QuestionQUESTION: Hi, I live in the country surrounded by farmland. This summer I found caterpillars in my house that are brown, about an inch long,and they have a lot of legs. What are these things and how can I get rid of them. So far all I've done is vacuum the area where I found them repeatedly.
Please help, these things are grossing me out.
Wendy from Ohio
ANSWER: I think you are refering to centipeds.
The house centipede, unlike most other centipedes that normally live outdoors, can live indoors especially in damp, moist basements, cellars, bathrooms, crawlspaces or unexcavated areas under the house. They are sometimes seen running rapidly across the floor with great speed, stopping suddenly to remain motionless and then resuming fast movements, occasionally directly toward the homeowner in an attempt to conceal themselves in their clothing. They have a "fearful" appearance but cause no damage to the structure, household possessions or foods. Some can bite when handled carelessly, resulting in a slight swelling or pain no worse than a mild bee sting.
Centipedes, or "hundred-legged worms," are reddish-brown, flattened, elongated animals with many segments, most of which have 1 pair of legs. The first pair of legs is modified into poisonous jaws located below the mouth. Antennae have 14 or more segments. The house centipede is grayish-yellow with 3 dark, long stripes down the back with the legs encircled with alternating dark and white bands. The actual body length is an inch or slightly longer (wormlike), surrounded with 15 pairs of very long legs making the creature appear much larger. The last pair of legs is more than twice the body length of the female. A pair of very long slender antennae extends forward from the head.
The house centipede runs swiftly when disturbed and can climb walls easily. Some are found around sump pumps in basements or bathrooms and other humid, dark hiding places where they are most active at night. They usually occur in small numbers and, in spite of their fearful appearance, they are considered harmless to humans. Most in the United States do not bite humans, but a few tropical species will bite, inflicting painful wounds. The jaws of young centipedes are usually not strong enough to cause more than a slight pinch when biting.
Prevention
Keep old boards, or rotting wood, compost piles, grass clippings, leaves, stones, etc. away from the house foundation. Remove, if practical, trash or leaf litter in a strip 3 feet wide surrounding the house foundation, exposing the soil surface to drying from the air and sunlight. Repair and seal cracks and openings in the foundation wall and around door and window frames with caulking compound and weather stripping.
Properly ventilate basements and subfloor crawlspaces to eliminate excess moisture. Indoors, control nuisance insect populations to reduce the food source (prey) of centipedes. These creatures can be collected by broom and dustpan, vacuum cleaner or other mechanical means and discarded.
Insecticides
Try to locate the infested area or cause of infestation (nearby woods, pastures, lakesides,river areas atc). Outdoor, spray a protective barier throughly soaking the soil in a five to fifteen foot band around the house. Also, throughly spray the sides of the house up to the level of the first story windows, especially across doorways and other openings. The carbamate insecticides such as propoxur(baygon), bendiocarb(ficam) or carbaryl(sevin) give the fastest knockdown compared to the other groups of insecticides. Wettable powder formulations provide the best soil residual control. If foundation plantings are heavily mulched, insecticides may have to be rodded down to the soil beneath the mulch. Repeat apllications at weekly intervals may be needed.
Treatment of the peat moss, mulch, wood chips, leaves, etc., used in landscaping around the house, is important. Subsequent water sprinkling will carry the insecticide down into the soil where these creatures hide. Do not expect immediate kill since control may be slow(three to six days or more). Additional pesticides such as amorphous silica gel (drione, Tri-die), boric acid (permadust). chlorpyrifos (Duration, Durshan, Empire, Engage), diatomaceous earth (Answer, Organic Plus), diazinon, esfenvalerate (Conquer), pyrethrins (Exciter, Kicker, Microcare, Pyrethrum, Safer, X-Clude) and Resmethrin (vectrin) can be used. Only the licensed pest control operator or applicator can use bendicorb+pyrethrins (Ficamplus) cyfluthrin (Optem, Tempo), cypermethrin (Cynoff, Cyper-active, Demon, Vikor), deltmethrin (suspend), Lambdacyhalothrin (Commodore), permethrin (Astro, Dragnet, Flee, Prelude, Torpedo) and Tralomethrin (saga). Indoors, if needed, certain formulations of Dursban, Ficam and Baygon household Spray formulations will give some residual, spot or crack can crevice control while space treatments of pyrethrins or resmethrin will paralyze or kill by contact. Always read the label and follow directions and safety precautions.
