# Found a house centipede yesterday.



## SandDeku (Apr 15, 2011)

So I found a house centipede yesterday. Quite pretty. And sorta big too. i think an inch and a half. Iam keeping it.


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## ilovebugs (Apr 16, 2011)

Thats awesome. I love those. they are so fast!


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## SandDeku (Apr 16, 2011)

ilovebugs said:


> Thats awesome. I love those. they are so fast!


Yeah hes still alive and kicking. I showed him to my dad. he thinks its cool looking.


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Update:
I just put him a larger container, put in a layer of dirt, put in a small pintsize plastic drinking cup and put him in with 2medium sized crickets. Hopefully  hell eat them <3 love that lil guy.


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## Bugs In Cyberspace (Apr 17, 2011)

Your dad's a good judge of character. You've had a nice flurry of posts about your "finds" in this section of the forum lately. How about a photo of that interesting catch!


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## SpyderRookie (Apr 17, 2011)

I caught about 3 of those a few days ago myself while doing some garden work with my kids. I placed him in a plastic container with the lid off and for some reason he died shortly after. Any idea why?


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## Bugs In Cyberspace (Apr 17, 2011)

Running in circles is exhausting...or it dried out...or it dried out while running in circles.


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## SandDeku (Apr 17, 2011)

Bugs In Cyberspace said:


> Your dad's a good judge of character. You've had a nice flurry of posts about your "finds" in this section of the forum lately. How about a photo of that interesting catch!


Hmm  okay. I will try to get a good clean pic today. Since my moms phone is sorta crappy ill see how well it does. :] 

If not ill ask my bro to lend me his phone for it. If he will be ok with it

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SpyderRookie said:


> I caught about 3 of those a few days ago myself while doing some garden work with my kids. I placed him in a plastic container with the lid off and for some reason he died shortly after. Any idea why?


I think like the other person said, probably died from dehydration. I also think if you left it outside.... The sun mayhave shone brightly in there and well.... Think of a greenhouse/sauna. It may have also died from the stress of either factors.


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## Vulgaris (Apr 17, 2011)

Hmmm. I'm fine with just about all insects on this earth. But the house centipedes are one thing which I am NOT ok with. They terrorize me during the summer


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## SandDeku (Apr 17, 2011)

Vulgaris said:


> Hmmm. I'm fine with just about all insects on this earth. But the house centipedes are one thing which I am NOT ok with. They terrorize me during the summer


mk I understand you I guess. I do like them, they aren't my favorite bugs. But not like theres many places here where I can go look for other bugs.  Which I try to do anyways and I never find any. I mean I went fishing today---- saw a water lodged fish(long story) and I saw some large water striders. Larger than the ussual ones I see. But I don't see the appeal on them because I don't know how I'd make a set up for them, or what they'd eat or how long they'd live. Etc. etc. Other insects that I like--- velvet ants, dung beetles, beetles with a high domed carapace(think of a turtle--- no not the turtlebeetle), large millipedes(over 2inches would be nice. lol. 3-6inches would be sweet. Larger the better.). There's also slugs and snails--- but I prefer the larger versions. Otherwise they're basically invisible pets to me. Only small bugs I like would be these waterbugs. a few mm long. I guess what Iam looking for--- may not be around where I live or if it is--- I won't find it easily. lol. Plus I prefer longevity on the "pet" atleast over a year or two. Preferably over 3 but yeah. That way I can have it for a while. 


Long story short--- I have very limited bug species to me currently.


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## Vfox (Apr 18, 2011)

I used to be terrified of these guys! I remember one on my wall that to my seven year old brain was a foot long, lol. I actually think they are one of my coolest looking house guests now. I never kill them and relocate them to my basement or workshop whenever I can. They are great to have around to control pesky insects. I just wish they would eat all the darn stinkbugs! Seriously I'm killing between ten and twenty A DAY! Stupid invasive pests, bah.

Sanddeku, do you have any roaches as pets? Some of the larger Blaberus genus live for nearly two years as adults (normally a year) and get quite large. I keep several large species (and many small ones) and I love watching them. If you live near a metropolitan area you could catch some Periplaneta americana, I know they are "pests" but they are also one of my favorite pets.


