Few pests generate a more dramatic phone call than the house centipede. Fifteen pairs of long legs, moves like it’s been fired out of something, usually spotted at 11 pm on the basement floor. Here’s the calm version: it’s mostly harmless, and it’s telling you something useful about your basement.
What a house centipede actually is
Scutigera coleoptrata is a predator. It eats silverfish, spiders, carpet beetle larvae, small roaches, and just about any other small arthropod it can catch. It hunts at night, hides in cracks by day, and can live several years. Bites are genuinely rare; they’d rather run, and they’re very good at running.
Why it’s in your basement
Two reasons: moisture and food. Centipedes dry out fast, so they stick to damp areas. In the Twin Cities that means basements with limestone block foundations, sump pits, floor drains, and that classic musty corner behind the water heater. Older homes in South Minneapolis and St. Paul with stone foundations hold humidity all summer. If centipedes are thriving, there’s a food supply of other insects down there too.
How to make your basement less inviting
- Run a dehumidifier and keep basement humidity under 50 percent. This is the single biggest fix.
- Seal cracks in the slab and where the foundation meets the sill plate.
- Fix seeping walls, leaky hose bibs, and negative grading that pushes water toward the house.
- Reduce cardboard storage on the floor. Plastic bins on shelving take away hiding spots.
- Put out a few glue boards along the walls to see what else is living down there.
The caveat
Squashing every centipede you see doesn’t fix anything, and honestly, each one you kill was eating pests for you. If you treat for centipedes but skip the dehumidifier and leave a healthy silverfish population in place, new centipedes move in and the cycle repeats. Any company that sprays and leaves without talking about moisture is only doing half the job.
When it’s more than a nuisance
Seeing them weekly, or upstairs on the main floor, suggests either high whole-house humidity or a strong prey population worth investigating. That’s when a proper inspection pays off, because the centipedes are a symptom.
Ankora inspects Twin Cities basements for free and we’ll tell you honestly whether you need treatment or just a dehumidifier. Call (651) 556-2666.
Seeing this pest around your home?
Ankora Pest Control offers a free inspection across the Twin Cities metro. We identify the problem, explain your options honestly, and only recommend what your home actually needs.
