Centipede & Millipede Control
Centipedes are commonly found in and around the home or places that have moisture build up. They are part of the arthropod family, with long, flattened, segmented bodies and fifteen pairs of very long, slender legs. The centipede is up to 1 1/2 inches long and has. Each leg is encircled by dark and white bands. They are brown to grayish-yellow in color with three dark stripes on top.
The Centipede is an insectivore; it eats insects and arthropods such as spiders, bedbugs, termites, cockroaches and ants. Centipedes prefer to live in damp areas such as basements, bathrooms, unexcavated areas under the house; but they can reside in other places as well such as beneath the bark of firewood stored indoors, under large rocks, piles of wood and especially in compost.
Centipede control consists of drying up and cleaning up as much as possible. By targeting the areas that serve as habitat and food source for centipede, along with a treatment program from Catseye Pest Control, the homeowner is able to control the infestation. We can treat the usual hiding places such as crawl spaces, dark corners in basements, baseboard cracks and crevices, openings in concrete slabs, under shelves, and around stored boxes.
Millipede Control
Millipedes are dark brown, round and elongated with many small legs, and can reach 1 to 1 1/2 inches in length when full grown. They are most recognized for their defense mechanism; when disturbed, they tend to curl into a tight coil.
Most Millipede movement in the home takes place sporadically throughout the months of September and October and then again in mid-Spring. They move into cellars and basements usually after a period of wet weather. Migration into the home usually doesn’t last long or happen often because millipedes require an area of high moisture. They usually die in a home within a day or two.
Millipedes are noted for being slow moving and eat decaying leaves and other dead plant matter, moisturizing the food with secretions and then scraping it in with the jaws. However, they can also be a minor garden pest causing severe damage to emergent seedlings.
Signs of millipede damage include the stripping of the outer layers of a young plant stem and irregular damage to leaves and plant apices. If you have a chronic Millipede problem, it is usually due to damp conditions in your basement or cellar. Measures taken to dry out moist areas usually are enough. The hard body of the Millipede, however, remains intact for a considerable time after it is dead. That’s why it’s good to be on a year round maintenance program. Not only can a pest control professional treat for the Millipede infestation and look for conducive conditions that cause the problem, they can also take care of the clean up afterward.
Common Differences Between Centipedes and Millipedes
Centipede body-segments possess one pair of legs (2 legs); while Millipede body-segments are equipped with two pairs (4 legs).
Centipedes are predators, mostly eating other arthropods; while Millipedes eat plant material, especially soft, decomposing plant tissue.
Centipedes, being predators, possess poison glands for incapacitating their prey (large ones can inflict painful, though seldom dangerous, bites). In contrast, a typical Millipede defense consists of secreting stinky juice from pores along its side
Contact Cat’s Eye King today for assistance with centipede control and millipede control needs.