May 04, 2005

• They are harmless, aren't they? Why do you want to kill them? They're cute.
• I thought this was going to be about video games. Oh and silverfish are only like, what, an inch long? So I think you're right that those aren't it.
• If you're renting, your landlord should be taking care of this. Some landlords/management companies are lazy, and in that case, I strongly recommend taking your case to whatever kind of tenant's rights board you have in your area (assuming you're in the US; not sure about laws abroad). Good luck!
• I'm also curious as to why you won't GIS. I have an horrendous phobia of spiders, which is rather bad because I live in Western Australia where rather large huntsmen and wolf spiders are fond of coming into houses. Had one the size of a wall clock just recently. But I don't have a problem with images of them.
• Conduct a thorough inspection, including little used or disturbed places such as crawl spaces or little used closets and basements. Sticky cockroach traps may be placed in suspect areas to monitor for activity and help catch insects. Another method to monitor for these insects is to coat an index card with a flour and water paste, let it dry and place it in the area where you suspect activity or have spotted damage. Leave in place for two or more weeks, then check for tiny scrape marks or ragged edges. Reduce moisture in suspect or infested areas can help make it less habitable for these insects. Both like moist environments. Look for condensation on windows and if constantly present, make needed alterations to eliminate it. A dehumidifier may be useful in rooms that are constantly moist, but it should only be looked at as a temporary solution, and you should investigate causes of moisture and try to eliminate them. Fans that exhaust moisture to the outside may be helpful in bathrooms. Cracks and crevices often accumulate cellulose and provide hiding places for insects. Vacuum regularly using a crevice or furniture tool. Find ways to sear cracks and crevices, especially around windows, moldings, and cabinets. Caulking, plaster and various types of putty are some choices. For areas around pipes, especially where they go through walls or floor, heat resistant caulking compounds are available for use around heat and hot water pipes. Reducing moisture, vacuuming regularly and using sticky traps may be enough to control these insects. In difficult cases and to knock down large populations, insecticides may be useful tools. Silverfish and firebrats can be managed by using least toxic insecticide drying agents such as amorphous silica gel or boric acid. Apply in cracks and crevices where silverfish may frequent. Also available are commercially prepared household formulations of sprays containing either the insecticide Baygon, bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, or permethrin. Apply in cracks and crevices, where pipes go through walls, along baseboards, and in corners of non-food storage cabinets and closets.
• I'm really sorry. I found these recently, in helping a friend locate something to control a spider problem. Looks like they work for centipedes too.
• This is a silverfish. This is a typical centipede although you should see the ones in south america, they grow huuuuge.
• Oflinkey- Did the fumagating work the first time? If so, just stay with some friends and/or get a hotel room for a night and take the cats. If it didn't work then try a little Boric Acid. I know it works for roaches and I'm going to pretend that centipedes are in the same family/species/genus. Silverfish or Thysanura look something like this. The real solution is to find out from where they're originating, then kill the source. Good luck!
• This image shows you exactly what you need to do. Good luck!
• for those who have never witnessed a centipede. well! may i be the first to say... GROSSS!!!! GOD I'M GLAD I DON'T LIVE THERE!!! sorry. i know how you feel. i once lived in a place with an absolute infestation of box elder bugs. i complained to the landlord and he said just about exactly what chyren said. sorry i can't offer any advice, just thank goodness it's your last year there. and, um, i think they eat them in certain cultures. you might try them sauteed.
• chyren! centipede graphic meld! heh.
• i'm old and thus slow on the preview
• Well, it was about the best generic centipede image on the first couple of pages of GIS. I didn't want to post those fantastically huge colour photos, incase oflinkey went screaming out of the room or something.
• If they're silverfish, there's plenty of stuff you can buy from the shops to deal with them. I got no problem with that. But if they're centipedes, then I can't really approve of killing them. Shit, I'd keep them in a box or something as pets.
• "Birds, including domestic chickens, eat centipedes when they can catch them." there you go, get a bird.
• Can we narrow down the type of centipede at all? Is it the common house centipede? (scroll down) Those suckers usually freak out anyone who sees them for the first time, and they're particularly disturbing when squished. However, they're harmless to humans and prey on other insects, which could be a good thing. They also like damp, so perhaps a de-humidifier would help, assuming they are the species in question.
• Are centipedes really harmless? I got bit by one on my thigh as a kid, and it hurt like bejeesus. Damn, but I hate centipedes. *climbs on loveseat with oflinkey*
• That's just awful. Everywhere I've ever lived has had house centipedes, but encountering 6-7 per day would drive me insane. You're definitely right about them being centipedes, not silverfish though. This is unfortunate, because having lived with silverfish, I can authoritatively say that centipedes are at least 10 times creepier.
• My cat takes care of all minor pest problems for me. 7-10 bugs per day is way more than he could handle, but you have THREE cats. I say, put them to work.
• I think Nal has it right. They sound like house centipedes, from what you're describing. Those little speedsters are fairly common in my house too (they can really move). I'm in the eastern U.S., but I'm not really sure if they're widespread or not. Here are a few more pictures of them. We usually see 2 or 3 of 'em running around first thing in the morning (or late at night), but I'm not freaked out by them, so I just end up squashing them without much thought. Anyway, you might try an exterminator again. Someone reputable. Apparently they feed on other small insects, so your exterminator will have to go to the root of the problem (ie, cut off the food source). We also have these jumping nasties too, but the dog enjoys them as midnight snacks, so not much of a problem there.
