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Scutigera coleoptrata

By Winston Ricks

Ge­o­graphic Range

Scutig­era coleop­trata, the com­mon house cen­tipede, is thought to be na­tive to the Mediter­ranean. Today it can be found through­out Eu­rope, Asia, and North Amer­ica. (Barnes, 2003; O'Toole, 1986; Barnes, 2003; O'Toole, 1986)

Habi­tat

Scutig­era coleop­trata prefers tem­per­ate cli­mates and are often found in build­ings. They can ap­par­ently sur­vive in many humid habi­tats, as long as there is a place to hide, suf­fi­cient hu­mid­ity, and enough food. They are often found in dark, humid areas such as crevices under rocks and caves. In res­i­dences they're more com­monly found in base­ments and bath­rooms (prob­a­bly be­cause of higher hu­mid­ity there). (Buchs­baum, et al., 1987; Drees and Jack­man, 1998; O'Toole, 1986)

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

House cen­tipedes are brown or black in color. Like all arthro­pods, S. coleop­trata has an ex­oskele­ton made of chitin and scle­rotin. Its dor­sal-ven­trally flat­tened body is di­vided into fif­teen seg­ments with one pair of legs per seg­ment. The first pair of legs is mod­i­fied into fangs used for cap­tur­ing prey and as pro­tec­tion. There are three dor­sal lon­gi­tu­di­nal stripes, and the legs are banded. They have very well de­vel­oped an­ten­nae and com­pound eyes. Most range from one to six cm in length and are very quick run­ners in com­par­i­son with other cen­tipedes. (Ar­nett Jr., Ph.D., 1985; Barnes, 2003; Drees and Jack­man, 1998; Grz­imek, 1972; O'Toole, 1986)

  • Range length
    1 to 6 cm
    0.39 to 2.36 in

De­vel­op­ment

Im­ma­ture S. coleop­trata hatch from the egg ap­pear­ing very sim­i­lar to the adults, al­though they have only four pairs of legs. As they de­velop they pass through five lar­val in­stars, with each molt gain­ing more leg pairs. After their fifth molt, they have all four­teen pairs of legs and are ma­ture. (Barnes, 2003; Drees and Jack­man, 1998; O'Toole, 1986)

Re­pro­duc­tion

Scutig­era coleop­trata is stim­u­lated by pheromones and sound sig­nals. Dur­ing courtship, males cir­cle and tap other cen­tipedes look­ing for a re­cep­tive fe­male. Once a mate is found, the male spins a silk pad in which he places his sperm. The fe­male then takes the sperm pouch and fer­til­izes her eggs. Courtship and re­pro­duc­tion oc­curs dur­ing the warmer months of the year. (Drees and Jack­man, 1998; O'Toole, 1986)

Fe­male house cen­tipedes lay their eggs in the soil and cover them up with a sticky sub­stance. Courtship and re­pro­duc­tion oc­curs dur­ing the warmer months of the year.

In lab­o­ra­tory ob­ser­va­tions, fe­males laid an av­er­age of 63 eggs, and a max­i­mum of 151 eggs. (Barnes, 2003)

For about two weeks after the baby cen­tipedes have hatched, the mother and her off­spring live in the same place, pro­vid­ing some de­gree of pro­tec­tion for the young. (Drees and Jack­man, 1998; O'Toole, 1986)

  • Parental Investment
  • pre-fertilization
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-independence
    • protecting
      • female

Be­hav­ior

Scutig­era coleop­trata spend the win­ter in iso­lated pro­tected habi­tats and be­come ac­tive in the spring. They re­treat to un­der­neath rocks and logs dur­ing the day, be­com­ing ac­tive at night. They use their an­ten­nae to sense the en­vi­ron­ment around them, al­though S. coleop­trata makes bet­ter use of its eyes than most other cen­tipedes. House cen­tipedes mi­grate or bur­row in re­sponse to chang­ing en­vi­ron­men­tal con­di­tions such as ex­treme cold or drought. (Drees and Jack­man, 1998; O'Toole, 1986)

Food Habits

Scutig­era coleop­trata is car­niv­o­rous, eat­ing worms, snails, cock­roaches, sil­ver­fish, fly lar­vae, and other arthro­pods. It senses its prey using its an­ten­nae which have scent and touch re­cep­tors on them. House cen­tipedes then use their fangs to hold the prey while in­ject­ing poi­son with the mod­i­fied front legs. After eat­ing, S. coleop­trata re­treats to a safe place to let the food di­gest. (Buchs­baum, et al., 1987; Drees and Jack­man, 1998; O'Toole, 1986)

