“What is the best method to permanently eradicate these pests?” asks this reader in Central Ohio, who sends in pictures of these small, black-brown critters. These critters have supposedly taken over our reader’s “rarely used, finished basement” and he thanks us in advance for our help.

Today we received a question from a reader who is finding lots of millipedes in his basement. Actually, the reader wasn’t sure what he was finding, but the creatures in his basement seem to be millipedes for reasons we will come to shortly. Somewhat unusually, the reader didn’t ask any particular questions about his basement millipedes, nor did he express alarm that there are a lot of millipedes in his basement (he merely described his circumstances), but we presume he is seeking more information. So, the question before us, put in rather informal language, is this: what’s the deal with the basement millipedes our reader is finding?