House Centipede
The house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) is a fast, long-legged centipede that lives in houses, basements and bathrooms around the world. It hunts spiders, cockroaches, silverfish and other small household pests.
The house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) is a fast, long-legged centipede that lives in houses, basements and bathrooms around the world. It hunts spiders, cockroaches, silverfish and other small household pests.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open House Centipede in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Ecdysozoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Speed on Many Legs
The animal has fifteen pairs of long legs and can run at high speed, up to about 40 centimeters per second. The legs break off easily as a defense. Antennae and long hind legs help it detect prey in the dark.
Eyes Unusual for a Centipede
Most centipedes are blind, but scutigeromorphs have compound eyes, with many tiny lenses. They hunt by touch and vision, trapping prey with their legs and delivering venom through forcipules.
A Harmless Neighbor
The bite is rare and usually no worse than a bee sting. The species, originally from the Mediterranean, has spread worldwide with people. See Amazonian Giant Centipede.
House Centipede at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Scutigera coleoptrata |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum | Myriapoda |
| Class | Chilopoda |
| Order | Scutigeromorpha |
| Family | Scutigeridae |
| Field Guide group | Ecdysozoa: Mandibulata (Mandibulates) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | 15 pairs of extraordinarily long delicate jointed legs, yellowish-grey body with three dark longitudinal dorsal stripes, multifaceted compound-like eyes, speeds up to 42 cm/s. |
| Order | Scutigeromorpha |
| Leg pairs | 15 |
See Also
- Amazonian Giant Centipede — a large centipede
- Common Pill Bug — another household arthropod