# What is this 28-legged monster in my kitchen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421 "2009-01-08T20:51:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/1 "2009-01-08T20:51:25Z")
I came in to my third-floor Los Angeles apartment this afternoon to find this: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/7995433@N02/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/7995433@N02/). It was about two inches long, with (as near as I could tell) 14 pairs of legs, one pair of pincers, one pair of antennae, and one pair of extra legs / tail / back antenna or something. You can’t tell from the photo, but it had a single vertical black stripe down the middle and around the edges of the body, and was otherwise sort of greyish-clear. And terrifying. What is it? Are there more? How can I make sure I never see one again (short of blinding myself)? ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/2 "2009-01-08T20:52:57Z")
Kill it! Kill it! Kill it! ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/3 "2009-01-08T20:54:33Z")
centipede. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/4 "2009-01-08T20:55:02Z")
AAAIIEEEE! I mean, that’s a [house centipede](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_centipede). My condolences. ---
**Author:** ![hopesperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@hopesperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hopesperson)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/5 "2009-01-08T20:57:56Z")
House centipede. Gross. [http://www.whatsthatbug.com/category/centipedes-and-millipedes/](http://www.whatsthatbug.com/category/centipedes-and-millipedes/) ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/6 "2009-01-08T20:58:04Z")
That is a centipede. They are good if you can tolerate the creepiness. They eat ants, roaches and other crawlies that might be after your hard gotten food. They will also try to eat spiders, sometimes that backfires though. They are very respectful of humans and will generally run off if you turn on the lights and make your presence known. There are 15’ versions that live in South America and eat mice and bats. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/7 "2009-01-08T20:58:17Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > centipede. With that many legs, wouldn’t it actually be a duodetricesimupede? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/8 "2009-01-08T20:59:15Z")
Thank you; that’s exactly what it is. I guess I’m lucky to have been ignorant as long as I have. More alarming is that it eats arthropods… what kind of arthropods is it finding in my apartment? [QUOTE=Wikipedia] Benefits aside, because of their alarming appearance, frightening speed, and worries about their bite, few homeowners are willing to share a home with these creatures.[citation needed] [/QUOTE] I really don’t think they do need a citation for that! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/9 "2009-01-08T21:27:06Z")
Only one? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/10 "2009-01-08T21:37:49Z")
> [@Queen\_Bruin](#): > > AAAIIEEEE! > > I mean, that’s a [house centipede](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_centipede). My condolences. Whoa. I never knew my ex had her own Wikipedia page. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/11 "2009-01-08T21:40:08Z")
Pfft. I’ve lived with _cats._ That thing seems downright pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/12 "2009-01-08T21:43:02Z")
> [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](#): > > There are 15’ versions that live in South America and eat mice and bats. :eek: Please tell me you mean 15 _inches._ ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/13 "2009-01-08T21:51:37Z")
Cool insect! But I know the feeling of coming across some bug and going, WTF is THAT? :eek: Not to hyjack your thread (but since it’s been pretty firmly established wtf yours is), when we were living in SE Texas we got these really weird bugs one year. They were like mutant mosquitos, HUGE even compared to the typical monsters. They looked like fucking hummingbirds (ok, I exaggerate the tiniest bit wrt size, but their shape was very like a hummingbird and they were roughly twice the size of even the largest varieties we got…and I’m from the region and have lived there off and on many years. Nothing I had ever encountered before and only that once year) And they bit like mosquitos, except that it HURT like hell, like a needle jab, and left a small bloody hole (I kid you not; the proboscis on these puppies was like a hypodermic needle) I killed a few and saved them in a bottle, thinking I could maybe take one somewhere and say, WTF is THIS? But never got around to it. I probably didn’t want to know anyway. Some weird Mexican import maybe? Possibly carrying who knows what sort of funky infection? Or some mutated bug due to the pertrochemical plants? 