Yesterday evening I heard a familiar call from my lounge, " Peter there is something crawling on the floor." From experience this could be almost anything, from a snake to a large beetle. This time it was a common house centipede.
Image Pixabay
There are over 3000 species in the class Chilopoda, they are divided into four orders. Our little guy probably falls into the order Scolopendromorpha, which have 21 to 23 legs on each side of their body. They are voracious hunters and some can reach a length of 33 cm. They are extremely fast movers and my little fellow gave me quite a chase.
Own Picture
They are venomous, prey is seized by the maxillipeds which is a modified pair of legs behind the head. Venom is injected through hollow tubes into the prey. Luckily I have not been bitten by one of these but I have been told that my particular specimen would cause no more pain than a bee sting.
Winter is coming so I will have to keep my eyes open for creepy crawlies that want to take up residence because of the cold. Watch this space!