Sunday, August 28, 2005

Weird Kitchen Bug

This bad boy showed up on our kitchen sink. My first instinct was that it's a silverfish because it's long and slinky and well that's just about the only kind of bug I've seen that meets the description.

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I didn't think it was a silverfish after all since they seem to have many fewer legs. I counted at least 20 legs on this bad boy.

I thought I'd send it off to What's That Bug to get it indentified, but after I browsed a little bit at the site it became clear that it's a "House Centipede" and it's harmless. It actually is supposed to eat other bugs, so I let it free in the kitchen.

11 comments :

Anonymous said...

Daniel! This sounds like a huge bug-relationship improvement. A testament to the power of knowledge versus ignorance, in helping us get along. But the thing did look beastly!!! Not that it would keep me from visiting!

Daniel Jalkut said...

Hi Suzy! I didn't know you were reading, too. The thing looks really beasty in the photo, but in real life it's only about the size of a carpenter ant. I definitely wasn't gonna go petting it or nothin' but I wasn't too scared :)

Not like Moby Fly!

Anonymous said...

That's a cool bug. I don't think many bugs get as freakish looking as Jerusalem crickets. And good for you for letting it feast in your kitchen!

Anonymous said...

Thats one of the three type of centipedes. I found one of them coming out of a dirt crevice late at night in Vacaville. It was about 2" long, so be ready to find bigger ones!

-banshee

Daniel Jalkut said...

Hey banshee! Not looking forward to finding this guy when he's 2" long, but I'll try to work my expectations up to that!

Anonymous said...

Yuck that's an arthopod. A type of house centipede. I won't let those survive in my house of I do see them. They will make there way into your bedroom then watch out cause they won't think twice about crawling on your bed ewww.!! I have dealt with these buggers for years at my grandmas old house. And yeah I have seen them on bedroom walls and once was about to head to bed pulled up my covers only to discover a really huge one rite there under the sheets!!!! Let's be real you don't want em in your room and really in technicality they only really feed on silverfish bugs And roaches, have u got any of those lurking around your house too??? If u do then fine by all means let that bug live, but if you don't have the bugs mentioned above then hell no kill em!

nikkibee521 said...

I looked up on insectidenfication.org. it's a common house centipede, and apparently they are harmless, and are super beneficial to keeping worse pests out of the house like cockroaches and stuff...*shrugs*, I always thought it was a silverfish though.

Millee said...

anonymous-"Let's be real you don't want em in your room and really in technicality they only really feed on silverfish bugs And roaches, have u got any of those lurking around your house too??? If u do then fine by all means let that bug live, but if you don't have the bugs mentioned above then hell no kill em!"





I do agree i just came upon one of these buggers just last night trying to crawl on my bed and went looking for info online and found this site. i don't have any bugs (roaches or otherwise) so i will definitely not collect any other type of bugs. besides i have insectophobia so i can't stand any bugs, ewwwww!!!

k8 said...

lol guys!!! i have them to but the ones iv seen aren't only the size of ants!!! iv had some that were 3 inches!!!

Anonymous said...

I just found 6 of em some small some big in my grandmas basement bathroom, the biggest one was 4 and 1/2 inches!!!!

Anonymous said...

That IS a house centipede. They Do bite and can penetrate human skin. They ARE poisonous but hold little harm to adults unless you are allergic to the venom. They DO pose harm to children as the toxin is strong enough to make a child have bad difficulties from it.