Centipedes are never a welcome house guest, but they don’t let manners get in the way. Centipedes regularly make their way into homes across Northern Virginia and southern Maryland.

Are centipedes dangerous? And are centipedes a bad sign? Here’s what you need to know if you see one of these creatures in your house.

Are Centipedes in VA and MD Poisonous?

Centipedes can and do bite people. They’re also venomous, so if you get bitten, you will know. However, centipedes don’t make a habit of biting people: they reserve their predatory venom for hunting and killing prey. Their fangs aren’t usually enough to bite human skin. Larger centipedes are more likely to do the most damage.

If you a centipede bites you and manages to break the skin, then it may look and feel like a bee sting. However, your body can cope with the venom without much of a problem. It will just be a bit uncomfortable for a few days. You need to keep the area clean and use ice to bring down the swelling.

Do you have a severe allergy to bee and wasp stings? You’ll want to be wary of centipede bites. It’s rare, but their venom can cause serious reactions in people with allergies.

Should You Worry About Finding Centipedes in Your House?

Even though centipedes won’t harm you, they aren’t a welcome sight. Generally, there’s no reason to worry, but they do feed off much bigger, nastier creatures, like cockroaches.

Perhaps their food source is the biggest worry you should have if you have more than one or two centipedes in the house. A bigger presence suggests they have something to eat. So, you’ll want to investigate (or hire someone to do it for you) to see what it is they’re snacking on. It could be ants, spiders, flies, silverfish, or roaches.

Another reason to worry about centipedes is that they love moisture. That’s why you’re most likely to see a house centipede in a basement. If you have a real problem with centipedes, then you may want to look for potential leaks or work to dry out areas where you tend to find them lurking.

Centipedes Aren’t Dangerous, but You Can Get Rid of Them Anyway

Centipedes are venomous, but they won’t do any damage except in rare cases when a large centipede bites someone who is very allergic to bee stings. Even still, finding centipedes in your house isn’t a good sign.

Remember that if you want to get rid of centipedes, you need both pest control and a solution to what attracted the centipedes into your home in the first place.

Do you need help creating a bug-free home? We use green pest control practices to stop unwelcome guests from sneaking into your house. Get in touch to tell us about your pest problems and learn more about pest control services.