They prefer to be outdoors, but infestations in homes are also common, especially in cases of bad weather. If they get inside, millipedes will flock to dark, moist areas of your home such as attics or crawl spaces.
Answer: Probably what you have is the common millipede (Class: Diplopoda). They are characterized by the numerous legs on each side of the body, thus the name ''thousand legger. '' These animals are common household invaders, especially from spring to fall.
Introduction. Millipedes are common occasional pests that sometimes invade buildings particularly when the weather turns hot and dry. While millipedes sometimes enter in large numbers, they do not bite, sting, or transmit diseases, nor do they infest food, clothing or dry, structurally sound wood.
If millipedes venture inside a typical home or business and are not able to find living conditions similar to their protected, moist and food plentiful outdoor habitats, they will not live for much more than 2-4 weeks after coming indoors.
Use diatomaceous earth.
Diatomaceous earth is a natural powder that can kill millipedes by drying them out.
Tea tree oil and peppermint oil are the two most common for use against millipedes. Essential oils should always be diluted with water before use. Apply the oil mixture around entry points like windowsills, door gaps, basements, vents, foundation cracks, and crawlspaces.
Any insect that enters your home and lays eggs will produce larvae, which eerily resemble worms. Since they move best in moist soil, their likely entry point will be through your foundation or lower level.
Centipedes feed on home-invading species like cockroaches and spiders, so an abundance of prey often lures these pests into homes. Residents may find centipedes in cement block walls, boxes, clutter on the floor, or floor drains. The warmth and safety of a heated home may also attract centipedes inside to reproduce.
Color: Common North American species are brownish in color. Body & Legs: Long and slender, millipedes look like worms with legs. They are segmented, with two pair of legs per segment.
Cleaning the bathroom with carbolic acid or detergent regularly has been shown to help eradicate worm growth in the bathroom. If using a chemical cleaning fluid, just pour it into between the open tile floors. You can also pour the liquid directly over the worm's body when you find it.
Bed worms, also known as mattress worms, are not a specific type of pest, but a group of pests and their larvae that can end up infesting your mattress or bedding. Unlike adult bed bugs and fleas, their larvae have not yet developed into an insect with a hard exoskeleton, giving them a worm-like appearance.
Are there frequently pools of water collecting around your home's foundation? They could be attracting millipedes. The same goes for leaky pipes or faucets inside your home. Repair any leaks and install splash guards, drains, or pipes to keep water from collecting around the foundation.
Supreme IT is a broad-spectrum insecticide labeled for treating many pests, including millipedes. It works great as a barrier treatment to keep pests away because it has a long residual effect that continues to kill for up to 90 days after application. To use Supreme IT, mix and apply with a 1-gallon hand pump sprayer.
If you're seeing millipedes in your home, it means that the conditions outside have driven them in. This might be extended drought conditions that have made it too dry outside. It might be an oversaturation of the soil around your home caused by heavy rain. It might be due to a dropping of the temperature outside.
Millipedes can only survive a few days in the dry environment found in most homes, so any infestation is likely to be short-lived. You can also sweep them up with a broom or vacuum or you can pick up these benign creatures by hand.
Little worms often mean the presence of one of several pests that love to make carpets their home. The most common is the carpet moth, as well as the millipede, the sowbug, and the clothes moth. Carpet moths can lay up to 200 eggs on carpet fabrics, leading to the little worms that greatly annoy homeowners.
Millipedes are NOT harmful to humans. They do not feed on buildings, structures, or furnishings. They also cannot bite or sting. In fact, they can be beneficial in your compost pile as they help to break down the contents.
Life Cycle: A female millipede can lay up to 300 eggs in the soil, which hatch within a few weeks. Millipedes go through 7-8 life cycle stages from birth to adult. Millipedes mature within 2-5 years and live for several years after maturation.
Tea tree oil or Peppermint oil are overwhelming to centipedes. Add 25 drops of either essential oil into a spray bottle with 6 ounces of water. Spray around door frames, windows, small cracks and basement doors. Repeat once a week to keep centipedes away.
Centipedes and millipedes that make their homes outdoors are prey to shrews, toads, badgers and birds, including domestic chickens. Ground beetles, ants and spiders may also hunt young millipedes and centipedes. Centipedes also sometimes resort to cannibalism, particularly when an injured specimen is involved.