Edit: kill it with fire

  • fubo@lemmy.world
    22·
    2 years ago

    House centipedes are predators. They’re only there because there’s food for them to eat — prey animals that they are hunting.

    Now, what are their prey animals? Here’s some critters that house centipedes eat:

    • Cockroaches
    • Termites
    • Bedbugs
    • Silverfish
    • Ants

    You have house centipedes because you have these.

    The centipedes are eating them.

    Now, what was it you wanted to get rid of?

    • Cows Look Like Maps@sh.itjust.worksOP
      3·
      2 years ago

      Thank you for your explanation! I feel a tiny bit better about them now despite constantly being startled by a massive one in the sink, etc.

      The only bug I’ve seen is small spiders and the occasional but very rare silverfish or pill bug. We certainly don’t have cockroaches or bed bugs. Is it feasible to get rid of their food source or is that a lost cause?

    • Ciari@sh.itjust.works
      2·
      2 years ago

      Oh god not silverfish, I had a few in my bathroom a while back and I spent like three weeks spraying all the nooks and crannies with lavender-scented spray every day to make sure no more of them came back. I like bugs but those are some creepy little fuckers. And they eat your books!

    • StankFlipper
      1·
      2 years ago

      I felt really bad researching them after I killed one in my house. They are just eating bad bugs but they look scary. Good info from bad experience: a magazine works pretty well against them. If you can handle them in your house though, let them be.

  • badbrainstorm
    5·
    2 years ago

    Fire? Probably not the preferred method. Diatomaceous earth is good for almost all bugs while also being very safe for households, especially with pets or children as its only dangerous to humans if a very large amount is ingested

  • Remy Rose@lemmy.one
    61·
    2 years ago

    You really shouldn’t do that. They’re harmless to people, and if you’ve got many of them then that means you’ve got worse pest problems to worry about. Pests that the house centipedes are helping to keep under control.

    • okiloki@feddit.de
      1·
      2 years ago

      But they look like terrible aliens coming to eat me. The panic they induce in me has me very worried. Also apperently their sting hurts similarly to a wasps sting.

      I’m ok with the spiders, they just chill at the ceiling, day and night. House centipedes hide from me during the day and run around like maniacs in the night. And that’s just not right.

  • torknorggren@sopuli.xyz
    4·
    2 years ago

    If you mean scutigera, get rid of their food sources. They particularly like roaches. As frightening as they are, the scutigera are our friends.

  • Evono@lemmy.world
    2·
    2 years ago

    Centipedes usually hunt stuff in your home.

    So you likely got an other issue of crawlys

    I would recommend you bug spray of the brand “ardap” ( if it is available outside EU / Germany)

    It’s not as toxic as raid and other brands but kills the bugs and the ones that survive bring the chemicals back to the breeding grounds it also stops partly or entirely growing. So yeah…

    You need to find why the centipedes are there for them to go.

  • trachemys@iusearchlinux.fyi
    21·
    2 years ago

    Borax tablets. Just hide them around on the floor. Don’t do this if you have loose pets that might eat them.

  • heartlessevil@lemmy.one
    1·
    2 years ago

    You could move from a house to a cabin, trailer, or cave. Then you only have to deal with cabin centipedes, trailer centipedes and cave centipedes. But the house centipedes will be a thing of the past.