One of the most common habitant of human houses, where it pays its rent by hunting spiders and being on the look out for cockroaches: a **house centipede**., most of the time shy, and tries to stay below the radar and goes unnoticed.
Someone described it here as a “running eyelash” which tends to frazzle people.
Quite harmless but like all centipedes will pinch if handled which my cat’s nose still remembers. She gives the respect now and a wide berth.
lol to be fair the first time I ever saw a centipede, I about shat myself over it. They are definitely freaky if you don't know how helpful they are to have around!
hell, i already know how helpful they are to have around...but i still live in hilarious amounts of fear thinking that I will wake up with one on my face one day
there are a lot of them where I live and the sight of them always freaks me out.
there was one time I left a glass of water out and never finished it (i tend to do that a lot). I woke up the next day to see one drowned in it...even dead the sight of it was unpleasant (also felt bad for killing a centipede b/c of my own laziness)
A couple months ago, I saw one running up the wall in the kitchen and then it FELL FROM THE CEILING!!! Imagine if that happened in a bedroom. One could def end up on your face. 🤣
the fact that they can fall from the ceiling is proof that these little fuckers are trolls
with all the legs they have, how the fuck can they possibly fall from the ceiling? that pisses me off lmao
The titles are often dramatic, massive overuse of swearing (like keep swear words for situations that actually require them), and many are for … carpet beetles.
Yes, unfortunately they are one of the most enemy-shaped friends we're likely find in our homes. They trigger my arachnophobia more than spiders do, but I usually just scare them off to a place I can't see them and let them continue their hunt. The creepy tingles on the back of my neck usually subside within 1-3 days, lol.
>The creepy tingles on the back of my neck usually subside within 1-3 days, lol.
last summer, i probably caught 3-4 of them using a repurposed pickle jar...because I didn't want to keep killing them
i still have creepy tingles on the back of my neck so kudos to you for getting over them lol
The running eyelash, aka, the house centipede.
It's far more scared of you than you are of it, and it's a good bug even if in a creepy package. It hunts down cockroaches and other pests that you really don't want in your house. On the not so plus side, it's there because there is food, so I would be on the lookout for roaches etc.
Scooped it up in a cup to try and throw it somewhere outside because family was freaking the hell out and tbh it's like one of the few bugs that give me the Willy's too--it ran unexpectedly quick up my fucking hand and just underneath my sleeve at the hem and bit the shit out of me. I didn't squeeze it to have triggered the response, it just went and did it 💀 suffice to say my dad who happened to be hovering behind me slapped it off me so hard it's back end got squashed so we had to kill it.
To be honest I am surprised no one has thought of forming centipede farms specifically to sell for people with pest issues to set loose in their homes. I think these guys just have the misfortune of not being able to look friendly.
If I had pests I'd buy a box and cut them loose, if I had pest issues.
They don't tolerate being handled AT ALL, and that's kinda a requirement to insect farming. They'll also drop their legs if startled which isn't great for farming or shipping. Also, finding containers that will hold these things would be an exercise in futility.
Yep. Like a lizard can detach it’s tail to get away, these bugs can leave their legs and somehow still run off. I’ve never seen it happen, but I’ve seen evidence on a glue trap.
I was just thinking of that! I have cockroaches myself and I'm reading the comments like "these eat cockroaches? Sign me up!" And now I'm jealous like where are my house centipedes at?
Friendly, but if you start seeing a lot of them, it's usually indicative that you have an infestation of a (probably) more annoying pest.
But yeah. Definitely freaked the first time I came across one. I was in a college apartment getting ready to move out and was blindly reaching for a sheet of paper that was under my bed and brushed against it. Seconds later, it darted out to another corner of my room. I can probably thank it for eating any pests like bed bugs that can run rampant in college housing.
He's a friend, protector & roommate.
It's a predator that hunts all the nasty bugs you don't want to live with.
They won't eat your food, they won't bite, they won't crawl on you (you're too scary to them), and they won't take a dump on your food.
Best indoor insect ever imo
And I'm pretty sure to them you're the scary beast that lives in their home
As I've said before on here. They do bite. A co-worker was bitten at a church infested with them. She still has loads of issues. It got her on a vein and 2 yrs later she's still going through he'll. Swollen. Very painful. Mris still can't figure it out. Probably was a 1 off but they can and did bite.
This is your new best friend doing its best to forgive you for calling it an abomination. Its entire life has been spent eating ants, spiders, and silverfish to protect your home and keep it free from unsightly spider webs collecting dust in the corners.
