House Centipede

Natural Habitat

Found worldwide, often indoors in damp, cool places like basements, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. Outdoors, they live under rocks and in leaf litter.

Diet & Feeding

Carnivorous predator that eats household pests such as silverfish, firebrats, carpet beetle larvae, cockroaches, spiders, and other small arthropods.

Behavior Patterns

They are nocturnal and extremely fast runners. They hunt actively by pouncing on prey rather than building webs. They are meticulous groomers, cleaning their many legs regularly.

Risks & Benefits

Benefits: Highly beneficial as they control populations of unwanted household pests. Risks: Generally harmless to humans. While they can bite in self-defense if handled, their jaws rarely penetrate skin and the bite is typically no worse than a bee sting.

Identified on: 3/5/2026