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House Centipede

You’ll find this aptly-named centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) all over North America, as well as Hawaii. It can grow from 1- to 1-1/2-in. long. Although a large one can look fearsome with its fifteen pairs of legs, it’s basically harmless, though it can inflict a painful nip if handled.

Its yellow-gray body features three stripes running along the back, plus long antennae protruding from the front and the back.

You’re most likely to find a house centipede in a dark corner in the basement, although it will wander anywhere it finds moisture. It’s actually a useful house guest because it eats cockroaches, clothes moths and other insect pests.

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Giant Desert Centipede

The common name of Scolopendra heros is something of a misnomer, because it doesn’t just live in the desert. It has been sighted in Arkansas, southern Missouri, Louisiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Closely related species are common in Hawaii and Japan, where it’s known as mukade.

This centipede is a giant, though, reaching lengths of 6-1/2-in. or more. Its flat body can be reddish, tending toward orange or brown, with a black head.

And it’s as fierce as it looks. It bites, and the two-pronged tail can deliver a painful and possibly dangerous sting. It’s also virtually indestructible. You can step on it, and it will wriggle away as if nothing happened.

In Japan, the usual method to dispatch a mukade involves picking it up with chopsticks and cutting it in half with a scissors.

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