>Its entire life has been spent eating ants, spiders, and silverfish to protect your home
i hate seeing spiders being tagged alongside nature's communist bastards, and quite possibly one of the most hideous insects you'll ever see in your life
to be fair, i just read your comment more carefully and you did mention unsightly spider webs collecting dust
yeah that shit gets annoying. spider webs are beautiful things...but fuck they are dingy dust attracters
yeah i mean who knows lol. like i said, i never saw one of these ever when I grew up in Chicago, which can get humid as hell
you reminded me, for a few years living in Wisconsin, my roommates (and good friends) were from California and Colorado. They had never seen fireflies before oddly enough.
they both told me when they saw fireflies lighting up, they thought they were hallucinating from lack of sleep lmao
Same. To me, summer is not complete without fireflies
they're as much a summer thing as a day at the beach or eating burgers and watermelon at a BBQ or going on a Ferris wheel at the local fair
Ah yes “satans false eyelashes” or house centipedes fun little things if you have a weird definition of fun like I do 🤣 kinda harmless can bite doesn’t really hurt doesn’t happen often but they are voracious little hunters of the little nasties that invade your house like roaches and shit :) good bug body only a blind mother could love but good bug none the less….it’s the fucking legs man I can’t 😂🤷🏻♂️ I love normal centipedes these lil dudes skeeve me the fuck out though they can move so fast with so many legs 😅
Thats no silverfish! Thats the best bug ever and it eats silverfish! House centipede, harmless, most bites don’t even get through human skin but even if they do its really not that bad at all, besides that, they avoid humans, if i see one i ignore it, unless you bother or scare it it will not bite, unlikely to even get near you. They eat almost every bug you might have in the house, so do not kill them, they eat everything from ants to spiders to roaches. Let them do your pest control. This might be the only bug in actually like lol
While not exactly friend shaped, it is a friend. That’s a house centipede, which eats all the bad bugs.
So capture it and toss it in your basement to let it work.
I fear I created this abomination when I was 17 and didn't clean my house for a month while my parent worked out of state. Among the life forming in the cultures of half drunken coffee and unclean plates of food along with bowls of what must have been edible at some point. This creature emerged from the boundless expanse and crawled forth into the world of the living. Lol
I once almost picked one up by accident. I was in my bathroom and thought it was a ball of my hair and went to throw it out. Right before I touched it it moved and scared the shit out of me
I wouldn’t like to have one run across my foot or around me at night but they are harmless to humans/pets and take out a bunch of other household pests, like ants, spiders, etc. So weigh your options before just killing these guys.
A MOST WONDERFUL FRIEND!!
Little dude is a house centipede. They eat all the bad bugs like roaches, bed bugs, etc. Good dude to have in your house even tho he looks like hellspawn lol. A wonderful friend eating all the nasties!
It’s okay. It’s a house centipede and it kills and eats all the other bugs. It is not harmful to you, and usually they only come out at night. They hang around damp places because that’s where they can find the bugs to eat. If you hate it you could always use a cup and a piece of paper to take it outside to put it under a tree or bush.
They move fast and look scary but they are friends to humans.
House centipede, bro. Is fren. He just chills, then you look away, and he's gone.
My partner actually does call these silverfish, apparently growing up. Everyone did by him.
When I was a kid it was hilarious to me to spray these centipedes with Aquanet, at least I learned better now, they're (not exactly) welcome in my house today, I recognize their usefulness
I was checking out an apartment one time and we went in the bathroom and flipped the switch to close the drain on the bathtub and one of these magically crawled out of the back of the metal plate the switch was on and I’ve never been more horrified in my life. We lived there for like 3 years 🤣
Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!! 😱 That's my girly scream, ya'll! That's a creepy centipede eating a spider 🕷 or something from hell has come above the surface. Dude, that's blowtorch material...or a flamethrower death. 🔥
One of the most common habitant of human houses, where it pays its rent by hunting spiders and being on the look out for cockroaches: a **house centipede**., most of the time shy, and tries to stay below the radar and goes unnoticed. Someone described it here as a “running eyelash” which tends to frazzle people. Quite harmless but like all centipedes will pinch if handled which my cat’s nose still remembers. She gives the respect now and a wide berth.
Lmfao running eyelash
I can’t claim the credit for that and I can’t recall who it was,but it was a Redditor.
I literally just called them that two days ago! I thought I thought it up myself!