  • Animal Foods
  • insects
  • terrestrial non-insect arthropods
  • mollusks
  • terrestrial worms

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

House cen­tipedes eat many pest or­gan­isms, such as cock­roaches (Blat­todea) and sil­ver­fish (Lep­is­mati­dae). (Drees and Jack­man, 1998; O'Toole, 1986)

  • Positive Impacts
  • controls pest population

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

House cen­tipedes are not ag­gres­sive, but can bite peo­ple in self-de­fense. Often their fangs are not strong enough to break the skin. If they do get through skin, the venom in­jected can cause a painful bite, com­pa­ra­ble to a hon­ey­bee sting.

As rel­a­tively large and ac­tive arthro­pods, many peo­ple con­sider their pres­ence in­doors a nui­sance. (Barnes, 2003; Drees and Jack­man, 1998)

  • Negative Impacts
  • injures humans
  • household pest

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Other Com­ments

S. coleop­trata are very fast mov­ing cen­tipedes. They have a shorter body and longer legs than other species, pre­vent­ing them from trip­ping over them­selves as they run. Their legs pro­gres­sively get longer to­wards the rear of the body. This al­lows the rear legs to cross the legs in front of them, going above and to the out­side, pre­vent­ing en­tan­gle­ment. The rear-most legs are ac­tu­ally twice as long as the front-most legs. (O'Toole, 1986)

Con­trib­u­tors

Sara Di­a­mond (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Win­ston Ricks (au­thor), South­west­ern Uni­ver­sity, Stephanie Fab­ri­tius (ed­i­tor), South­west­ern Uni­ver­sity.

Glossary

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

Palearctic

living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.

World Map

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

bog

a wetland area rich in accumulated plant material and with acidic soils surrounding a body of open water. Bogs have a flora dominated by sedges, heaths, and sphagnum.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

ectothermic

animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

heterothermic

having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.

holarctic

a distribution that more or less circles the Arctic, so occurring in both the Nearctic and Palearctic biogeographic regions.

World Map

Found in northern North America and northern Europe or Asia.

insectivore

An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.

internal fertilization

fertilization takes place within the female's body

introduced

referring to animal species that have been transported to and established populations in regions outside of their natural range, usually through human action.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

marsh

marshes are wetland areas often dominated by grasses and reeds.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

oriental

found in the oriental region of the world. In other words, India and southeast Asia.

World Map

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

riparian

Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody (usually, but not always, a river or stream).

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

suburban

living in residential areas on the outskirts of large cities or towns.

swamp

a wetland area that may be permanently or intermittently covered in water, often dominated by woody vegetation.

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

urban

living in cities and large towns, landscapes dominated by human structures and activity.

venomous

an animal which has an organ capable of injecting a poisonous substance into a wound (for example, scorpions, jellyfish, and rattlesnakes).

Ref­er­ences

Ar­nett Jr., Ph.D., R. 1985. Amer­i­can In­sects: A Hand­book of the In­sects of Amer­ica North of Mex­ico. New York, New York, USA: Van Nos­trand Rein­hold Com­pany.

Barnes, J. 2003. "House Cen­tipede" (On-line). Uni­ver­sity of Arkansas Arthro­pod Mu­seum Notes. Ac­cessed March 23, 2005 at http://​www.​uark.​edu/​depts/​entomolo/​museum/​house_​centipede.​html.

Br­usca, R., G. Br­usca. 2003. In­ver­te­brates. Sun­der­land, Mass­a­chu­setts: Sin­auer As­so­ci­ates, Inc..

Buchs­baum, R., M. Buchs­baum, J. Pearse, V. Pearse. 1987. An­i­mals With­out Back­bones. Chicago: The Uni­ver­sity of Chicago Press.

Drees, B., Jack­man. 1998. A Field Guide to Com­mon­Texas In­sects. Hous­ton, Texas: Gulf Pub­lish­ing Com­pany.

Grz­imek, B. 1972. Grz­imek's En­cy­clo­pe­dia of Ecol­ogy. New York: Van Nos­trand Rein­hold Com­pany.

O'Toole, C. 1986. The En­cy­clo­pe­dia of In­sects. New York: Facts on File Pub­li­ca­tions.

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Classification

Classification

  • Kingdom Animalia animals
  • Class Chilopoda
  • Order Scutigeromorpha
  • Family Scutigeridae
  • Genus Scutigera
  • Species Scutigera coleoptrata