Your house, specifically your bathroom, provides the ideal environmental conditions for centipedes—temperature control and a continuous water supply. House centipedes do frighten some homeowners, which is understandable. They are extremely fast bugs that only come out at night, in theory, they sound very bad. Millipede treatment will depend highly on where your problem pests are and how many are present. If just a few are finding their way indoors from the garden, pest control experts might apply a barrier spray to help discourage them. It would be very unusual to need stronger pest control for these creatures.
How to Get Rid of A Centipede Infestation
House centipedes don’t harm or destroy stored products, fabrics, pets, humans, or the structural integrity of your building and are generally only considered a nuisance. All house centipedes are venomous, but they typically run away from humans, and they very rarely bite. They love being in a humid environment, so if you have a lot of moisture in the air, you’re at risk of having a house centipede infestation. House centipedes love damp and dark areas, so homes with moisture could be a reason they invade. Many people find them in their wardrobes, bathrooms, cellars, or bathtubs and sinks. Remember, they are attracted to other pests and will do everything they can to find them.
What attracts millipedes to your house?
Additionally, centipedes don’t live in colonies like ants or bees do, so spotting a single centipede is no reason to assume large numbers of them are lurking in the walls. As a predator to common household pests such as spiders, termites, cockroaches and silverfish, centipedes are great as their own form of pest control. So while getting rid of them might be good in the short term, you might want to think twice about whether or not you should kill centipedes. Orkin has long been one of the most trusted names in pest control services, with more than 120 years in business and more than 400 locations around the globe.
What are House Centipedes?
This desire to avoid humans causes them to dart out in front of us, even when we haven’t discovered their location. So, one risk that centipedes pose to humans is simply the scare factor. House centipedes have up to fifteen leg segments, meaning they have a maximum of thirty legs. Their legs are long (longer at the back than the front) and band. They use these legs significantly, achieving running speeds of 1.3 feet per second. One thing to note is if you see more centipedes in your house, it could be because their prey has increased, and you will have more than one bug problem.
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If you need to get rid of centipedes instantly, you’ll need to rely on an insecticide. Look for spray insecticides that contain bifenthrin or cypermethrin, two chemicals that kill centipedes with a single spray. Try to use chemical insecticides as sparingly as possible to maintain the quality of air in your home and be sure to keep children and pets away from areas where insecticide has been sprayed. Centipedes don’t hold in moisture as other bugs do, so they must stay hydrated in other ways. Therefore, you see centipedes under bricks and log piles, in landscaped areas, and in wet home spaces. Most centipedes live in damp areas under logs, rocks, or other debris on the ground.
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You can schedule your appointment entirely online, and a Terminix representative can be at your home to conduct your free inspection within 24 hours of your initial call. We’ll also help you get in touch with a few reputable pest control service providers that can help you tackle particularly bad infestations. The professionals at American Pest know everything about centipedes, and they have developed home pest control services that get rid of them and any insect problem for good. Centipedes eat spiders, earthworms, silverfish, ants, and flies. Centipedes are generally dark brown or yellow and sometimes have darker colors and markings.
The microscopic jagged edges of the powder pierce the body of the house centipedes and also dry out the fat and oils contained inside, slowly killing them. Sprinkle liberally around cracks, door thresholds, and in corners, especially in damp areas. There are various ways to keep centipedes out of your home—or at least make it more difficult for them to move in—beyond banishing the bugs they eat.
Centipede Pest Control
You can try to catch them yourself using sticky traps and then throwing them away once they have been caught. This may also be where a large amount of other bugs or spiders are also found. Originally found around the Mediterranean area, centipedes were eventually imported to the Americas and now they are one of the most common Arthropods found in America.
Centipedes range from one centimeter up to thirty centimeters long—less than half an inch up to about twelve inches—and are relatively flat. So, any hole that could accommodate this size is a hole that a centipede can use to gain entry into your home. They will not want to join you in your sitting room or bedroom, where they are more likely to encounter external heat sources like fires, heaters, or underfloor heating. Bathrooms, in particular, are often one of the cooler rooms in the house, making them more attractive to centipedes.
Some people are even thankful for house centipedes in their homes because they take care of these other, more harmful, pests. However, no home feels 100% safe when you have wild insects invading it. If your home, especially your basement, is humid and damp, then you’re practically inviting house centipedes to come. You will often find these creatures under sinks, in bathtubs, or under leaking pipes in your basement. The first thing Mount Washington homeowners want to know when they have unexpected pests in their homes is if they are in danger. In the case of house centipedes, they are not dangerous to humans.
Locations that attract centipedes are places that are cool, dark, damp, close to food sources, and rarely disturbed. Many species of centipedes prefer to live outdoors, while others such as house centipedes, are comfortable in indoor and outdoor environments. They eat a wide variety of pesky bugs, including flies, ants, moths, silverfish, spiders, and cockroaches.
Therefore, if you do away with the pests, you will have taken away their source of food. This is essential to preventing a centipede infestation as early as possible. If you’re already facing a pest infestation with the likes of cockroaches, termites, and spiders in your house, the chance of having house centipedes is higher.
Centipedes can have a few dozen pairs of legs to a few hundred, which is how they got their name. In Latin, “centi” refers to 100, and “ped” or “pedis” mean feet. Whenever this insect is around your home, its speed and legs can be a discomforting sight. Standard drain systems have a U-shaped part that seals off the drain with water.
Diatomaceous earth (DE) acts as a natural pesticide and has been found to be effective at killing centipedes by cutting through their exoskeletons. While harmless to humans, the microfossils found in diatomaceous earth have very sharp edges that kill the bugs without the use of toxic chemicals. Unlike pesticides, centipedes and other insects are unable to build up a tolerance to this material, which means that you can use this method for years to come. If you’re looking for a 100% natural method to kill centipedes, DE might be the right choice for you. Although they can look disgusting to some, they don’t harm humans. Their long legs allow them to run fast as they chase their prey, pounce on them, and wrap their long spindly legs around them, preventing them from escaping.
To that end, we have researched the top pest control companies so you can choose the right one to keep your home pest free. After you take care of the centipedes in your home, it’s time to make sure that these arthropods can’t return next season…or next week. Use these tips to prevent centipedes from returning to your property after you’ve cleared out these uninvited guests. If you live in a windy area or you want to apply protection in very specific areas, know that you can also apply DE while wet. Use one cup of diatomaceous earth powder for every half gallon of water that you use, and mix the substance together in a spray bottle. Spray plants and soil with the mixture until they are wet but not dripping.
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