# Insect identification, or, how I may never sleep again... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566 "2017-08-01T12:01:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/21 "2017-08-01T19:57:48Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > They eat bed bugs and are harmless to humans? I wonder if they are easier to exterminate than bed bugs, if so why aren’t we breeding them and letting loose into seedy hotels? 😃 Well, the real bottleneck is the wave after wave of Chinese Needle Snakes. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/22 "2017-08-01T20:06:28Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > As mentioned, “bug” in a literal sense means a specific type of insect, but it is also more casually acceptable as a generic term for arthropod creepy-crawlies. “Insect” for anything other than [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect) is just wrong, though. Calling a centipede an insect is like calling a horse a turtle. so - 6 legs and bites is a bug 8 legs and bites is sqished thousand(s) of legs and eats bugs is not 4 legs and eats all of the above is my dog. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/23 "2017-08-01T20:18:25Z")
The one time I saw a centipede on the wall (about eye-level) it was a translucent grey trireme. And damn fast. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/24 "2017-08-01T21:13:47Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That’s not a centipede. [This](http://www.blog.lucafadda.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/sgigantea5pi6.jpg) is a centipede. > [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Not clicking not clicking, I don’t know why I even opened this thread. But if centipedes are not insects…are they bugs? I told myself the same thing…don’t click, don’t click, DON’T CLICK DON’T CLI…_click_…and the nightmares have begun. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/25 "2017-08-01T21:39:44Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I would 100% rather have the other insects!! Bear in mind that the other insects do some variation on the themes of “destroy your house,” “hurt you,” or “eat your food.” ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/26 "2017-08-01T21:46:08Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That’s not a centipede. [This](http://www.blog.lucafadda.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/sgigantea5pi6.jpg) is a centipede. That’s not a centipede. That’s [The Tingle](http://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Tingler-2.jpg)r. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/27 "2017-08-01T22:01:12Z")
I’m not creeped out by “bugs” (used loosely), including stuff that wigs out other people like spiders and cockroaches. But I can’t stand centipedes. I am a wuss for them. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/28 "2017-08-01T22:06:37Z")
I saw one of those in the house years ago. I believe I whacked it with the first available object. If it’s any consolation to the OP, I haven’t seen one since, so unlike other insects\*, seeing one house centipede apparently does NOT mean there are many of them! - A house centipede is an insect according to the official Dave Barry definition: if it has way more legs than necessary, it’s an insect. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/29 "2017-08-01T22:26:46Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Calling a centipede an insect is like calling a horse a turtle. Some of the horses I used to bet on were definitely turtles. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/30 "2017-08-01T22:45:34Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Looks like a [house centipede](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata). Is it called a “house centipede” because it lives in houses, or because it EATS HOUSES? And if it eats houses, is it notorious for EATING LOAD BEARING WALLS? And is it true that for most homeowners the first indication of their existence is CATASTROPHIC STRUCTURAL FAILURE? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/31 "2017-08-01T22:49:56Z")
Some of you need to be desensitized. You could do this by visiting me on the island of Hawaii. Last night I watched a pas de deux between a lizard and a roach on my bedroom wall before I shut out the light. On my run this morning I counted about 20 centipedes slithering on the roadside. It’s the price we pay for living in tropical climes. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/32 "2017-08-01T22:54:07Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Some of you need to be desensitized. You could do this by visiting me on the island of Hawaii. Last night I watched a pas de deux between a lizard and a roach on my bedroom wall before I shut out the light. On my run this morning I counted about 20 centipedes slithering on the roadside. > > It’s the price we pay for living in tropical climes. You buy the tickets, I’ll gladly attend your dessensitivisation workshop. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/33 "2017-08-01T23:00:47Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > It’s the price we pay for living in tropical climes. I lived in Hawaii (my brother was born in Honolulu) and lived on Guam for years. No thank you, they’re lovely places to visit but I’m much happier in the Pacific Northwest where we just have serial killers, Sasquatches and banana slugs. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/34 "2017-08-01T23:11:08Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > … I’m much happier in the Pacific Northwest where we just have serial killers, Sasquatches and banana slugs. Except, there is the black mold. My High School is now a field of grass because of that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/35 "2017-08-01T23:37:31Z")
House centipedes are my sole phobia, too. But it’s specifically house centipedes: The other kinds are fine, and I don’t have any particular reaction to the pictures of giant centipedes folks are posting (though I still wouldn’t let one crawl up my arm). I’m not nearly as bad about them as I used to be: I think I got a big dose of desensitivation a couple of years back when one fell on me. But I still screamed like a little girl last week, when one skittered across the laundry I was taking out of the washing machine. And don’t make too big a deal of the fact that they’re venomous. Lots of creepy-crawlies are, but most never bite humans. Fireflies are venomous, too, and you never see anyone panicking about them. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/36 "2017-08-01T23:39:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > … Fireflies are venomous, too, and you never see anyone panicking about them. Well \*now \*I might. BTW, thank you for not saying “Lightning Bug” as most people in Cleveland did back when I lived there. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/37 "2017-08-01T23:54:05Z")
I use both terms interchangeably. Spoken, it’s probably “lightning bug” more often, but when written, “firefly” gets a boost from being shorter and a little easier to spell. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/38 "2017-08-01T23:57:27Z")
What’s wrong with lightning bug? Growing up in Chicago, that was the normal name for them. [Here’s an isogloss](http://mentalfloss.com/article/66185/regional-breakdown-firefly-vs-lightning-bug) of the firefly/lightning bug breakdown. “Firefly” is the exclusive name west of the Rockies, “lightning bug” is exclusive in the Midwest, and other areas use both interchangably. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/39 "2017-08-02T00:00:45Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > What’s wrong with lightning bug? Growing up in Chicago, that was the normal name for them. [Here’s an isogloss](http://mentalfloss.com/article/66185/regional-breakdown-firefly-vs-lightning-bug) of the firefly/lightning bug breakdown. “Firefly” is the exclusive name west of the Rockies, “lightning bug” is exclusive in the Midwest, and other areas use both interchangably. It’s clunky to say and also doesn’t sound as cool. And of course I had never heard it as lightning bug in Pittsburgh where I was born. But when we moved to Cleveland in 4th grade, it’s all I heard. That’s when i knew Cleveland was a terrible terrible place 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Oddball\_92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b3f665/32.png) [@Oddball\_92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oddball_92)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566/40 "2017-08-02T00:47:48Z")
I think it’s what we, in the south, call a silverfish… maybe not after looking at some pics [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-or-how-i-may-never-sleep-again/792566.md?page=3)