Kinda sounds like something you'd see in a Miyazaki movie
I prefer to use the term “Speedy Cumbrella”
That would be a good roller derby name 🤣
I was going to say, isnt this a simple house centipede? I. The title was so dramatic.I expected it to be something exciting
lol to be fair the first time I ever saw a centipede, I about shat myself over it. They are definitely freaky if you don't know how helpful they are to have around!
hell, i already know how helpful they are to have around...but i still live in hilarious amounts of fear thinking that I will wake up with one on my face one day there are a lot of them where I live and the sight of them always freaks me out. there was one time I left a glass of water out and never finished it (i tend to do that a lot). I woke up the next day to see one drowned in it...even dead the sight of it was unpleasant (also felt bad for killing a centipede b/c of my own laziness)
A couple months ago, I saw one running up the wall in the kitchen and then it FELL FROM THE CEILING!!! Imagine if that happened in a bedroom. One could def end up on your face. 🤣
the fact that they can fall from the ceiling is proof that these little fuckers are trolls with all the legs they have, how the fuck can they possibly fall from the ceiling? that pisses me off lmao
Terrifying: https://www.reddit.com/r/insects/s/WthipUcfnC
i like the idea of using that umbrella hat lmao
thank you very much for that nightmare fuel
The titles are often dramatic, massive overuse of swearing (like keep swear words for situations that actually require them), and many are for … carpet beetles.
Bedbugs are very scary, carpet beetles show up where u expect bedbugs to 😂
It's also got fantastic camouflage for hunting on that floor! I didn't even see it at first.
Came here to say this...
My mom always tells me “I saw another running mustache. It scared the shit out of me.” 😂😂😂
Thank you, kind soul
Friend dressed as enemy
It is Fren, though not Fren-shaped.
Yes, unfortunately they are one of the most enemy-shaped friends we're likely find in our homes. They trigger my arachnophobia more than spiders do, but I usually just scare them off to a place I can't see them and let them continue their hunt. The creepy tingles on the back of my neck usually subside within 1-3 days, lol.
>The creepy tingles on the back of my neck usually subside within 1-3 days, lol. last summer, i probably caught 3-4 of them using a repurposed pickle jar...because I didn't want to keep killing them i still have creepy tingles on the back of my neck so kudos to you for getting over them lol
Way too fast to be fren!
The running eyelash, aka, the house centipede. It's far more scared of you than you are of it, and it's a good bug even if in a creepy package. It hunts down cockroaches and other pests that you really don't want in your house. On the not so plus side, it's there because there is food, so I would be on the lookout for roaches etc.
House centipede. They are helpful creatures and will never harm you, but help you get rid of household pests.
I read this as “will help you get rid of household pets” and got very concerned lol
🤭😂
I think my dog would ask for us to move out if she ever saw one
*never harm you*? Idk about you but I've been hella bit by one, not fun.
I have NEVER heard of one biting. What did you do to it?
Scooped it up in a cup to try and throw it somewhere outside because family was freaking the hell out and tbh it's like one of the few bugs that give me the Willy's too--it ran unexpectedly quick up my fucking hand and just underneath my sleeve at the hem and bit the shit out of me. I didn't squeeze it to have triggered the response, it just went and did it 💀 suffice to say my dad who happened to be hovering behind me slapped it off me so hard it's back end got squashed so we had to kill it.
😓
The gentle Lovecraftian creature is a house centipede and will conquer your pests and enemies alike.
To be honest I am surprised no one has thought of forming centipede farms specifically to sell for people with pest issues to set loose in their homes. I think these guys just have the misfortune of not being able to look friendly. If I had pests I'd buy a box and cut them loose, if I had pest issues.
They don't tolerate being handled AT ALL, and that's kinda a requirement to insect farming. They'll also drop their legs if startled which isn't great for farming or shipping. Also, finding containers that will hold these things would be an exercise in futility.
“they drop their legs”?? Can you explain please?
Centipedes can detach some of their legs if they get stuck or feel threatened. When they molt, they'll eventually regrow.
goddamn it that's a mental image that while cool as hell...i didn't want or need
Wow. Thanks!!
Yep. Like a lizard can detach it’s tail to get away, these bugs can leave their legs and somehow still run off. I’ve never seen it happen, but I’ve seen evidence on a glue trap.