• Definitely house centipedes. I get them coming up through my shower drain sometimes. I think they're mesmerizing, the way their legs move in an undulating way. However, I couldn't stand seeing more than five per year. I don't believe they bite, but I'm not sure. My cat will eat them, but not without playing with them for awhile.
• These things just love to infest loveseats. Don't look under that pillow!
• I had a centipede problem, but the earwigs ate 'em all. The cats won't eat earwigs, alas.
• Are centipedes really harmless The House Centipedes are harmless. I'm not speaking for any other examples. Certainly I've seen a few other types in the south with jaws I wouldn't want to get near.
• My standard advice for household bug problems is seal your livening space. Go find some dirt cheap calk in a tube or plaster in a homemade pastry bag and seal all cracks. If it is a crack or hole fill it, be systematic about it. If they can't get in or hide, you win. Sprays last a limited time and expose you to chem crap. Sealing all household cracks will also reduce heating/cooling bills and cutback on mold/damp funk creeping in from under the house. Properly applied this strategy can even eliminate a roach infestation. Let the filling of the creeping crack comments begin....
• Shoot the mushrooms to either side of them, leaving a corridor down which the centipede has to travel. Then fire away, and remember that your trackball allows you to move rapidly in curves, while the centipedes can only move in straight lines. Oh, and watch out for that spider. It's a pain to shoot, but the points are always worth it.
• I will have all of you know that 1) I thank you for your advice and appreciate your time (js, ppppppbbbttt) and 2) I did not click on ANY of the links. Yes, Chyren, I hate even the images of them. They *are not cute*. I was at the Toronto Zoo at one point and happened to accidentally see the one monster grey Asian centipede on display. Aaagagahhegghrhr! Also, we think that we are sometimes bitten by them, and I do react badly to the bites. It could be spiders but I have had spider bites in the past. I do not get golf-ball sized welts from them. Pretty sure it is the centipedes. Our kitties are of a rarified sort. They hunt, catch or track *nothing*. Too undignified. Thanks again, all!
• By the way, anyone here know of a particular insecticide that is often mentioned on AskMetafilter (but it being down right now prevents me from looking for it) that is either organic or natural or something along those lines? It has been mentioned at least 10 times in several bug-related threads, but I cannot remember what it is. Oh, and someone asked if the fumigation worked. No.
• From the size and description, sounds like a millipede to me. (Scroll down to the table and click to see an image.) Here's an essay on millipede & centipede control - written by a seller of pest control products, but has some suggestion about where the beasties live prior to migration. They suggest spraying outside the house and inside walls. posted by path at 09:35PM UTC on May 04, 2005
• House centiupedes are considered harmless, but they are very fast and therefore startling to people. If you have them (and at a rate of 7 to 10 a day you sound infested) then you won't have cockroaches, since house centipedes are predators of other insects and spiders. They are not considered dangerous to human beings, but I am not sure what effect a bite from one might have on a cat; since cats form abcesses from what seem trifling injuries, think if they were my cats I would rather they were not bitten. Might check with local vets, though, see if this is a problem anyone's encountered. Scutigera are the only indoor centipede in North America -- the rest are outdoor centipedes who may come indoors under the bark of firewood, etc.
• I did not click on ANY of the links And yet you asked your question on the internet...why?
• Oflinkey, I had the same problem in a very similar building. The monsters would crawl out from under the window sills, cracks in the plaster, baseboards, etc. I will not go into detail about the one that crawled into my mouth while I was asleep (but never crawled back out). OK. Enough. Is the natural/organic substance you're thinking of boric acid?
• Nal, any of the picture or video links...sorry. I did read all of the text links- thanks path! I really can't stand to look at them. Eek. Biliochick, I dont think so...it had a trade or brand name of sorts. Thank you all!
• They are harmless, aren't they? I was bitten by a centipede a couple of years ago. I couldn't sleep for two nights without painkillers. The afflicted area ached for about six months afterwards, and still throbs balefully when I'm overtired.
• House centipedes supposedly have jaws too weak to enable them to bites holes in people's skin. [No. I've no idea who meansures the thickness of folks' skins and decides these things.] All centipedes seem to be venomous, however, to lesser or greater degree.
• Take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. And be very careful when testing out that new teleportation device. And put on the special sunglasses so you can read their mind-bending subliminal messages. Oh, and they can't see you if you cover yourself in river mud. Hope this helps!
• I wonder if centipedes from the Southern Hemisphere are more dangerous than those in the Northern? I would check it out, but I'm too chickenshit to, in case I see any pictures. *solemnly shakes Wolof's hand as fellow centipede-bite sufferer*
• Wolof- You were probably bitten by an Australian centipede though, and everyone knows that Australian insects and lower vertebrates have become more deadly and vicious over the years by their constant exposure to the criminals who make up that continent's entire population. (You got the convicts, we got the puritans... But we're still willing to trade if you are...)
• Crap, I knew I shouldn't have read this post. I am going to have trouble sleeping tonight.