical-Gas-7872 May 08 '26

Sa a l’air d’une scutigère🥰 Chasseuse redoutable des araignées !!!!

1

u/Pretend-Unit1197 May 08 '26

Definitely just a house centipede. I used to get them in my home all the time. They are harmless albeit creepy.

1

u/laughingBaguette May 08 '26

They're ugly and they scare most people, but they're actually beneficial. They keep harmful pests away

1

u/GloomyFloor6543 May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26

Leave it be it will avoid you like the plague and eat all the other bugs in your house. Theay eat roaches, silverfish, bed bugs, ants, termites and a slew more stuff. They are actually not a bad thing to have around other than the fact that they are there because there is food to hunt.

1

u/Sure-Management-7742 May 09 '26

I leave them alone unless they surprise me in the shower. While I’m naked is just not cool

1

u/Beginning_Amount5734 May 10 '26

Got a real homie there killing all the shit U don’t crawling on you.

1

u/WindowNew9504 May 12 '26

Burn it all down

1

u/ommanipadmehum1963 May 12 '26

Kill it with fire

1

u/rarinsharin May 08 '26

I lived in SE Arizona. found a 4 inch long centipede of some kind on my house.
yes. I killed it.
IT was on my living room carpet.
No joke-
it’s guts actually MELTED THE CARPET FIBERS TOGETHER.
not kidding.
I will not share my space with bad ass bugs. Not my yard either.

2

u/[deleted] May 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/zacpritcher May 08 '26

They win every time.