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QUESTION: Hi,
Trust me these are not centipedes. These are smaller about an inch long and dark brown not reddish tan. They also do not move very fast. They seem to have a hard back and short legs. They are kind of like the things my friends and I called 'pill bugs' but these are more brown than any other color and are longer.
Thanks
Wendy
AnswerThen these are millipedes.
Millipedes normally live outdoors but may become nuisance pests indoors by their presence. At certain times of the year (usually late summer and autumn) due to excessive rainfall or even drought, a few or hundreds or more leave the soil and crawl into houses, basements, first-floor rooms, up foundation walls, into living rooms, up side walls and drop from the ceilings. Some homeowners as early as late June have reported annoying populations accumulating in swimming pools. Fall migrations during rainy and cool weather may result as a natural urge to seek hibernation quarters. Heavy continuous rainfall in newly developed wooded areas with virgin soil (decaying organic matter habitats) are often troublesome sites. Millipedes do not bite humans nor damage structures, household possessions or foods. They can give off a disagreeable odor and if crushed, leave an unsightly mess.
Millipedes, or "thousand-legged worms", are brownish-black or mottled with shades of orange, red or brown, and are cylindrical (wormlike) or slightly flattened, elongated animals, most of which have two pairs of legs per body segment, except for the first three segments which have only one pair of legs. Antennae are short, usually seven-segmented, and the head is rounded with no poison jaws. Their short legs ripple in waves as they glide over a surface. They often curl up into a tight "C" shape, like a watch spring, and remain motionless when touched. They range from 1/2 to 1-1/4 inches long depending on the species. They crawl slowly and protect themselves by means of glands that secrete an unpleasant odor.
Millipedes are attracted to dark, cool, moist environments, usually going unnoticed in the summer due to their nocturnal habits (activity at night) and tendency to disperse. They feed on living and decomposing vegetation and occasionally on dead snails, earthworms and insects. Slight feeding injury can occur on soft-stemmed plants, in gardens and greenhouses. They cannot tolerate water-saturated soil, which forces them to the surface and higher ground. Likewise, dry, drought conditions can stimulate migration. In the autumn, it is believed they may migrate for better overwintering sites. If one or all of these conditions exist, sometimes hundreds or thousands (shovelsful) of millipedes are found in garages, first floor rooms and basements. Others believe that migration may occur when the food supply dwindles in October and November. Anyone handling these creatures without gloves will notice a lingering odor (hydrogen cyanide-like), and the fluid may be harmful if rubbed into the eyes. If crushed, millipedes may stain rugs and fabrics.
The control for millipedes and centipedes is similar.
Total control of millipedes during migration periods is difficult. Try to locate the most infested area or cause of infestation (nearby woods, pastures, lakesides, river areas, etc.). Outdoors, spray a protective barrier thoroughly soaking the soil in a five to fifteen foot band around the house. Also, thoroughly spray the sides of the house up to the level of the first story windows, especially across doorways and other openings. The carbamate insecticides such as propoxur (Baygon), bendiocarb (Ficam) or carbaryl (Sevin) give the fastest knockdown compared to the other groups of insecticides. Wettable powder formulations provide the best soil residual control. If foundation plantings are heavily mulched, insecticides may have to be rodded down to the soil beneath the mulch. Repeat applications at weekly intervals may be needed.
Treatment of peat moss, mulch, wood chips, leaves, etc. used in landscaping around the house is important. Subsequent water sprinkling will carry the insecticide down into the soil where these creatures hide. Do not expect immediate kill since control may be slow (three to six days or more). Baygon bait works well when scattered along the house foundation providing fast knock-down. Additional pesticides such as amorphous silica gel (Drione, Tri-Die), boric acid (Perma-Dust), chlorpyrifos (Duration, Dursban, Empire, Engage, Tenure), diatomaceous earth (Answer), diazinon, esfenvalerate (Conquer), pyrethrins (Exciter, Kicker, Microcare, Pyrethrum, Safer) and resmethrin (Vectrin) can be used. Only the licensed pest control operator or applicator can use bendiocarb + pyrethrins (Ficam Plus), cyfluthrin (Optem, Tempo), cypermethrin (Demon, Cynoff, Cyper-Active, Vikor), deltamethrin (Suspend), lambdacyhalothrin (Commodore), permethrin (Dragnet, Flee, Prelude, Torpedo) and tralomethrin (Saga). Fluvalinate (Mavrik, Yardex) is used outdoors. Indoors, if needed, certain formulations of Ficam and Baygon household spray formulations will give some residual, spot or crack and crevice control while space treatments of pyrethrins or resmethrin will paralyze or kill by contact. Always read the label and follow directions and safety precautions.