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## SandDeku (Apr 18, 2011)

Vfox said:


> I used to be terrified of these guys! I remember one on my wall that to my seven year old brain was a foot long, lol. I actually think they are one of my coolest looking house guests now. I never kill them and relocate them to my basement or workshop whenever I can. They are great to have around to control pesky insects. I just wish they would eat all the darn stinkbugs! Seriously I'm killing between ten and twenty A DAY! Stupid invasive pests, bah.
> 
> Sanddeku, do you have any roaches as pets? Some of the larger Blaberus genus live for nearly two years as adults (normally a year) and get quite large. I keep several large species (and many small ones) and I love watching them. If you live near a metropolitan area you could catch some Periplaneta americana, I know they are "pests" but they are also one of my favorite pets.


No as to most of them sorta freak me out. :x I mean I try getting over my fear.... Because where I come from(puerto rico) there's alot of roaches.... and.... you see like more than 100of them in every home/house for the most part. Especially in the more humid areas. Flying ones freak me out more. Only ones Iam actually okay with (sorta....) are the giant burrowing roach(non-us-because they look more like a beetle.) and they are expensive. Plus if my mom thinks its a roach---shell kill it. She hates roaches more than anyone I know. 
As for house centipedes- yeah I like how they look. They're not certainly my most favorite of all insects or of the centipede family but. They're still cool. 

Though oddly enough I seem to be more leniant to herbivores, scavengers, than predators. Though I do like some predators like: 
-Beetles, water bugs, other aquatic predators.
-Centipedes(I like em--- but scared of them. I feel oddly threatened by one), spiders, etc.
-Praying mantids(except when they start flying...)

See where I come from... the bugs over there are ALOT bigger than over here.  So if you're a 5year old child looking at a huge centipede over what looks to be a foot long(they get that big over there), or a huge roach that can carry diseases(over there they do). Or aggressive killer bees, and such. One would get afraid easily. I did get to witness the rare site of stick insects(twice), but I let them go since I didnt  know how to care for them.

As of these later years I became more fond of them and started to overcome my fear of them(insects/arachnids,etc). Only thing I never feared were millipedes, stick insects. I even feared beetles and slugs!  Hope that helps shedding some light to this. lol. Plus last summer-- I went back there to puertorico. I was sleeping over at my grammas. I wasn't wearing a shirt because it was extremely hot--- I became accostumed to cold weather. SOOO in the middle of the night, I feel something crawling over my stomach... I wake up to find a huge roach crawling over me. I freaked out and I got really angry so I cupped it and well.... Lets just say it died a horrible death(insomniac).


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## Vfox (Apr 19, 2011)

I can imagine tropical critters might seem a bit more creepy, especially when so many can actually hurt you. Around here (next door in PA) not many things can harm you except maybe bees and ants. Now there are some cool insects in your backyard and I encourage you to search for them this spring. In Maryland I've found 3+ inch millipedes and in my own yard stick insects and mantids. Not to mentions all the dozens of other great local fauna. Keep searching, go to the park if you're in an urban area, search search search!


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## SandDeku (Apr 19, 2011)

Vfox said:


> I can imagine tropical critters might seem a bit more creepy, especially when so many can actually hurt you. Around here (next door in PA) not many things can harm you except maybe bees and ants. Now there are some cool insects in your backyard and I encourage you to search for them this spring. In Maryland I've found 3+ inch millipedes and in my own yard stick insects and mantids. Not to mentions all the dozens of other great local fauna. Keep searching, go to the park if you're in an urban area, search search search!


I went over to my friends house. I went to a small creek nobody goes to--- caught some minnows or daces. Whatever the heck they were---kept them lol. I went to his backyard found lots of woodlice--- a millipede or grub that looked reddish, gray and yellow.  and 5small 1mm millipedes. D: they're so small......... Wondering if they'll get bigger....I kept them just in case but Iam not a fan of their current size. Cute, but not a fan. 

Where I currently live in USA there's not that many bugs in MY backyard atleast. lol. I rarely find anything there.


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## Vfox (Apr 19, 2011)

Well, there is always the parks and light trapping. All you need for that is a fluorescent bulb lantern and a white sheet next to it...flying insects will swarm to it once it gets a little warmer. 

At your friends creep look for rotting logs and split them open, you'd be surprised how many insects live inside of rotting wood.


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## SandDeku (Apr 19, 2011)

Vfox said:


> Well, there is always the parks and light trapping. All you need for that is a fluorescent bulb lantern and a white sheet next to it...flying insects will swarm to it once it gets a little warmer.
> 
> At your friends creep look for rotting logs and split them open, you'd be surprised how many insects live inside of rotting wood.


