What in the living HECK is this thing?!

@AdminX just to say that the silverfish is from a different family of insect (Lepismatidae) (Lepisma saccharina) it eats books and wallpaper.

here's a pic. havent seen one in ages

www.saudeanimal.com.br...


another one (adult)

www.saudeanimal.com.br...


[edit on 17-6-2009 by Picollo30]

I need all the help I can get- this place was uninhabited for 2-3 years (the person who owned it got sick, had to move out of state)... So, I am a caretaker who pays a ridiculously low rent. Anyways- it's been a pitched battle against pests in here.. They got entrenched while the place was closed up- mostly those HUGE palmetto bugs- and blasted sugar ants- the small black ones. I cant use poison as much as I'd like (the aforementioned cats)- otherwise, this place would be laced in every crack, crevice and seam. So far, I've sent a HUGE % of them packing- had to break down and get boric acid for the ants. The colony was aggressive enough that a single tiny crumb of food could have a turnout of dozens of ants. The ant baits did little to nothing for whatever reason.

So, as long as they don't scare me out of a century's growth, or crawl on me while I'm in bed- me and these insects will be good friends. I cant vouch for the cats....

I am in NC as well. Our older lake/vacation house used to be overrun with these things. Waking up and seeing more that one (big rascals) going across the ceiling over my bed was the end of insect/human detente. Pick an afternoon, go visit somewhere, with the kitties, and bug bomb the house back to the stone age. They do seem to like areas that are more damp (bath/kitchen).

Wow that thing sure is gross looking. Common household centipede.
Not a one-liner.

I think I rather share my tub/house with Big Foot then this little guy.
Their interesting and stunning but I can not handle bugs I don't know why either the vets office we use to take our animals to when I was little was crawling with these things and I'd always "save" them because they would put out traps for them, but now I just can't handle bugs.

Thanks for sharing though OP brought back some nostalgia and he sure is a neat little bugger.

And thanks for letting him go free not many people would do the same.

Find them in my house sometimes, they get really huge

I wouldn't recommend smashing a silverfish, it leaves a very nasty mess. And damn they move fast.

"I kill em on sight, that is if I can catch em, they have some sort of omni direction turbo thrust units attached to them, so consider yourselves warned."

no truer words have ever been spoken. also, if u see 1, that means theres probably a few hundred more hiding in your walls. sleep tight.

I saw a few at my grandma's years ago. One jumped from the top of a 7 foot door opening landed on the ground and ran away!

Interesting creature! I sometimes have similar to this in the bathroom, but smaller If I'm not wrong they like wet places.

I caught the same thing a few months ago, and the funny thing is... read my headline: twitpic.com...


Oh and this thing is a Scutigera coleoptrata Dont let it crawl on you, it has a poisonous bite.

more info

[edit on 19-6-2009 by Phlegmi]

Some centidpedes can grow to a foot in length and are very poisonous. I do not know about that one though, I personally am creeped out by them.

reply to post by tamusan

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If they eat spiders they're alright by me...

I loathe spiders with every fibre of my being...

That is incorrect! These are not known as silverfish.

The silverfish is a highly destructive insect not a centipede.

This is a silverfish..





This is not a bug you want in your house, in fact if you see one do something about it immediatly (where there is one there are a hundred)





[edit on 19-6-2009 by DaMod]

i think its just a centipede but it might be rare or something....?

[edit on 20-6-2009 by ParaZep]

It is a house centipede. I caught a couple of them in my dorm room.

Nope not rare. The exact opposite in fact.

You call that thing a centipede? That's a harmless bug. THIS is what you can come across if you're down in Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic.



Rare, but you'll never forget it as long as ya live.

or this:



I've seen em. Pretty radical. Stay AWAY. They are fast, very fast. And IF you manage to step on one you had better find a hose. Cause it's messy. REAL messy.

[edit on Wed Jun 24th 2009 by TrueAmerican]

Why oh why did I come into this thread? Man, those things freak me out! Spiders too! I run away screaming "kill it! Kill it!" LOL

*gag* I had the misfortune of having one of these things in my mouth one morning. It had fallen into my glass of water during the night, and bleary eyed the next morning I took a big mouthful of water. Something tickled my lip, so I wiped it, thinking it was water, only to find some legs....

thankfully I spat the water (and the occupant) out. They've given me the heebee jeebee's ever since.