Centipedes are arthropods that belong to the Chilopoda class – a group that includes several multi-legged creatures such as millipedes. If your house is infested with these crawlers, you must eliminate their food sources. To do that, you first need to understand what centipedes eat.
So what do centipedes eat? Centipedes exhibit carnivorous tendencies – i.e., they love to feast on meat. These multi-legged creatures are both hunters as well as scavengers. They eat insects and pests, whether they are alive or dead. Some of the stuff they eat includes spiders, ground beetles, cockroaches, earthworms, and crickets. They also eat some plants and vegetables to survive.
How do centipedes eat?
Typically, centipedes don’t come with the sharpest pair of eyes. However, their antennae are quite useful when searching for food sources. Centipedes are extremely quick, a skill that makes them excellent hunters. When they locate their prey, they use quick reflexes to pounce on the target.
Centipedes use their powerful claws to lock in their prey. Their claws secrete powerful venom that paralyzes their prey. Once the prey has been paralyzed, centipedes use their mandibles to chew their meal. However, centipede venom is not strong enough to affect large animals like rats. Their venom has no impact on humans except for causing mild irritation and some form of infection.
Centipedes eat insects.
Some of the favorite foods of centipedes are listed below.
Ground beetles
If you have got ground beetles in your home, they can attract centipedes. Although these beetles have wings, they can’t fly, and Centipedes can easily use this weakness to their advantage.
To get rid of ground beetles, you must find out what attracts them. They like to stay near light, and they can also hide gaps and cracks in different parts of your home. However, they are fearless enough to make their way into your home through the windows and doors.
To eat ground beetles, centipedes go around certain hot spots such as leaves, logs, rocks, and accumulated debris.
Spiders
Unlike other insects, centipedes don’t fear spiders. Instead, they find spiders delicious!
Spiders enter homes via cracks and openings in windows and doors. Spiders usually enter a home to search for food, moisture, warmth, or a mate. One of the biggest reasons for a spider to come into a home is when it spots a sizeable supply of other insects in a home.
Sometimes, spiders are transferred into a home via infested mediums like clothing, firewood, and other items stored in areas like the basement and attic.
Cockroaches
Centipedes also like to have cockroaches for dinner.
A significant reason behind the arrival of cockroaches is blamed on inadequate housekeeping. If you don’t clean and maintain your home properly, a dirty home will always attract cockroaches, which invites centipedes. They can intrude on your home via gaps, cracks, infested items, sewer pipes, and drains. Sometimes, the mere attraction of light sources is enough for a cockroach to barge into your home.
Crickets
Crickets are another favorite food source of centipedes. Usually, crickets live outdoors. However, given the “right” conditions, they are drawn to homes. These include poorly sealed gaps, unmaintained damp spaces, and shiny lights in a home.
You must remove crickets from your home at once because they inflict severe damage, other than luring centipedes to your home.
What do centipedes eat in the garden?
Centipedes have forged a strong reputation as generalist predators. They are omnivores; thus, they eat whatever they can discover in their surroundings for survival.
In gardens, they can eat plants and vegetables; however, it is not their favorite diet. Only when centipedes are out of options and can’t find moving food sources do they relent and eat plants to survive.
If possible, they would also go for their favorite foods, like spiders, crickets, and silverfish; other bugs they eat include moths, pill bugs, and flies.
The generalist nature of centipedes makes them scavenge dead organisms. Hence, they will not think twice before eating dead pests…
What is different about the eating habits of wild centipedes?
Wild centipedes are a lot more different than house centipedes. Living in the wild has made them larger, and they also tend to be deadlier as hunters. Wild centipedes eat earthworms, spiders, and moths. Studies reveal that they like eating larger vertebrate prey such as lizards, rodents, birds, frogs, bats, snakes, and other reptiles.
Like their House counterparts, they are nocturnal and search for food at night. During the day, they hide in their safe spots. These spots include rocks – ones that are humid and damp. Since they thrive on water, moist places help them to thrive.
Centipedes are cannibals
Centipedes are one of those species which take part in cannibalization. A lot of female centipedes are known to devour their younglings. If the nesting spot of centipedes is destroyed, they may feel the urge to eat their eggs.
Interestingly, it is not always the parent who eats their offspring. In some species, there is a reverse occurrence (i.e., the child is known to consume its mother).
Centipedes drink water
Centipedes require water for survival, and they don’t only drink water but also use water sources as living spaces. This is why you can find centipedes close to water sources in your home’s drains, sewers, bathrooms, sinks, and other moist areas.
Like spiders, centipedes are protected by waxy coverings. While it can protect them from their enemies, it is ineffective in saving them from moisture loss. When there is no water, dehydration can speed up the death of a centipede.
Their need for water; some studies suggest that this may be their primary reason to seek refuge in a home so they can drink water and stay alive. This is why water cleaning off stagnant and standing water in your home can pay dividends for removing centipedes.
What is different about the eating habits of centipedes
Usually, predators hunt and eat animals that are smaller than them in size. As you might have observed by now, from the above food sources of centipedes, they eat bigger animals than them. They can eat an animal that is more than 15 times larger than them. So how is this possible?
Centipedes succeed in eating larger animals because of their venomous bite. In Venezuela, studies have unveiled that centipedes even ate bats. In China, a centipede with a golden head and a weight of just three grams managed to subdue a mouse that weighed 45 grams! This victory came as a result of its venom, which was a lot more potent than the venom of a normal centipede.
