Maine's Wet Summer Made These Creepy Bugs Come Inside Your House

Even if you could catch these fast suckers, leave them be.

Trust me, I get it. I am as guilty as the rest of you. I see this thing and the ONLY thing I want to do is squash it! I know they are creepy and oogy, but don't kill them. Here's why.

Motionshooter

These are the good guys in the insect world! In fact, the house centipede (Scutigera Coleoptrata) eats the things that should freak you out even more, like:

Cockroaches
Silverfish
Termites

After reading more about these little cuties (I'm trying to like them), they seem awesome. First of all, they are Mediterranean. Hey, so am I! Plus, they are nocturnal, and live in dirt and wet. Now you know why you are seeing so many this year. They love a good humid basement or your bathroom. Some can live inside their whole lives, and others are outside during the growing season. They eat the bad bugs outside, like:

Grubs
Cutworms
Spiders

According to Rodale's Organic Life, these amazingly scary bugs can eat a ton! High metabolism lets them eat a bunch of those bad bugs. I won't get into how they kill their prey, as it's only going to make you more scared of them. But they can't hurt humans. Our skin is too tough, and we probably taste bad.

I saw one scurry across the dining room rug the other day, and it instantly gave me the willies, but I didn't kill it. I thought about it, but let it go and just prayed it wouldn't end up in my bedroom, where I'm sorry... it would be toast.

Experts say that if you DO find these centipedes in your house, that means that there are possibly cracks around your foundation and windows.