How to Get Rid of Centipedes Effectively? Practical Control Methods Shared
The centipede, also known as the straw sandal sole or coin string, is an arthropod of the genus Scutigera in the family Scutigeridae. It prefers to live in damp, cold places and is mostly active in summer and autumn. It crawls quickly and often dwells in dark, damp spots inside and around houses, crawling on walls, mosquito nets, furniture and under beds, feeding on small insects. Let's take a look below at how to get rid of centipedes effectively!
Are Centipede Bites Poisonous?
Centipedes are somewhat venomous. Behind the head, the centipede has a body segment with a pair of hook-like forcipules; the tips of the forcipules are claw-shaped, and at the top of each claw is a venom gland opening that can secrete venom. Within hours of a sting, the skin develops streaky red patches and blisters. The blisters are initially semi-transparent, later becoming cloudy pus or blood, with a distinct red halo around them. The blister walls are often scratched or rubbed open, forming eroded areas. If the bitten area is neither painful nor swollen, there is nothing to worry about. If it itches, you can use 1% menthol calamine lotion, or alternatively Nantong Jidesheng Snake Medicine Tablets or Shanghai Snake Medicine, mixed with water into a thin paste and applied externally.
How to Get Rid of Centipedes Effectively?
1. Spray sanitary insecticides such as trichlorfon powder or Miehailing in dark, damp places, but this method is not recommended because toxic chemical residues remain. If you do use it, it is advisable to wear a mask, seal the room for several hours to ensure the maximum efficacy of the insecticide, then open doors and windows wide and wait before entering to let the chemical residue dissipate.
2. You can apply insecticidal paint to walls, but this is not recommended because chemical residues remain. After painting, you should also wait before moving in and ensure sufficient ventilation, only entering once there is no chemical smell in the room.
3. Eliminating centipedes at the source is the most effective method. Promptly clear away rubble, garbage and so on inside and outside the house, smooth over dark corner gaps with cement slurry or lime wash, and scatter some quicklime, sweeping regularly and re-scattering it, because quicklime can absorb moisture and thus keep the room dry. In this way the centipedes lose their living environment.
The Legend of the Centipede
There was a young woman of peerless beauty named Lanzi, who was not yet betrothed or married. In ancient times, girls were not as happy and free as girls today; they absolutely stayed behind the gate and never stepped past the inner door, knowing only to obey their parents' orders and the words of matchmakers, following their husbands whatever they were like, even if they married a broom and had to be carried off with it.
On a dark and windy night, a handsome man with eyes like stars and a face like the full moon somehow entered the locked boudoir. The man gazed at Lanzi tenderly, and Lanzi was both startled and delighted. With little preamble, the two met like golden wind and jade dew, surpassing countless earthly encounters. From then on, the handsome man came almost every night. Lanzi asked the handsome man his name and where he lived. The handsome man said, "This humble one is surnamed You, given name Yanjing, and lives in the Damp Corner Village by the wall. My parents have passed away, and I am a poor, lonely soul."
A few months later, Lanzi showed signs of pregnancy, and her mother was greatly shocked. After her mother's patient coaxing, Lanzi, blushing, told her the whole story. She also said firmly, "Mom, don't meddle in this. In this life I will marry only Young Master You!" Lanzi's mother feared her daughter might do something desperate, so she did not dare press further, but she was determined to get to the bottom of it.
One night, Lanzi's mother hid in a concealed spot and secretly watched the boudoir and its surroundings. Around midnight, she was astonished to see a centipede fully over five chi long and as thick as a rafter slowly crawl along the wall to the boudoir window and vanish in a flash. She then tiptoed around to the boudoir door, peered through the crack into the room, and saw a handsome man as beautiful as Pan An.
Lanzi's mother could not eat and was sick with worry. On the strength of his reputation, she sought advice from an old monk whose dharma name was Zhineng. After hearing the story, Zhineng pressed his palms together and said, "Amitabha, what a sin, what a sin. Your daughter has been entangled by a centipede spirit, and she has already conceived a centipede's child. If this continues, I fear her life will be in danger." Lanzi's mother wept anxiously and begged Zhineng to show compassion and save her daughter's life, and the kind Zhineng gave her some instructions.
Following Zhineng's words, Lanzi's mother baked nine white-flour oil pancakes and stacked them together, then had her daughter Lanzi sit on the warm oil pancakes. After a short while, the small centipedes, smelling the oil's fragrance, crawled out one after another from the daughter's lower body and greedily settled on the oil pancakes to feed. Lanzi's belly soon grew smaller.
The problem in the girl's belly was solved, and next it was time to deal with the centipede spirit. Zhineng brought a white rooster with not a single stray color. Every evening Zhineng personally put the white rooster into the boudoir to keep Lanzi company, while Zhineng himself sat in meditation outside the boudoir. The centipede spirit did not dare enter the building to approach Lanzi, because chickens are the centipede's natural enemy.