What is THIS?

Slippertalk Orchid Forum

Help Support Slippertalk Orchid Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Heather

ST Supporter
Supporting Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2006
Messages
10,743
Reaction score
169
Location
Sacramento, CA. Outside w/ Southeast Exposure
I just found this in one of my humidity trays.

It's dead (thank goodness), but I'm not sure it is even an insect. It could be a flower? It looks like it was once quite purple in color.

Any ideas?
img0541th0.jpg
 
Looks to be a Scutigera coleoptrata. They are an ancient outgroup to the modern centipedes/milipedes, I believe.

Edit: Oops, yeah. likespaphs got it. House centipede, Scutigera coleoptrata.
 
Nah, they're cute...and they probably eat the bugs you really don't want.........Eric
 
Eric Muehlbauer said:
...probably eat the bugs ...

Yeah, probably. But maybe they prefer to crawl all over you while you're sleeping, wiggling their feelers all around!! :poke:
 
Why?? In heavens name, did I ask???

Here I was thinking it might have been something floral I had brushed against on the very floriforous street I just moved to! It was pretty!!??!?!?!!!

EWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!

Several of you know of my complete and utter fear of centipedes.
I found, I think, two babies today as well, both alive. One on the floor and one in a tray. Both were very very small. And are now dead. I may very well have to move.

Seriously. Please, I beg of you, please....how many of these might I expect to see? I am in an old building, and they are doing construction next door. The little ones I might be able to handle, if there are not thousands of them. If I were to see a live one the size of the dead one I found, I would scream bloody murder and faint on the spot. Now, I am terrified. I may never sleep again.

If I disappear. You know why. Please send a rescue party...
 
Well, John might be able to help. We know he prefers to end the lives of most multi-legged creatures, especially if they look at him. :)
 
Mahon said:
...just found this for you Heather... hopefully you won't have any of these Centipedes around...

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/157649/centipede_eats_mouse/

(it's either the largest bug I have seen, or the smallest mouse I have seen...lol)

-Pat

That video is scary. I normally do well with arthropods, too!

There is another video like that of a centipede eating a bat. It's from a BBC David Attenborough documentary that I have around here somewhere...

Edit: HERE we go: http://youtube.com/watch?v=iV6ZDMBmTCg
 
I killed couple of centipedes in my own kitchen last year. They were about 7-8 centimeters long and there was no one around to help me. I was so afraid that I cried for couple of hours after that. It's unbelievable but my husband was laughing because he didn't take serious my fear and thought I was just pretending. :sob:

Heather, keep the broom next to you.
 
Nah, don't worry about a thing it's just a little flower.. Anyway something that small without a stinger really can't hurt you too much. Anywhere that has water will attract insects. If these are in your growing area they're also in your tub piping. Sorry.
 
Heather,

You also need to know that the house centipede can bite. It has a slightly toxic bite, nothing deadly or to be worried about, but it will probably leave a welt bigger than a mosquito bite.

-Jason using Robert's ID :)
 
Drorchid said:
Heather,

You also need to know that the house centipede can bite. It has a slightly toxic bite, nothing deadly or to be worried about, but it will probably leave a welt bigger than a mosquito bite.

-Jason using Robert's ID :)

Yeah, I read that on this scary web site:
http://www.math.umd.edu/~schris/scutigera.shtml

Google was not my friend the other day. Thankfully, I have yet to see any more of these around. Knock-on-wood.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top