So break them open? he has many of those around his house. We just topple them over... So pretty much break em open? lol Idk how he'll react to that. He'll think Iam crazy. xD He's an nature fan. But not as much as me. He calls me a nature freak. lol. Ill try seeing how he takes it. Good thing Iam eventually going to move to PA, we're  hoping to move by woodlands. Ill have that opportunity daily.  except winter months.


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## Vfox (Apr 20, 2011)

They need to be pretty rotten but yes, just break them open. You will find anything from beetle larva to ants to roaches. All kinds of interesting critters hangout inside. Do be careful of bald faced hornets though, while splitting open larger logs I've come across hibernating queen hornets on several occasions. 

What part of PA btw?


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## SandDeku (Apr 20, 2011)

Vfox said:


> They need to be pretty rotten but yes, just break them open. You will find anything from beetle larva to ants to roaches. All kinds of interesting critters hangout inside. Do be careful of bald faced hornets though, while splitting open larger logs I've come across hibernating queen hornets on several occasions.
> 
> What part of PA btw?


Jeez.... hornets? Iam afraid of getting stung.... Ill bring a bug spray. xD probably shouldnt. But I really really hate being stung. lol. 

I went out to my backyard today--- found 2beetle grubs(idk what species), I found two beetles that were active but then appeared dead.  One of them wasn't moving when I found it. sorta wondering if its dead. it was underneath a brick. I found tons and tons of pill bugs.

It's a june bug grub I think. It looks like this. 
http://www.greensmiths.com/grubs.htm

Ummm how long will it stay in this grub form? What can I feed it? I have 2 of em. How long do they live? As young and adults?
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I kept all the insects.

How big can a grub get? whats the biggest grub? And whats the longest living grub? can one keep a cicada nymph(baby)? I hear they live for 6-12years. 

Is this pic true? http://www.fugly.com/pictures/12308/giant-grub.html

I like the look of the caterpillar. But caterpillars don't last long in that state of being. Plus are not that big if any. lol.

------
The grubs I have are almost an inch long.

I like larvae. Grubs, caterpillars, antlions, etc. 

Though I'm looking for something thats long lived as a grub/caterpillar/antlion/etc.


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## Vfox (Apr 21, 2011)

I'm not very well learned on beetles, I don't often keep them unless they are adults and colorful. I also don't think it is possible to raise cicada larva either, I'm fairly certain they feed on root juices. Unless you can construct a large tank with a tree in it, I have my doubts.

As for that image? I'm pretty sure that I'd photoshopped, but those coconut grubs can get pretty large, something like 3-5 inches. That ones is a bit exaggerated. Here is a real one. http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/j...-tropical-beetle-grub-curled-up-on-a-hand.jpg


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## SandDeku (Apr 21, 2011)

Vfox said:


> I'm not very well learned on beetles, I don't often keep them unless they are adults and colorful. I also don't think it is possible to raise cicada larva either, I'm fairly certain they feed on root juices. Unless you can construct a large tank with a tree in it, I have my doubts.
> 
> As for that image? I'm pretty sure that I'd photoshopped, but those coconut grubs can get pretty large, something like 3-5 inches. That ones is a bit exaggerated. Here is a real one. http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/j...-tropical-beetle-grub-curled-up-on-a-hand.jpg


Awe that sucks. I love cicadas. Oh well ill collect dry specimens. It seems I may start a dry specimen collection. As for that last picture you put up. I want that beetle grub.  >____>;;;; must know where I can get one. Dx How do you keep one? Are they good to look at? Or can one take it out of the cage to look at it? 

Lol i took this patch of grass(rare sight, but it was growing on the mulch so my mom let me have it. The roots were growing too) so I'm going to keep it. lol. Wondering if I can actual keep live grass in a terrarium. I have a project in mind of what I wanna do for my toad terrarium. ill incorporate it in there. My babies need the scenery. <3

Anywho. If I don't find info on these grubs I may end up feeding them to my toad. Since it'd be a waste to keep something that'll prolly die if I don't know what care to give it. 

Do you know what is the largest grub out there? lol. OR was that one it? That was adorable though.

______
P.s. After all this time I go look at the house centipede.... One cricket is missing out of two. While the other cricket looks to be dead. Now I wonder what other stuff can I feed it as a staple.  All I see are cricket legs. Do i leave a water dish for the centipede? I found other types of centipedes outside too. I found one thats like 3-4inches long. Reddish color. I wasn't interested so I didn't even touch it. But by god, theres alot of them lol.

I may give my centipede an actual terrarium eventually. I'm not so sure currently.


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