“Infested house and garden, two and a half years trying to get rid of them”, starts Paula in her submission regarding the blurry creature with multiple appendages pictured below. “I’m disabled and can’t get any help. I’ve spent thousands on deadbeat alleged insect killer firms. Please help me.” Unfortunately, since the photo is so blurry, we will only be able to provide an educated guess as to the identity of this organism, as opposed to a confident and accurate identification. With that said, we are somewhat confident in our guess, as the outline of this creature’s shapes and what we assume to be its many legs points us in one direction: centipedes.

Centipedes are up there with some of the creatures people find the creepiest. Their overabundance of skinny legs makes them a hated creature for anyone who doesn’t like animals with more than four legs. Depending on the species, centipedes can cause little to a lot of harm to humans. The ones that can cause significant damage are not common internationally, but are the giant species found in tropical and desert regions. Paula will not have found one of those. That said, even the smaller ones can cause pain if they manage to pinch you with their pincers. The toxins in the pincers (which would otherwise kill their prey) can cause significant pain and/or an allergic reaction, though the latter is not guaranteed.

As long as Paula does not corner the centipede or otherwise stress it out, she should be fine. Thankfully, she does not report that the centipedes have attacked her. Centipedes will not infest homes unless they have prey to kill, which consists mostly of other small critters like insects, worms, and invertebrates in general. So, if there is an abundance of centipedes in Paula’s home and garden, that tells us there is an abundance of other critters there too. It is unfortunate that the professionals she has contacted to rid her home of the infestation have proven to be incapable of properly handling the issue. Their lack of success could be due to the fact that a lot of insecticides just do not work on centipedes. Additionally, the constant resurgence of the creatures could also be due to poor insulation: insects could be getting into Paula’s home through sizable cracks in the walls and floors, or even through the roof. Typically we would recommend that Paula contact a professional to rid her home of the bugs, but we understand that she has probably lost faith in that route. Maybe it would be more fruitful to first contact a professional/friend to have a look at her home and see if there are any big cracks in the home through which critters could be entering, and seal them? Following that, she could then (hopefully) get a better professional pest control to deal with the infestation.

In conclusion, we think Paula has been finding centipedes. Their presence in the garden should not be a problem, and given that they prey on insects their removal might worsen the infestation of other bugs she is likely already experiencing. That said, an infestation inside the home is of course something that needs dealing with, and we hope Paula can get this rectified as soon as possible. We hope this helps, and we wish her the very best.

Summary

Article Name

Centipedes Infest Home for Two Years

Description

"Infested house and garden, two and a half years trying to get rid of them", starts Paula in her submission regarding the blurry creature with multiple appendages pictured below. "I'm disabled and can't get any help. I've spent thousands on deadbeat alleged insect killer firms. Please help me." Unfortunately, since the photo is so blurry, we will only be able to provide an educated guess as to the identity of this organism, as opposed to a confident and accurate identification. With that said, we are somewhat confident in our guess, as the outline of this creature's shapes and what we assume to be its many legs points us in one direction: centipedes.

Author

Worm Researcher Anton