# What bug is this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2001, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bug-is-this/82751 "2001-09-20T06:14:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nickc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/47e85d/32.png) [@nickc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nickc)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bug-is-this/82751/1 "2001-09-20T06:14:35Z")
I have lived in fear of this insect since my room was in the basement 4 years ago. I’ll try to describe it; it has many legs, all of which are long and disgusting. They jut out from what I suppose would be the bug equivalent of the torso… the legs are bent so that it appears the torso is hanging. It seems very spider like. It has on what I guess is it’s head long antenna that hang in a sort of weeping look so that they brush whatever surface it happens to be on. The overall effect just scares the hell out of me. So, please, if you can, identify this thing! I’m living in central Ohio, if that will help make things more specific. ---
**Author:** ![Firx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Firx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Firx)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bug-is-this/82751/2 "2001-09-20T06:38:30Z")
How many legs? How many body segments? what color? More details please. From what you’ve already said, I’d guess centipede, but no gaurantees. ---
**Author:** ![Trenchmouth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Trenchmouth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trenchmouth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bug-is-this/82751/3 "2001-09-20T06:42:45Z")
I used to live in a basement apartment. Hairy centipedes were an everyday occurance there. They’re carnivores, too. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bug-is-this/82751/4 "2001-09-20T08:14:39Z")
Is it a [house centipede](http://www.ent.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/housece.html)? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bug-is-this/82751/5 "2001-09-20T08:18:39Z")
Sorry, messed up that link. Here it is (and another one I just found): [http://www.ent.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/housece.html](http://www.ent.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/housece.html) [http://www.bugyman.com/slHouse\_Centipede.htm](http://www.bugyman.com/slHouse_Centipede.htm) ---
**Author:** ![nickc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/47e85d/32.png) [@nickc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nickc)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bug-is-this/82751/6 "2001-09-20T15:06:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*Sorry, messed up that link. Here it is (and another one I just found): > > [http://www.ent.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/housece.html](http://www.ent.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/housece.html) > [http://www.bugyman.com/slHouse\_Centipede.htm](http://www.bugyman.com/slHouse_Centipede.htm) \*\* That’s it! Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Schadenfreude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@Schadenfreude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schadenfreude)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bug-is-this/82751/7 "2001-09-20T16:17:54Z")
I’m not usually squeamish about insects at all, but those house centpedes manage to creep me out big time. Even that photo sent chills down my spine. That’s not to say, though, that I won’t go out of my way to capture them live to release them when I find them in a human habitation. They’re pretty nifty, for all their willy-inducing nature. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bug-is-this/82751/8 "2001-09-20T18:34:22Z")
Holy mazoley. I’ve lived in California all my life, unaware of the existence of these critters. Two years ago, we rented a “gite” (vacation home) in France, and the home was out in the boonies in a small village. Imagine my consternation when, while sitting on the throne in the middle of our first night there, one of these things fell from the ceiling onto my lap! When I turned the light on, I saw lots more, scurrying around on the ancient beams on the ceiling, zipping across the bedroom floor, assembling in the kitchen sink, etc. We left the picturesque gite toute de suite the next morning and checked into a comfortable hotel in a city. I’m not bugaphobic, but ever since then, I cringe when I see a picture of these things. I think I also started a thread about them back then, and said they looked like the result of an “unholy coupling between a cockroach and a scorpion.” Bleagghh! ---
**Author:** ![Firx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Firx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Firx)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bug-is-this/82751/9 "2001-09-20T19:09:10Z")
It’s cute! ---
**Author:** ![Skelji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Skelji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skelji)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2001, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bug-is-this/82751/10 "2001-09-20T19:39:58Z")
Heh. As soon as I saw the thread title I had a feeling you were asking about my buddy the Scutigera. > [@](#): > > “Centipedes are strictly predaceous, and feed on insects, spiders, and other small invertebrate animals. They have poison glands and a pair of jaws made from modified legs to assist them in subduing their prey.” They are, like spiders, beneficial, though they are still creepy. [![](https://entomology.unl.edu/images/centipedes/housecnt.jpg) ](https://entomology.unl.edu/images/centipedes/housecnt.jpg)