What Causes Centipedes in the House?

What causes centipedes in the house? To start, finding many house centipedes usually indicates other pest problems. Centipedes thrive in damp spots where they have plenty of other insects to eat.

Centipedes in your Long Island Home

House centipedes are considered a year-round pest problem. They eat other bugs: silverfish,  carpet beetle larvae, cockroaches, spiders, and more. They hunt for these insects mostly at night. Centipedes have 15 pairs of legs with the last pair (on adult females) about 1 1/2 inches long. Because of all these legs, they look about 3 to 4 inches long. These bugs are mostly harmless but many people find them creepy due to their many wiggling legs. Did I mention that they are fast?

You’ll find centipedes living under your home’s concrete foundation, inside cement block walls, and in basement drains. They love damp, cool locations like crawl spaces. Outside, centipedes live under boards, logs, rocks, and other protected, damp spots.

Sometimes, centipedes are confused with millipedes.  You can tell the difference by looking at their legs. Millipede legs are short and are directly beneath their body. Centipede legs are long and stick out. Millipedes have two pairs of legs per body segment, while centipedes have one pair per segment.

Read more about centipedes here. You can also find out more about millipedes here.

Contact Suburban Exterminating for professional pest control.