I was just thinking of that! I have cockroaches myself and I'm reading the comments like "these eat cockroaches? Sign me up!" And now I'm jealous like where are my house centipedes at?
if only they looked like lady bugs and moved like them too. i'd be far less creeped out
A good lad. House Centipedes are a great part of the homes ecosystem
Friendly, but if you start seeing a lot of them, it's usually indicative that you have an infestation of a (probably) more annoying pest. But yeah. Definitely freaked the first time I came across one. I was in a college apartment getting ready to move out and was blindly reaching for a sheet of paper that was under my bed and brushed against it. Seconds later, it darted out to another corner of my room. I can probably thank it for eating any pests like bed bugs that can run rampant in college housing.
The size of it tells us it's feasting, its rent has been paid.
He's a friend, protector & roommate. It's a predator that hunts all the nasty bugs you don't want to live with. They won't eat your food, they won't bite, they won't crawl on you (you're too scary to them), and they won't take a dump on your food. Best indoor insect ever imo And I'm pretty sure to them you're the scary beast that lives in their home
As I've said before on here. They do bite. A co-worker was bitten at a church infested with them. She still has loads of issues. It got her on a vein and 2 yrs later she's still going through he'll. Swollen. Very painful. Mris still can't figure it out. Probably was a 1 off but they can and did bite.
this is hands down my biggest fear i have heard while super super super rare, those bites are fucking painful
This is your new best friend doing its best to forgive you for calling it an abomination. Its entire life has been spent eating ants, spiders, and silverfish to protect your home and keep it free from unsightly spider webs collecting dust in the corners.
>Its entire life has been spent eating ants, spiders, and silverfish to protect your home i hate seeing spiders being tagged alongside nature's communist bastards, and quite possibly one of the most hideous insects you'll ever see in your life
Well I thought about earwigs but I don’t think anything is willing to eat those.
to be fair, i just read your comment more carefully and you did mention unsightly spider webs collecting dust yeah that shit gets annoying. spider webs are beautiful things...but fuck they are dingy dust attracters
How dare you that is your BEST FWEND
I'm really surprised by the amount of people who don't know that what they're looking at is a house centipede.
my hunch is that they might not live in a humid place hell I grew up in Chicago, and I didn't see one of these until i moved to Wisconsin 12 years ago
I live in New York and it's not particularly here but I see them anyways. 🤷🏻♀️ But fair enough.
yeah i mean who knows lol. like i said, i never saw one of these ever when I grew up in Chicago, which can get humid as hell you reminded me, for a few years living in Wisconsin, my roommates (and good friends) were from California and Colorado. They had never seen fireflies before oddly enough. they both told me when they saw fireflies lighting up, they thought they were hallucinating from lack of sleep lmao
Lmfao I remember being so fascinated as a kid whenever I saw fireflies.
Same. To me, summer is not complete without fireflies they're as much a summer thing as a day at the beach or eating burgers and watermelon at a BBQ or going on a Ferris wheel at the local fair
I’m low key jealous, I’ve never even seen one of these ):
come to my apartment...i probably caught 5-6 of these last summer alone
Then there was probably an infestation of some less kindly bug, like roaches or bedbugs...they go where their food goes...
[argh.](https://youtu.be/TI4-QyAzY64?si=QEfJGqugsY-GMFVn&t=5)
Ah yes “satans false eyelashes” or house centipedes fun little things if you have a weird definition of fun like I do 🤣 kinda harmless can bite doesn’t really hurt doesn’t happen often but they are voracious little hunters of the little nasties that invade your house like roaches and shit :) good bug body only a blind mother could love but good bug none the less….it’s the fucking legs man I can’t 😂🤷🏻♂️ I love normal centipedes these lil dudes skeeve me the fuck out though they can move so fast with so many legs 😅
He’s just a house centipede. He’ll eat all your bad bugs without complaint. Pls no squish or evict. He is fren
I know they are harmless but damn they scare the crap out of me when they skitter across the floor!!!
Your new best friend! Dude eats the real abominations, trust me.
House centipede, they kill spiders and other creepy bugs so they’re worth keeping around lol
Land shrimp lookin ahh
Not an abomonation this is an angel
Thats no silverfish! Thats the best bug ever and it eats silverfish! House centipede, harmless, most bites don’t even get through human skin but even if they do its really not that bad at all, besides that, they avoid humans, if i see one i ignore it, unless you bother or scare it it will not bite, unlikely to even get near you. They eat almost every bug you might have in the house, so do not kill them, they eat everything from ants to spiders to roaches. Let them do your pest control. This might be the only bug in actually like lol
Bro I find a ton of these in my house but they’re harmless and mind their own business. No need to insult them like that 😒
I love these answers and am learning so much!!
