Scooty

Kelly’s Field Notes

Common Name: House Centipede, Fast Eyebrows, Freaky Legs

Subphylum: Myriapoda

Order: Scutigeromorpha

Family: Scutigeridae

Genus: Scutigera

Species: coleoptrata

Description: 

House centipedes are lighter in color than the classic centipede you might be picturing. They are typically light yellow with grey striping (Penn State Ex). They have 15 pairs of legs (that’s 30 legs total!). Adults can be up to 35 mm in length (1.4 in) (Wikipedia, 2022). Due to their very long legs and antennae give them the feel of something much larger! If the antennae are nearly twice as long as its body length, you are looking at a female (Penn State Extension, 2023). Additionally, those long antennae that resemble legs make it difficult for a predator to tell if they are looking at the front or the back of the centipede. Unlike most centipedes, house centipedes have compound eyes that are well developed. This indicates their eye sight is much better than their cousins.

In the wild, house centipedes are found in damp spaces; under rocks and logs, anywhere that is fairly protected. Indoors, you will often find them in your basement and bathroom, for similar reasons (CCM, 2025). Now found throughout much of the world, due to humans carrying them through trade, house centipedes are originally from the Mediterranean. They were first recorded in the U.S. in Pennsylvania in 1849 (Penn State Extension, 2023).

House centipedes are nocturnal. While you may not love them in your home, they are active predators, often eating pests! House centipedes feed on roaches, drain flies, moths, spiders, house flies, earwigs, etc. Anything they can catch is potential prey. The ends of their legs are highly segmented, so they can use them as sort of “lassos” to grab their prey (Lincoln, 2025). Once their prey is subdued, the house centipede will inject venom into its prey through modified forelegs called forciples (much like a spider). While this may sound scary, they have difficulty biting humans and even if they succeed it has been described as no worse than a bee sting (CCM, 2025).

Life Cycle: 

Life begins for house centipedes as one of between 35 to 100 eggs, laid by their mother in a crack in your home, along the baseboard, or in other protected damp spaces. While some centipede mothers care for their eggs and young, the house centipede does not. Centipedes go through incomplete metamorphosis: egg, nymph, adult. When they hatch, nymphal house centipedes look a lot like their parents but only have 4 pairs of legs! They continue to accrue legs with each molt resulting in this many pairs of legs: 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 15, 15, 15 (6 molts in total) (Wikipedia, 2022; CCM, 2025). House centipedes take a long time to reach maturity, up to 3 years! They are also fairly long lived and can live up to 7 years (Dugas, 2025).

Super Powers:

• Speed - centipedes in general are fast animals! They can reach speeds up to one foot per second (0.3 m/s) (Lincoln, 2025)!

• Grasping Feet - house centipedes can run on many surfaces, including walls, floors, and ceilings. If it’s got a little texture, they can climb it!

• Night Vision - house centipedes are nocturnal hunters, sensitive to the slightest movement.

• Venom - house centipedes inject their prey with venom, causing its insides to liquify.

• Tight Fit - because of their flattened body shape, house centipedes can fit into tight spaces.

• Fear - despite their docile nature and usefulness as hunters of pests, house centipedes still strike fear or at least disgust in the hearts of many humans.

References: 

Dugas, Katherine. “House Centipede (Scutigera Coleoptera).” The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, portal.ct.gov/-/media/caes/documents/publications/fact_sheets/entomology/house_centipede_scutigera.pdf. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.

“House Centipede.” Conservation Commission of Missouri, mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/house-centipede.

“House Centipedes.” Penn State Extension, 30 Jan. 2023, extension.psu.edu/house-centipedes.

“Scutigera Coleoptrata.” Wikipedia, 9 Jan. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata.

‌Lincoln, Cindy. “Ask a Naturalist: Meet Your Roommate, the House Centipede.” North Carolina Museum of Natrual Sciences, Naturalist Center, naturalsciences.org/calendar/news/ask-a-naturalist-meet-your-roommate-the-house-centipede/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.