😕 I still wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Apex\_Rogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@Apex\_Rogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apex_Rogers)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/14 "2009-01-08T22:11:14Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > :eek: > > Please tell me you mean 15 _inches._ Inches would be the correct measure. > [@](#): > > Scolopendra gigantea, also known as the Amazonian giant centipede, is the largest existing species of centipede in the world, reaching over 30 cm (12 in) in length. It is known to eat bats, catching them in midflight,[15] as well as rodents and spiders > **[Centipede](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centipede#Largest_centipede)** > > Centipedes (from Neo-Latin centi-, "hundred", and Latin pes, pedis, "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek χεῖλος, kheilos, "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix -poda, "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an arthropod group which includes millipedes and other multi-legged animals. Centipedes are elongated segmented (metameric) animals with one pair of legs per body segment. All centipedes are venomous and can inflict painful stings, in... Here’s a really cool (or gross/scary I suppose) video of one _eating a friggen’ mouse_. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CL2hetqpfg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CL2hetqpfg) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/15 "2009-01-08T22:14:30Z")
If you’ve got a mouse problem [they can help with that too.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CL2hetqpfg) ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/16 "2009-01-08T22:14:49Z")
> [@apex rogers](#): > > here’s a really cool (or gross/scary i suppose) video of one _eating a friggen’ mouse_. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cl2hetqpfg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cl2hetqpfg) …must…buy…nuclear…flamethrower…or…i’ll…never…sleep…again… ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/17 "2009-01-08T22:28:45Z")
Ok, I ran into one of those a couple of years ago IN MY HOUSE and thought “WTF SQUEAL” although I’m perfectly used to the sort of compact, normal orange millipedes I grew up with but had never seem one this. . . Baroque and extravagant. Ugh. Good to know what the hell this is now. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/18 "2009-01-08T22:53:52Z")
> [@InterestedObserver](#): > > Cool insect! But I know the feeling of coming across some bug and going, WTF is THAT? :eek: > > Not to hyjack your thread (but since it’s been pretty firmly established wtf yours is), when we were living in SE Texas we got these really weird bugs one year. They were like mutant mosquitos, HUGE even compared to the typical monsters. They looked like fucking hummingbirds (ok, I exaggerate the tiniest bit wrt size, but their shape was very like a hummingbird and they were roughly twice the size of even the largest varieties we got…and I’m from the region and have lived there off and on many years. Nothing I had ever encountered before and only that once year) > > And they bit like mosquitos, except that it HURT like hell, like a needle jab, and left a small bloody hole (I kid you not; the proboscis on these puppies was like a hypodermic needle) > > I killed a few and saved them in a bottle, thinking I could maybe take one somewhere and say, WTF is THIS? But never got around to it. I probably didn’t want to know anyway. Some weird Mexican import maybe? Possibly carrying who knows what sort of funky infection? Or some mutated bug due to the pertrochemical plants? 😕 > > I still wonder. [Crane Fly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crane_fly) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/19 "2009-01-08T23:03:32Z")
If we had these where I grew up (Green Bay), I never saw one. A few weeks after leaving grad school and moving to Chicago, I saw one of these, about 2" long, walking across my floor. “HOLY CRAP!” I stomped it! Now, I know better, and try to tolerate them…we always seem to have a few in our house. (Personally, I always hope that they’re eating the silverfish.) My wife refers to them as “walking eyebrows.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421/20 "2009-01-08T23:09:31Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > [Crane Fly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crane_fly) Nope, sorry. Not a Crane Fly. I wish I had a picture. It looked like a large, slightly fat mosquito, similar wing and body structure, with a head/proboscis like a hummingbird. Was black. The first few times I encountered one, I thought it was a mosquito, but it was much “beefier” and once it bit you, you knew it was not the run of the mill mosquito. Thanks for the suggestion. I will have to do some research and see if I can find anything like it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-28-legged-monster-in-my-kitchen/480421.md?page=2)