What Does A Centipede Nest Look Like? Do They Breed In Nests?

So you’ve been seeing centipedes in your house recently. Yuck! That can lead you to believe that your house is completely infested with centipedes. If so, can you find the nest where they breed?

What does a centipede nest look like?

It’s common to think that, like other insects such as ants, termites, or wasps, centipedes form nests. However, unlike the other insects that form nests and return to them daily, centipedes don’t form that kind of nest. 

They would only have a “nest” if they would reproduce. That involves laying about 15-60 eggs at a time. To summarize, it simply looks like the centipede with the eggs.

Let’s describe that further below. 


Centipede Basics

Are you freaked out by centipedes? Lots of people are really afraid of them that’s because of their appearance. The many legs can look creepy to most people. 

Imagine seeing a nest of centipedes like a nest of bees or a nest of ants. That would be a scary sight! Fortunately, centipedes don’t build nests for the same purpose as ants or bees do. They only create a nest when they are reproducing. 


What Does A Centipede Nest Look Like?

A centipede nest will simply look like an adult centipede with lots of eggs or newly hatched centipedes. You may see just a few adult centipedes with a group of young centipedes in the nest. 

A single centipede that you find at home may not be a cause of panic because they aren’t known to build a nest where a whole colony lives. They don’t really live in colonies so they may only be a few at your home. 

A centipede nest will simply look like an adult centipede with lots of eggs or newly hatched centipedes. You may see just a few adult centipedes with a group of young centipedes in the nest. 

It’s not a structured area or hive as you might find with common home pests.

The color and appearance of the nest will depend on the kind of centipede. Some centipedes have whitish eggs while others may come in different colors. 

Although they don’t create a nest like other insects as their home, there are still requirements needed for them to select the area as their home. They choose suitable areas to create their nest for their young to thrive and survive. 


Where Do Centipedes Create Their Nests?

Centipedes don’t just create their nest and reproduce anywhere. The conditions should be good so that they can make sure that their young could survive. 

Centipedes need a constant source of moisture to survive. That’s why you typically find them in moist or damp environments, and why natural substances like diatomaceous earth will dehydrate and kill them.

They typically will lay their eggs and create a nest on wet soil. 

When indoors, you may typically find the nest in wet wood. Areas in the bathroom or basement where moisture is abundant are where you can typically find a centipede nest. 

At times when the conditions don’t become ideal or when they feel threatened, they may end up eating the eggs. 

If the conditions are good for the centipedes and their eggs, they hatch and you may see baby centipedes or young centipedes in your home.

The younger ones look just like the adult ones but they are just smaller. 

Centipedes are carnivores so they feed on other pests at home like flies, termites, or silverfish. When there is an abundance of moisture and food supply, then the young can survive, thrive, and even reproduce again. 


Getting Rid Of Centipedes

One of the main reasons why people would want to identify centipede nests is to potentially get rid of them. Usually, when you find a nest of colonies of pests, you could get rid of them. 

As we’ve mentioned, centipedes don’t usually form colonies and create a nest.

However, you can still get rid of them in case you find one. To do that successfully, here are some things you should do. 

1. Kill Or Remove The Centipedes You See

Unlike other insects that come in colonies or swarms, centipedes don’t swarm that way. So killing or removing the visible ones would be worth your time. You can squish them or set sticky traps for insects and they can be caught there too. 

Place your traps in areas where there is moisture. An example would be the corners or areas where wood gets wet. 

Keep in mind some people prefer to just move or let them be them instead of killing them because they can be beneficial. They are natural predators of other pests so you may want to just keep their numbers under control. 

2. Create An Insecticide Barrier

There are synthetic and natural insecticides that you could use to help make sure that the centipedes don’t get back into your home. These will help create a barrier so that centipedes as well as other insects wouldn’t be able to infest your house. 

The insecticides can kill the centipedes once they make contact with them. As mentioned above, You can use diatomaceous earth or boric acid to take care of them. Just note that these could affect your plants. 

Usually, pesticides work by dehydrating the insects that come in contact with them. If you have a severe problem with centipedes, it would still be best to contact professional pest control service providers. 

3. Make Your Home Less Attractive To Centipedes

The reason why you are finding centipedes in your home is that it looks attractive to them. That’s because your home has the requirements they need to survive and thrive. There are a few things that you can do to avoid that. 

First of all, you should remove excess moisture or lessen the humidity in your home. You can do this by making use of a dehumidifier. If there are any leaky pipes, you should fix them to avoid damp areas in your home. 

Another requirement for centipedes is a source of food such as other pests. If you make sure your home is free of other pests, then there won’t be any food for them and they wouldn’t live in your home.