According to Shilong Yang, an experienced researcher in toxins and venom, the feat achieved by the centipede has set a new record for subduing a 15-times larger prey in less than 30 seconds. Yang published a report in which he gave details of the toxin that made the centipede more powerful. This was due to peptide – a molecule in centipede venom. It is effective because it entirely blocks potassium from going in or out of mammal cells. As potassium channels are common throughout mammal bodies, the toxin from a centipede can damage nervous, muscular, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems.
Are millipedes similar to centipedes in eating habits?
Centipedes are often used in the same category as millipedes. Millipedes may appear similar but are not as fierce in hunting habits as centipedes. The range of foods they devour is also a lot lesser than centipedes.
Millipedes are detrivores, which means they consume decomposing plants and dead animals. Some other foods on their menu include feces, wood matter, and organics in the soil.
If millipedes cannot eat dead plants, they turn to algae and fungi. Similarly, they may attempt to eat soft roots and leaves. Farmers are always on the lookout for millipedes because they damage sprouting seedlings. Due to this reason, farmers suffer a great deal of financial damage.
Although millipedes are not typically predatory, a few species have been found to hunt earthworms, snails, and even other centipedes.
What are other solutions to remove centipedes?
After destroying and eliminating the types of foods consumed by centipedes, don’t expect them to disappear completely. Make sure that you maintain clean and dry conditions in your home. Also, ensure that your home is free from stagnant or standing water.
Have a professional visit your home so you can identify gaps, holes, and cracks in your home, which serve as the entry points of centipedes. Subsequently, make them initiate repair work to seal these openings.
You can also use insecticides and natural repellents to minimize a centipede infestation.
Centipedes Are Carnivorous Creatures That Feast on Smaller Insects and Spiders
Centipedes are carnivorous creatures that feast on smaller insects and spiders. While they may not be the most pleasant creatures to have around, they can be quite helpful in getting rid of pesky bugs.
So, if you’re wondering, “Do centipedes eat? “the answer is yes!
While centipedes will eat just about any small insect or spider, they enjoy moths. A centipede may be your new best friend if you have a moth problem.
Keep an eye on them, as they can also be quite pesky themselves!
They Use Their Long, Sharp Legs to Subdue Their Prey Before Devouring Them Whole
Hello, everyone! Today, we will be talking about centipedes and their eating habits.
As you may know, centipedes are predatory creatures that use their long, sharp legs to subdue their prey before devouring them whole.
But what, exactly, do centipedes eat?
Centipedes are opportunistic feeders, meaning they’ll pretty much eat anything they can catch. This includes insects, spiders, worms, and even small rodents.
So, if you’ve been wondering whether or not centipedes are a threat to your home or garden, the answer is yes, they definitely can be! If you have a centipede problem, the best thing to do is to call a professional pest control company.
They’ll be able to safely and effectively get rid of the centipedes for you.
While most Centipedes Prefer Live Prey, They Will Also Eat Dead Insects If Necessary.
As anyone who has seen a centipede knows, these creatures are not shy about hunting down and eating their prey. Centipedes are quite voracious eaters and consume about anything they can get their hands on, including live prey.
However, centipedes cannot always find live prey; when this happens, they will turn to dead insects as food sources. While most centipedes prefer live prey, they will also eat dead insects if necessary.
One of the reasons why centipedes prefer live prey is because it is easier for them to digest. Dead insects can be more difficult for centipedes to digest, and as a result, they may not get all the nutrients they need.
Another reason centipedes prefer live prey is that it provides them with a more well-rounded diet. While dead insects may provide some nutrients, they will not contain all the vitamins and minerals that live prey will.
This is just another example of how these creatures can adapt to their environment and find the food they need to survive.
4 Some Species of Centipede Can Even Survive for Months Without Food!
While it’s true that centipedes can be pretty creepy, they’re interesting creatures that can teach us a lot about survival.
For example, did you know that some species of centipede can even survive for months without food?
That’s right; some species of centipede can go without food for months. This is an amazing feat of survival that can be attributed to the fact that centipedes are extremely efficient at converting the food they eat into energy.
So, if you’re ever in a situation where food is scarce, you might want to take a page out of the centipede’s playbook and focus on efficiency. Of course, just because centipedes can go without food for a long time doesn’t mean that they don’t like to eat.
Most centipedes are voracious eaters and will happily munch on just about anything they can get their many legs on. This includes other insects, spiders, and even small vertebrates like lizards and frogs.
If you’re ever in a situation where a centipede is chasing you, it’s probably best to give up and let it have you. After all, it’s not like there’s anything you can do that will stop a centipede from eating you.
FAQs about What Do Centipedes Eat?
What is a centipede’s favorite food?
Centipedes are carnivores, and their favorite food is small insects and spiders.
What do centipedes eat in your home?
Centipedes in your home likely feed on small insects, spiders, and other arthropods.
What can I feed a centipede?
Centipedes are carnivores and eat just about any small animal they can find, including insects, spiders, and even other centipedes.
Do centipedes bite humans?
No, centipedes do not bite humans, and they are not aggressive and will only bite if they feel threatened.
Centipedes are carnivores that eat insects, spiders, and other small animals.
Conclusion
They use their long, sharp legs to subdue their prey before devouring them.
While most centipedes prefer live prey, they will also eat dead insects if necessary. So there you have it – the next time you see a centipede in your home, remember that it’s probably just looking for its next meal!
And if you don’t like sharing their living space with critters, maybe it’s time to start sealing up any cracks and crevices that might be inviting them in.