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Having any kind of insect pest in your home can be considered an unpleasant experience. Centipedes in your house appear particularly scary with their multiple legs and incredibly fast walking speed. Seeing one quickly scattering under a piece of furniture can make anyone alarmed. However, before you’re quick to gather pesticides and squash the pesky bug, it’s worth understanding the purpose of house centipedes. The presence of this bug in your home may not be just a random encounter because house centipedes have a pretty clear purpose.
Check out the surprising reasons why you shouldn’t kill house centipedes.
1. Pest Control
Although the first impulse is to see the house centipede itself as a harmful pest that should be eliminated as fast as possible, this insect is actually considered nature’s exterminator. It preys on many truly pesky bugs such as cockroaches, moths, and ants. Centipedes can control more serious pest infestations in your home. A large population of bugs could be lurking in the cracks and crevices of your home that potentially attracts house centipedes.
Instead of getting rid of these pests yourself, you can let house centipedes do the job as they hunt and eat them. A population of centipedes almost always suggests a different insect pest problem that’s more important to deal with. Once you eliminate their food source, the centipedes will quickly leave your home. They are strictly predators feeding on other insects. You also need to take into account the preference of centipedes for moist locations and look for any water leaks that might attract them.
2. Lack of Harmfulness
As opposed to venomous spiders or mosquitoes that can transmit dangerous diseases, house centipedes can be considered quite harmless. These bugs won’t carry fatal diseases and are very unlikely to bite you. It’s true that centipedes inject poison into their insect prey but it’s still nothing concerning for a human.
This is a good example of a bug that appears to be more dangerous than it truly is. House centipedes are capable of reaching around a foot per second in terms of moving speed. That certainly turns the creepiness factor to a high level. However, you can rest assured that house centipedes feed exclusively on other insects and won’t harm you.
3. Not Pestering
House centipedes are not annoying like other pests. For example, they won’t build webs like spiders or feed on food scraps. Considering their diet, these bugs won’t eat furniture or inconvenience you in a similar way to other insect pests. Compared to more harmful pests like cockroaches, centipedes are relatively clean and won’t make a mess in your home. They’re only active hunters searching for insect prey.
Getting Rid of House Centipedes
Despite some apparent benefits of house centipedes and relative harmfulness, most homeowners are still obviously creeped out by the bugs. Seeing them in your home should be a good warning sign that you need to take care of another potentially bigger insect pest issue. If you want to find a solution to get rid of house centipedes from your home, that’s perfectly understandable.
Instead of trying to kill them, however, consider the alternative solution of just relocating them from your home. House centipedes can be caught using conventional traps or bug catcher products. Then it’s simply a matter of moving the centipede outside the house. More effectively, centipedes can be prevented from entering the home using various tactics.
Aside from pest control measures for the bugs they prey on, centipedes can be discouraged to live in your home by reducing humidity. Try setting up a dehumidifier in problematic areas such as bathrooms or basements. It’s recommended to use the bathroom fan more frequently and seal cracks and crevices that could serve as potential entry points for the pests.
