Hobbies And Interests
Design
Certain physical characteristics of centipedes relate to their diet. These characteristics determine the type of food a centipede is able to catch. The first pair of legs have small claws like a lobster with poison ducts. The ducts provide the centipede with venom to inflict on their victims while the legs give centipedes the ability to attack, grab and subdue their prey.
Method
Centipedes spend the daylight hours hidden from light under leaves, soil or other coverings. Centipedes are nocturnal, coming out at night to seek prey. In residences, you may find them in basements, crawl spaces or other dark, moist locations. Their location in a home indicates the existence of animals that centipedes eat. Their design makes them suitable to be hunters in the dark, using their antennae covered with hair to seek out and locate their victims. Upon locating their intended meal, they use their front claw legs to deliver the poison venom by contracting their muscles and their rear legs to hold the prey.
Prey
According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, almost all centipedes prey on animals, mostly small insects. They are classified as carnivores, meaning their diet consists of other animals. In addition to insects, their diet consists of spiders, silverfish, cockroaches, woodbugs, flies, wasps, moths, maggots, slugs and worms. Larger centipedes can capture and eat rodents or birds. If no prey is available, centipedes eat other centipedes. Centipedes are helpful around homes as they keep insect and other populations under control.
Bite
Although humans are not part of the centipede diet, they will bite. Their venom won't kill a human, but it will sting and can cause problems. Normally, centipedes run from humans, but be careful to avoid being bitten. According to an article by Orkin, a bite from a small centipede resembles a bee sting. Larger centipedes produce more painful bites that can cause swelling, nausea and sweating.