Centipedes and Millipedes

Have you seen a scary looking bug with a seemingly endless supply of legs?  You’re probably looking at a centipede or a millipede.

While centipedes differ in appearance, their life-styles are very similar.  The one in the feature picture is a house centipede.  The barrier treatment in any of our programs will definitely be able to fight off these creepy crawlers.

Habits

Centipedes are typically found in areas of high moisture such as look bark, in rotting logs, under stones, trash, piles of leaves and grass clippings, flower-bed mulch, etc., where their typical prey is found.  Most centipedes are nocturnal.

They occasionally invade structures, where they survive on flies, spiders, etc. (we have considered letting them lose at some houses to help us out). 😉  Although they may be found anywhere in a house, the usual places are damp basements, bathrooms, damp closets, and potted plants.

Centipedes are primarily carnivorous and obtain most of their moisture needs from their prey.  Some species will sometimes feed on plant tissues, causing injury.

Control of Centipedes and Millipedes

The key to centipede control is to reduce or eliminate moist areas and harborage.

Hot spots to consider:

• remove accumulations of leaves and grass clippings
• remove accumulations of logs that have just been lying around for too long
• remove accumulations of stones and rocks that no longer serve a purpose
• store firewood up off the ground
• provide adequate ventilation in crawlspaces and other naturally damp areas

If you see a live centipede of millipede, go ahead an vacuum them up.  Don’t worry, the ones that you see crawling in your house are not going to jump up and bite you or anything. 🙂  Dump the garbage bag in the outside bin, then contact Kumo to do a barrier treatment, and possibly a yard treatment to help prevent further infestation.