100 Species #68: House centipede

[urbpan]

House centipedes Scutigera coleoptrata were one of the first species we found in the house, and we find them relatively frequently; this one trapped itself in our kitchen sink.

Can it really have been 14 months since I last posted about house centipedes? Actually, looking at my house centipede tag, it looks like I post about them about once a year. They are a recurring subject because they are fairly common in buildings, but lots of people never get used to them. I guess I kind of like how freaked out people are by this relatively harmless and beneficial animal. As you know, I am a pest control manager at a zoo, and when the staff complains about house centipedes, I tell them "that's not a pest, that's an ally."

In one of my old posts about this animal, I expressed skepticism that they were capable of biting a human. That post accumulates a few new comments every year, testimonials from unlucky souls that somehow got themselves "bitten" by this little creature. (It's not really a bite--their venom is in modified forelegs rather than mouthparts.) I was crawling around under my porch trying to catch one of three that my bug-foraging guests found hunting (uncharacteristically) outdoors, and even the bug-lovers thought I was nuts for trying to touch one. I'm going to cross-post this picture on facebook, and then I'll share the horrified comments that I collect there.

Comments

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

Interesting. It doesn't press my OMG That Thing Will Bite Me buttons, but it sure as hell presses my Run Screaming button. Husband agrees that he would indeed scream like a girl if he found it crawling on his skin. FYI we live in Australia.