Giant Redheaded Centipede Control in San Antonio, TX
Few things send San Antonio homeowners for the phone faster than a centipede as long as a pencil, with a red-orange head, yellow legs and a dark body, crossing the garage floor or curled in the tub. It's the giant redheaded centipede, a native predator that lives under rock, wood and leaf litter and occasionally wanders indoors. Don't pick it up; its bite and even its legs can hurt. Coax it into a container or out the door, then work on the hiding places and gaps that let it in. If they keep turning up, call or text (210) 281-1064, or book online.
How big do they get? #
Sources disagree a little, so here are their numbers:
- AgriLife's B-6118 says centipedes in this group can grow to about 7 inches.
- Texas Parks and Wildlife's magazine says they can reach 8 inches in the wild, and more in captivity (TPW Magazine).
- AgriLife's centipede fact sheet says Scolopendra heros can top 9 inches fully grown (AgriLife ENTO-PU-020).
Count the legs if you can do it from a distance: this group carries 21 to 23 pairs, each body segment bearing one pair, on a body anywhere from brown to deep blue. What looks like the first pair of legs is really a set of hollow, venom-fed fangs. Don't confuse it with the house centipede, a 1 1/2-inch insect hunter whose 15 leg pairs are long and spindly.
Rock, leaf litter and the north side's cave country #
By day TPWD finds them tucked beneath fallen wood, stones and drifts of leaves, and AgriLife describes centipedes in general as favoring moist, sheltered spots under bark, stones, leaves or rotting logs. B-6118 places them mainly from the middle of the state west, while noting they can appear nearly anywhere in Texas.
North and northwest Bexar County are cave country. Federal biologists count nine endangered invertebrates living in caves there, and the Edwards Aquifer Authority describes the Edwards as a karst aquifer, with sinkholes, sinking streams and caves (Edwards Aquifer Authority). That kind of ground offers plenty of stony cover. Around homes, the equivalents are rock borders, stacked flagstone, firewood, compost and deep mulch beds against the foundation.
If you hike the city's natural-area parks, such as Eisenhower Park off NW Military Highway, don't flip rocks or logs with bare hands. That's exactly where these centipedes spend their days.
Why is there one in my house? #
TPWD notes that this species is often active in daytime and occasionally comes indoors. It's a hunter: B-6118 and TPWD list insects and other arthropods along with small vertebrates such as rodents, lizards, snakes and toads as prey. One found indoors probably walked in under a door, through a weep hole or along a pipe gap while hunting. Females guard their eggs by coiling around them, but they don't form colonies, so one centipede doesn't mean an infestation.
What a bite does #
According to B-6118, centipedes pinch with their jaws and legs, which can bring burning pain, nausea or brief paralysis; even scratches from the walking legs can sting and swell because of toxins there. TPWD compares a typical bite to a sharp sting and says the swelling generally goes down after a few hours. Rarer effects include minor tissue damage, dizziness, nausea and headaches, and a handful of cases have involved muscle damage, kidney failure or heart attack. TPWD also notes that no death from this species has ever been confirmed, and suggests thinking of the bite as similar to a bee sting.
- Wash the bite with soap and water.
- Questions? The Texas Poison Center line is 1-800-222-1222.
- See a doctor for anything unusual: spreading redness, swelling that keeps growing, or symptoms beyond the bite site.
Making the foundation less inviting #
AgriLife's prevention list is practical:
- Move compost, firewood and loose stones away from the house.
- Lay a strip of gravel along the slab so beds don't touch the house.
- Turn mulch so it dries out between waterings.
- Close up openings at doors, windows and pipe penetrations, and keep any crawl space ventilated.
- Fill weep holes with copper mesh; steel wool works too, except on pale brick or stone, which it can rust-stain.
TPWD's own advice is worth repeating: outright terror is probably an overreaction.
A Pest Trappers centipede visit in San Antonio #
A technician inspects the foundation, weep holes, door sweeps, garage and any stone or mulch borders, then explains what to change and what treatment options fit. AgriLife says foundation perimeter treatments may help and lists crack-and-crevice treatment indoors; any product is applied by its label. Pest Trappers LLC (TPCL #0887549) quotes after the inspection. The centipede guide has more, scorpions share the same hiding spots (scorpions), and the San Antonio service page lists everything else we treat.