Centipedes...i Think

[manda]

This spring, we had these wormy centipede things that came in our house by the thousands....literally. I was crazy. they smell really bad when you squish them and the have a kinda hard shell of sorts. They are black/brown in color and they seem to search out wet and damp places. My kids cannot go outside and we have to wear shoes in the house all day and night. I sweep every hour or so and I am just wondering if anyone might know what they are or how to get rid of them. The orkin man said he did not even know what they were. HELP please!

[manda]

:mellow: nope they are millipedes. Now....how to make them go away before my baby starts crawling and I have to move ^_^ If anyone knows of anyone else who has had these things, pleeeeese let me know.

[DandyLioness]

Holy Moly! That certainly sounds like quite an infestation. I'm wondering if you're talking about "wood lice". It kind of sounds like them by your description.

This is what they look like:

[DandyLioness]

I sent you a PM with a link about millipedes! :unsure:

[MrSeedy]

I had to stop and think for a second , since it seems I sometimes get centipedes and millipedes mixed up , though they really look very different. Centipedes have falttened bodies with legs pointing out to either side of their bodies , which are quite visible and though they have lots of legs (the name means 100 legs), the centipedes have many more smaller legs underneath very round looking bodies , which are much longer than wide, and the name means 1000 legs, though they have nowhere near that. Also after watching a nature show , which talked about the very big tropical centipedes which have a poison bite and which are predatory I'm a little more concerned about being bitten by our local and much smaller varieties. They give me the creeps actually. Meanwhile since the millipedes are very peaceful herbivores , which eat mostly rotting vegetation, I almost find them appealing, and actually kept one as a pet for several days , when I was a kid. There are also some very large tropical versions of Millipedes, though ours don't get over a couple of inches long, and they're much more infrequent here than the centipedes, which I can sometimes find even in my flowerpots. In comparison with the "wood lice" or "sow bugs" or "pill bugs" which are sometimes present it seems in the thousands , both the centipedes and the millipedes are badly outnumbered.

[gardenlady]

i would fire that orkin man!

[manda]

nope they are millipedes thank you for the link! Some of them are actually 3 inches long, but they are mostly little. I called the bug guy and he said I would just have to spray again, but that they would have to come inside to die........not the best thing I can think of! They are so nasty and I have nightmares about them when they are at their worst. My porch looks like it is crawling! :blink: :blink: I'll take a pic this spring.

[Rich]

You move south to find the better weather and then find there is a down side too. I think you've found the downside.

Can you find where they're getting in?

[manda]

My house was built in 1910 and it sat empty for several years not to mention when people did live here they did not keep it up. they get in everywhere! Under the house and in the basement and the crawl up between the boards that are the floor. The come in around everything. We are trying to seal everything up, but since my DH has been off work since June because of a work accident (crack in his spine) we are short on muscle and money. The older kids are a help, but they are only 12 and 14. The babies are 6 and 4 months, so they take up all of my time.....ahhh well, I suppose I will get them sooner or later. At least they are out for the winter :D

[boo]

Hi Manda

Sorry to hear about your DH. A crack in the spine can't be good. :mellow: I've always thought millipedes were kind of interesting bugs but that's probably because I rarely run across any. Hundreds of them would be rather freaky. I hope they don't come back in the spring. :ph34r: