Giant Desert Centipede; Facts, Behavior, Identification & Control

 

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Giant Desert Centipede Facts

This is likely a very huge species of a normal house centipede, this is also known as the red-headed centipede, unlike their name, this pest is commonly found under rocks, decayed wood logs, searching for moisture to keep cold so as the temperature rise they find a way into your home.

This group of centipede is known to be active during the night and day foraging for food and other forms of feed element, guarding their territory against a fellow male. The giant desert centipede feeds on toads, little snakes, other reptiles by doing this the use their venom and subdue their prey before the feed. They are referred to the red neck, however, for the cause of the pain that accompanies their venom.

Their female species are known to be fertile during the summer as the can lay up to 150 eggs as she protects them from predators and fungus attacks about a period of two months the hatch into offspring and looks a lot like the adult.

The giant centipede is commonly found in geographical areas such as Arizona, Northern Mexico, New Mexico, Texas, and in other regions. The life span of this pest is studied and recorded to be in the longevity of 1-6 years and an average period of seven years.

Moreover, besides their name giant desert centipede, they are mostly seen in a rocky woodland area of the above mentioned geographical areas.

Where Does the Giant Desert Centipede Live?

As mentioned earlier their name does not describe where they live, however, most people at times give a conclusion on the first sight or hearing of the name giant centipede and refer it to living in the desert, moreover, do not be convinced the can be seen in your surroundings and even on inside your home.

In surroundings, you can easily identify their habitat under rocky grounds or wet wood log looking for cold moist to cool their metabolic rate and steady their heartbeat and when the weather gets too hot the run into your home if not so the will die of heat under the soil.

 

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What Does Giant Desert Centipede Eat?

In the above fact, we gave a brief about the giant centipede. However, we have gone into its diet in a broad style to analyze the reason, the type, and the choice for their choice of the below listed set of meals.

Early we said the feed on reptiles and also vertebrates such as little snakes, toads, and in the least cold-blooded animals. their choice of meal for any living organism is the derived benefit they get from it, so it is in the case of a giant desert centipede.

The reason behind their choice of such a meal is that they feed on the cold blood vertebrates for their organs, as it tends to keep their body steam cold and regulates their metabolic rate, and when they feed on snakes the tend to obtain poison from it organs increasing their venom to be more deadly.

So to say we have explained their choice and reason for choosing such meals, and in short, if you easily notice snakes or toads in your area you might be running a risk of having a giant centipede infestation.

 

The behavior of Giant Desert Centipede

These pests are formally aggressive by nature especially when threatened or want to be driven away from their home built by you, or when they are being stepped upon the release a powerful venom into your foot, that to say not only to reptiles the is a form of danger to you.

In addition, it is advisable to put on a pair of flip flops when walking on a marble floor to avoid stepping on it in the dark. Although when outside your home where they are free the have a change in behavior.

Despite the giant desert centipede being large at the size and its fierce looks, their defense skills are what really make them a form of danger. They produce and inject venom from pincers that are legs located on their body.

These pincers are used as teeth to inject venom, which will cause pain for someone that is stung. For some people, the venom released can also lead to headaches, nausea, vomiting, and or allergic reactions.

Identification of Giant Desert Centipede

Having read this far we would want you to know how to easily identify the giant desert centipede in your homes, gardens, surroundings, and what to do when you see them, the efficient sprays to use not all house centipede sprays may work on the redhead centipede.

Most people are often confused due to the fact that the house centipede has few similarities features like the giant desert except for the giant desert centipede having a red head we are going to list what it takes to identify the Giant desert centipede from the house centipede.

Picture of the Giant Desert Centipede

To further your Knowledge on easy identification about the Giant Desert Centipede here’s a picture

What do Giant Desert Centipede Look Like

• Size: This pest is measured to be about 6.5 inches long on an average centipede and has a length ranging up to 8 or 9 inches long.
• Color: The head of the giant desert centipede and its first two body structures are various shades of red on them. While the other body segments are black with traces of light green, although color variations are common among them.
• Body: These centipedes are studied to have 20 pairs of yellow legs with a set of black rear legs used to grasp, hold prey and inject venom paralyzing them. They have four individual ocelli on each side of the head for correct venom circulation.

Knowing this we are very sure that the giant desert centipede identification is not a problem for you as even at night you can easily identify them.

 

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The infestation of the Giant Desert Centipede

There are several reasons why a pest would want to infest your home and these reasons may be classified as the basic needs of man and are food, shelter and a good place to groom their children apart from having these things there is a particular thing in your environment that keeps calling them.

Below are signs of giant  centipede infestation inside and outside your home and possibly places internally and externally:

Since this pest is seen outdoors their choice of infestation on your property might not be that serious, however, there is still a chance of few getting into your property.

If you most know, what attracts them can be a way to bring and stop their infestation. As earlier when we wrote that they are found in moist areas of wood so probably that is a place they infest.

Signs of Infestation by Giant Centipede

• Yellow spots in moist areas.
• Insect pieces on floors of bathrooms and dark grounds.
• Little eggs on the floors.
• White powered in the cabinet, cupboards, and shelf.
• Identification of the giant centipede inside books.

These are signs of these pests infestation inside your home. Below is the next paragraph that contains steps on how to get rid of them.

How to Get Rid of Giant Desert Centipede

Having known all about the giant desert centipede we have a prepared a list of researched answers to your problem as the may come in handy, below are the tips:

• Get rid of every form of moist substances both indoors and outdoors.
• Carry out regular sanitation by doing dry moping in the dark moist areas.
• Clean cupboards and other hidden places.

Final thought

Having gone all through this we hope that the query and difficulty about the identification and what is a giant desert centipede has been wiped away.

In addition, the giant centipede is not found in areas or regions that have a high temperature like in Africa cause the can probably die of heat there. Moreover, if you still have a doubt, question, and contribution to this topic, do not hesitate to contact us as we are ready to help.

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