---
title: "House Centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "The night hunter on 15 pairs of legs, with back legs that on adult females are nearly twice as long as its body."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/house-centipede-1.webp"
published: "2026-10-11"
updated: "2026-10-11"
---
# House Centipede (*Scutigera coleoptrata*)
> **Status**: Checked against 4 sources, listed under Sources below.
> **Tagline**: The night hunter on 15 pairs of legs, with back legs that on adult females are nearly twice as long as its body.
> **Soundtrack Vibe**: Art Punk & Experimental Post-Punk // Tune-Yards, "Bizness"
> **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/08oSPuXfichvi5VRAaewbV)
> **Vibe Match**: Looped drums and voices that interlock without tripping over each other, for a centipede whose 15 pairs of legs get longer toward the rear so the back legs cross the ones in front without tangling.
## Biological Superpowers & Stats
- **Taxonomy**: *Scutigera coleoptrata*
- **Danger Level**: Low
- **Conservation Status**: Not Evaluated ([IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/))
- **Superpower**: Rear legs that cross above and outside the legs in front of them, which prevents entanglement
- **Habitat**: Dark, damp spots in buildings, native to the Mediterranean region
- **Diet**: Silverfish, cockroaches, spiders and other small arthropods
- **Tags**: invertebrate, venomous, predator, nocturnal, urban
## Natural History & Behavior
## Fifteen Pairs of Racing Legs
An adult house centipede has 15 pairs of legs. On adult females, the last pair is nearly twice the length of the body. The legs get progressively longer toward the rear. That allows the back legs to cross the legs in front of them, passing above and to the outside, which prevents entanglement. The house centipede is a very quick runner in comparison with other centipedes.
## Small Body, Long Legs
The body is one to one and a half inches long. Add the legs and antennae and the whole animal looks three to four inches long. The body is a dirty yellow with three dark stripes running along it, and the legs are banded light and dark.
A newly hatched larva has four pairs of legs. Over the next five molts, when it sheds its hard outer layer, it has 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 pairs. After one more molt it counts as an adolescent with 15 pairs, and four more molts later it is an adult. Females have been known to survive for several years and produce up to 150 young.
## A Night Hunter With Odd Eyes
By day it hides in dark, damp places. At night it comes out to forage. Silverfish, cockroaches and spiders are on its menu. It senses prey with its antennae, which carry scent and touch receptors. Behavioral experiments indicate it can perceive airborne stimuli from live prey. It then holds the prey in fangs, which are its modified first pair of legs, while injecting poison. It makes better use of its eyes than most other centipedes.
> **Eyes that respond to ultraviolet** Electrical recordings from the eye of *Scutigera coleoptrata* found two sensitivity peaks, one near 448 nm and a second, lower one in the ultraviolet around 350 nm. The authors called the ultraviolet sensitivity surprisingly well developed.
Each eye contains about 150 ommatidia, which are tiny lens units. Among centipedes, millipedes and their relatives, only its group, the Scutigeromorpha, has eyes of closely packed hexagonal facets like those of insects.
## From the Mediterranean to Your Basement
House centipedes are native to the Mediterranean region. They were accidentally introduced into the southern United States and are now widespread throughout the country and the world. Animal Diversity Web lists them across Europe, Asia and North America.
Penn State Extension calls them harmless and says they feed on small arthropods, including pest insects. They are not aggressive, but Animal Diversity Web says they can bite in self-defense. In homes they are more common in basements and bathrooms, probably because those rooms are more humid.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### Can a house centipede bite a person?
It can, in self-defense, but it is not aggressive. Its fangs are often too weak to break human skin. When they do get through, the venom can cause a painful bite, which Animal Diversity Web compares to a honeybee sting. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan]())*
### Why are its back legs so long?
Animal Diversity Web notes that the house centipede has a shorter body and longer legs than other centipede species, which stops it tripping over itself as it runs. The rear-most legs are twice as long as the front-most ones. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan]())*
### Do house centipedes survive a cold winter outdoors?
In Pennsylvania they do not. Penn State Extension reports that they readily reproduce inside heated buildings instead, and that they were first recorded in the state in 1849. *(Source: [Penn State Extension]())*
### What does a house centipede eat?
Penn State Extension lists silverfish, firebrats, carpet beetle larvae, cockroaches, spiders and other small arthropods. Animal Diversity Web adds worms, snails and fly larvae. *(Source: [Penn State Extension]())*
## Sources
1. [House Centipedes. Penn State Extension.]()
2. [Scutigera coleoptrata. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]()
3. [Meyer-Rochow, Müller & Lindström (2006). Spectral sensitivity of the eye of Scutigera coleoptrata (Linnaeus, 1758) (Chilopoda: Scutigeromorpha: Scutigeridae). Applied Entomology and Zoology.]()
4. [Sombke, Harzsch & Hansson (2011). Organization of deutocerebral neuropils and olfactory behavior in the centipede Scutigera coleoptrata (Linnaeus, 1758) (Myriapoda: Chilopoda). Chemical Senses.]()
*Published October 11, 2026. Last updated October 11, 2026.*
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