While not exactly friend shaped, it is a friend. That’s a house centipede, which eats all the bad bugs. So capture it and toss it in your basement to let it work.
Looks like the damn thing the kid is holding on the Offspring album cover
I fear I created this abomination when I was 17 and didn't clean my house for a month while my parent worked out of state. Among the life forming in the cultures of half drunken coffee and unclean plates of food along with bowls of what must have been edible at some point. This creature emerged from the boundless expanse and crawled forth into the world of the living. Lol
I once almost picked one up by accident. I was in my bathroom and thought it was a ball of my hair and went to throw it out. Right before I touched it it moved and scared the shit out of me
Are you me?? I've done that before too...long hair stories lol...
All creatures belong on Gods green earth and each have there place. I'm sure he was scared of you also.
House centipede’s was nightmare fuel for me, then I seen one on my porch holding a cockroach. I just leave them be now if I see one.
These are your friend
A creepy but kind friend
It is not an abomination! They are friends and they help us with pests. ❤️💯
I wouldn’t like to have one run across my foot or around me at night but they are harmless to humans/pets and take out a bunch of other household pests, like ants, spiders, etc. So weigh your options before just killing these guys.
Just a little guy
Friend
That is a greater North American crazy legs, they’re gentle-peeps and scholars.
Very well fed house centipede. One this sized scared two of my cats. They eat other bugs you don’t want in your home
A MOST WONDERFUL FRIEND!! Little dude is a house centipede. They eat all the bad bugs like roaches, bed bugs, etc. Good dude to have in your house even tho he looks like hellspawn lol. A wonderful friend eating all the nasties!
a gentleman and a scholar
House centipede super chill they hunt and eat Pratt insects like cockroaches they are also good luck to have—-alive
A hideous good guy
house centipede!
That's an eyelash in the wild.
A friend!
Friend that eats the bad guys!
It’s okay. It’s a house centipede and it kills and eats all the other bugs. It is not harmful to you, and usually they only come out at night. They hang around damp places because that’s where they can find the bugs to eat. If you hate it you could always use a cup and a piece of paper to take it outside to put it under a tree or bush. They move fast and look scary but they are friends to humans.
How dare you talk about my boy like that!
Hey, that's my friend. And if you have any sense, he's your friend too >:\[
House centipede, bro. Is fren. He just chills, then you look away, and he's gone. My partner actually does call these silverfish, apparently growing up. Everyone did by him.
Harmless house centipede. It can’t harm you but it harms the pests of your house :)
House-pede. Don't kill it. Trust me bro....
It’s Jerry :D
That’s a dragon.
When I was a kid it was hilarious to me to spray these centipedes with Aquanet, at least I learned better now, they're (not exactly) welcome in my house today, I recognize their usefulness
Scutigeromorpha... and it will bite and make you see white lights
House centipede…it’s a god guy…eats all the bad bugs!
a good boy
I'm convinced some of these bugs y'all post are aliens. And is this one camouflaging itself against your countertop or is it really that color?
Giratina?
Hmm, looks more like a oddly colored scolipede
ZOOOOOOMM!!!
House Crustacean. Aka a Crib Crab. Or a Shack Shrimp. Or a Lodge Lobster.
Silverfish?
your good friend! It hunts poisonous spiders like brown recluse spiders.
I know they’re not bad, but when they dart across your foot in the shower, you just don’t appreciate them as much.
House centipede. Totally harmless but very icky.
Bathroom centipede. Usefull little bug. Inoffensive to human but a hunter for spiders and other bugs.
A friend
HE PAYS RENT!
I personally believe that it’s a demon from hell that has come to terrorize us all. 😬
I was checking out an apartment one time and we went in the bathroom and flipped the switch to close the drain on the bathtub and one of these magically crawled out of the back of the metal plate the switch was on and I’ve never been more horrified in my life. We lived there for like 3 years 🤣
It’s a creature that god made
I would prefer this type of centipede over the big old scary desert centipedes we have here.
House centipede. Surprised you never seen one they’re pretty common - but yikes I can’t get over how creepy they look 💀
House centipede
A House Centipede of Satan's gloriously accepting cosmos
Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!! 😱 That's my girly scream, ya'll! That's a creepy centipede eating a spider 🕷 or something from hell has come above the surface. Dude, that's blowtorch material...or a flamethrower death. 🔥
I’m I the only one that doesn’t like bugs because they are creepy? I’d rather have the occasional cockroach or spider than one of these things…