Scutigera coleoptrata (Linnaeus, 1758)

House centipede

The thirty-legged sprinter in your bathtub, it can't climb out, and it's hunting the real pests.

Order: Scutigeromorpha
Family: Scutigeridae
Group: Occasional invaders
Ontario status: Established, introduced; common in damp basements and bathrooms

Why it matters

It is the best pest controller you never hired, one house centipede eats the silverfish, carpet beetles, and young cockroaches you'd otherwise pay to remove. Its venom is for prey, not people. The sight of one means dampness and prey; fix those and it moves on.

Origin

The Mediterranean; now worldwide in damp human buildings.

Behavior

A nocturnal sprinter that hunts other household bugs all night, silverfish, roaches, spiders. By day it hides in damp dark places. It can deliver venom through modified front mouthparts (forcipules), but bites are rare and mild.

Living conditions

Damp basements, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and under boxes, anywhere humid with other small bugs to eat. Often found stuck in bathtubs and sinks (it can't climb smooth surfaces).

Signs of presence

A fast gray-yellow many-legged sprinter at night in the basement or bathroom
One stuck in the bathtub or sink in the morning
Fewer silverfish and spiders in homes with resident centipedes
Long-legged juveniles near floor drains and sump areas

Weaknesses

Desiccates in dry air, dehumidifiers are kryptonite
Cannot climb smooth surfaces; bathtubs and sinks are traps
Completely dependent on humidity and a prey base, dry the basement and starve the hunters, and it leaves
Fragile legs; it cannot survive long handling or dry exposure

Myths and facts

Myth It has a hundred legs and it's coming for me.
Reality Thirty legs, all for running away from you. It cannot climb smooth porcelain, which is why it's always the bathtub, it's trapped, not attacking.
Myth Its bite is dangerous.
Reality Bites are uncommon and comparable to a mild bee sting. It saves its venom for prey.

Research notes

Morphology

Body 25-35 mm; 15 pairs of long banded legs; the last pair extends rearward like antennae, causing frequent head-tail confusion. Grayish-yellow with dark stripes. Forcipules (venom claws) tucked under the head.

Diagnostics

15 leg pairs, extremely long legs, last pair elongated rearward (often mistaken for antennae, the 'head' is at the other end). Found in damp indoor zones. Speed is itself diagnostic.

Easily confused with

Millipedes (Diplopoda) Millipedes have two leg pairs per segment, move slowly, and curl up; centipedes have one pair per segment and sprint.
Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) Silverfish are smaller, silvery, wingless insects with three tail filaments, no venomous front legs.

Life cycle

Adult: Adults live 1-3+ years
Egg: Eggs laid singly in damp soil or crevices
Egg to adult: About 1 year through successive molts
Generations per year: One
Nymph or larva: Hatchlings start with 4 leg pairs and gain segments with each molt

Development

Hemimetabolous (anamorphic), hatchlings have few leg pairs and add segments and legs with each molt, reaching 15 pairs as adults.

Reproduction

Males deposit spermatophores; females lay eggs singly in protected damp sites. Low fecundity, long life, a K-selected indoor predator.

Distribution

Global: Cosmopolitan in human structures
Native range: Mediterranean region
Ontario: Established indoors province-wide; cannot overwinter outdoors

Ecology

Apex indoor invertebrate predator, takes silverfish, cockroaches, spiders, carpet beetle larvae. Requires high humidity; desiccates rapidly in dry air. Strictly nocturnal.

Resistance

Unknown, not a pesticide target; no documented resistance.

IPM implications

The highest-value indoor predator in Ontario homes, a single centipede patrols for cockroaches and silverfish nightly. Management is moisture and prey reduction: dehumidify, fix leaks, seal entry points, reduce the prey base. Direct control is counterproductive; the professional advice is usually reassurance plus a dehumidifier. Sticky-trap counts index both centipedes and their prey.

Chemical ecology

Forcipules inject a fast-acting insecticidal venom; modified legs, not jaws. Mammal effects are mild local pain, the venom is tuned for arthropod prey. Antennae and the elongated last leg pair are chemosensory.

Genetics and DNA

No reference genome published as of 2026.

Taxonomy

Order Scutigeromorpha, family Scutigeridae, class Chilopoda. Authority (Linnaeus, 1758). The long-legged morphology is the scutigeromorph hallmark.

Open questions

Prey preferences in Ontario homes unquantified; overwintering limits in unheated structures.

References

Lewis, J.G.E. (1981). The Biology of Centipedes, Cambridge University Press.
Ebeling, W. (1978). Urban Entomology, University of California, Riverside.