What does a scolopendra look like at home and with what methods can I get rid of it

A home scolopendra, or common flycatcher, is a many-legged creature that quite often settles in living quarters, which causes people some discomfort. The Mediterranean is considered its homeland, but today it can be found on our mainland, as well as in North America.

Description

As can be seen in the photo, the home scolopendra has an elongated body of yellowish-gray or brown color, decorated with three dark stripes. At the same time, its dimensions can be from 3.5 to 6 cm.

The external, or external, skeleton consists of sclerotin and chitinous cover. The body has a flattened shape and is divided into 15 segments, each of which carries a pair of legs. The longest walking limbs are the last.

On a note! In its shape and structure, the last pair of legs is more similar to the antennae.

It is the last legs, because of their appearance, that often interfere with determining where the flycatcher has its head. The front pair of legs is well developed - with them, the scolopendra captures the prey and attacks the enemy.

The body structure of young flycatchers is somewhat different. They have only four pairs of walking limbs. Their number increases with each molt - the home scolopendra acquires several legs after each molt: first they become 10, then 14, 18 and 26. After the last change of the chitin cover, the number of legs reaches 30.

Lifestyle and behavior

Scolopendra home is able to remain active at any time of the day. She moves with an enviable speed - about 40 cm / sec. When moving, the flycatcher lifts its long body above the ground and cleverly rearranges numerous legs.
A pair of faceted eyes is developed quite well, which allows this scolopendra to easily detect the victim. For this reason, she is an excellent hunter. Sitting on the wall, the flycatcher waits for prey, ready at any moment to pounce on any careless insect.

As for the taste preferences of this millipede, it can eat:

• flies and their larvae;
• crickets;
• worms;
• silverfish;
• snails;
• fleas;
• cockroaches;
• moth;
• ants.

The fact that a potential victim is nearby is reported to the home scolopendra not only by its eyes, but also by its long hypersensitive antennae, which can recognize both touch and smell. As soon as the prey is in its paws, the flycatcher immediately plunges its fangs into its body and injects poison. And after the meal, she tries to take refuge in a dark place and wait until the food is absorbed.

Human Relationship

Seeing this creature in their apartment, quite a lot of people are wondering about how dangerous the home scolopendra is. In fact, these unpleasant-looking individuals are considered in some ways useful. Thanks to their ability to kill insects, they can help you get rid of many pests.

On a note! By the way, the taste preferences of the flycatcher in most cases make it clear why she chose your home!

If we talk about whether homemade scolopendra is dangerous for a person, then it is not capable of causing special harm. Inhabited in living quarters, these creatures will feed exclusively on insects or small arthropods, without touching either plants, food supplies, furniture, or wallpaper.

Since the jaws of the flycatcher are rather weak, it is not capable of biting through our skin. And if she succeeds in doing this, then there will not be much harm - the concentration of poison is too low, and not only for humans, but also for pets. In addition, they bite extremely rarely and solely for self-defense.

Methods of struggle

Scolopendra home, despite its name, spends most of its life in the wild. It settles, as a rule, under trees or under fallen leaves. It hibernates in secluded places, and with the advent of steady heat, it gets out of the shelter and goes in search of food.

In autumn, when the temperature drops again, flycatchers flock to warm apartment buildings and, with sufficient moisture and plentiful food, gladly stay there. And before the owners of apartments and houses, the question immediately arises of how to get rid of the home scolopendra.

Here you can give the following recommendations:

• first of all, it is necessary to remove dampness and lower humidity, special attention should be paid to the bathroom, kitchen and bathroom, in addition, it is recommended to ventilate and the pantry;
• sticky traps can help catch flytraps - they are placed in the above rooms and changed as they fill;
• if you find only one scolopendra, then it is enough just to throw it out of the house;
  

  On a note! As a rule, these creatures penetrate residential buildings alone and rarely colonize!

• Aerosol insecticides do pretty well with millipedes, and any drug from crawling insects can be used: Raptor, Combat, Raid, etc.
• poisoning gels can also be used - among the most effective Globol, Fas and Sturm;
• pay special attention to the destruction of domestic insects - if the scolopendra has nothing to eat, then soon it will completely leave your home on its own;
• close all possible ways for millipedes to penetrate - examine the foundation, floor, walls, window frames and doorways and close them when cracks are found.

In a word, in order to get rid of the home scolopendra, it is necessary to restore perfect order in your home and try to maintain it constantly. Do not allow stagnation of water and high humidity, conduct timely control of small pests and clean up in the yard.