House Centipede
Wed Jun 14 20:13:29 2006 EDT (-0400 GMT)I see about five of these a year, most often in sinks and tubs and when the seasons change. In April I met one on my bedside table! I’ve been wondering what type of insect it was ever since then.
When I do meet one of these ugly insects I tend to kill them by crushing them in a tissue and fist, I should take a picture of one (thanks to myriorama on Flickr for this picture) but they’re quite quick and I don’t bring a camera with me to the washroom (often).
According to the Wikipedia article on house centipedes the reason these bugs are so quick is that they are house insect predators. They feed on spiders, termites, cockroaches, silverfish and other inside pests. They kill their prey by injecting venom through their fangs and then feasting on the dead prey!
I’ve been bitten by one: The outcome was I dropped it, but that sturdy tissue kept the centipede trapped. I have yet to die and he hasn’t feasted on anything in a long time.