Centipede

A fast-moving multi-legged predatory arthropod (technically not an insect but commonly grouped with them) — its venomous front "fangs" make it one of the few terrestrial invertebrates capable of delivering a painful bite to humans.

Not insects, technically

Centipedes are myriapods — many-legged arthropods — distinct from insects (which have 6 legs). They’re in the class Chilopoda. Their nearest relatives are millipedes (Diplopoda), which have two pairs of legs per body segment vs. centipedes’ one pair.

The English name centipede (“100 feet”) is an approximation — actual leg counts range from 30 to over 350 depending on species, always an odd number of pairs.

Fast predators

Centipedes are active predators with highly modified front legs called forcipules — venomous “fangs” that inject prey with paralytic venom. Different species hunt:

Soft-bodied insects (smaller centipedes)
Spiders, beetles, other arthropods (medium centipedes)
Small frogs, lizards, mice (giant tropical species like Scolopendra gigantea)

They locate prey through long sensitive antennae and run at high speeds — house centipedes can reach 0.4 m/s on a flat surface, an extraordinary speed for an animal weighing under a gram.

Bite warning

Most centipede bites cause localized pain, swelling, and inflammation — comparable to a wasp sting. Larger tropical species (Vietnamese centipede, Hawaiian centipede) deliver bites severe enough to send adults to medical care, with intense pain lasting hours.

Few centipede bites are fatal to healthy humans, but they can be very painful and occasionally cause systemic reactions in sensitive individuals.

Indoor visitors

The house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) is the long-legged, fast-moving centipede commonly found in damp basements and bathrooms. Despite its alarming appearance, it’s actually a beneficial predator — eating spiders, silverfish, cockroaches, and other household pests.

Many households tolerate house centipedes for this reason, despite the “ick” factor.

Many segments, complex coordination

A centipede with 200 legs faces a coordination problem — synchronizing each leg with its neighbors. They solve this with a wave gait that propagates along the body, with each leg slightly offset from the next. The result is the smooth, hypnotic flow of legs that’s distinctive to centipede locomotion.