House Centipede

The house centipede is a fast-moving, long-legged arthropod in the class Chilopoda, order Scutigeromorpha, most often represented by the species Scutigera coleoptrata. Unlike the flattened, many-segmented centipedes found under logs outdoors, house centipedes have a shorter body with extremely long, banded legs that make them look far larger and more delicate than their actual body size suggests.

It belongs to the same broad group as other centipedes (subphylum Myriapoda) but is unusual for a myriapod in having compound eyes and being genuinely comfortable indoors. Native originally to the Mediterranean region, it has spread with human structures to much of the temperate world.

Ecologically it is a nocturnal predator, and its presence in a home is usually a sign that other small insects are also present nearby. It plays a quiet but useful role as a natural check on populations of silverfish, spiders, and other small indoor arthropods.

• Body: grayish-yellow with three dark longitudinal stripes running down the back; body length about 25–35 mm.
• Legs: 15 pairs of extremely long, thin, banded legs, each pair longer than the one before it, giving a fringed silhouette.
• Antennae: long, thread-like, roughly as long as the body.
• Movement: extremely fast, erratic sprints rather than a steady crawl.
• Lookalikes: easily confused with other centipede species, but banded legs, speed, and indoor habitat are distinctive; true millipedes have two pairs of legs per segment and move slowly by comparison.

House centipedes favor damp, dark environments—basements, bathrooms, closets, and crawl spaces—where humidity stays high. Outdoors they can be found under stones, mulch, and leaf litter. They occur across much of North America, Europe, and other temperate regions with mild winters.

Most active at night, they hide in cracks and crevices by day and emerge after dark to hunt. Populations tend to peak in late summer and early fall when both temperatures and prey abundance are highest.

House centipedes are solitary, nocturnal predators that actively chase down prey rather than building webs or traps. They feed on small household and garden invertebrates such as spiders, silverfish, and cockroach nymphs, using speed and a pair of venom claws beneath the head to subdue prey.

When disturbed, a house centipede relies on its speed to flee to cover, and it can also shed a leg if grabbed, a defense called autotomy that helps it escape a predator. It can bite in defense if handled, though this is uncommon behavior for the species.

House centipedes undergo a gradual developmental process called anamorphic development, in which young hatch from eggs with fewer legs and pairs of legs are added at each molt until the adult leg count is reached. Eggs are laid singly in damp soil or crevices.

Individuals molt multiple times over one to three years before reaching sexual maturity, and adults can live several years—unusually long for an arthropod this size. There is no pupal stage; development is direct, and adults are active year-round indoors where temperatures stay stable.