New York residents are often surprised by many kinds of wildlife, but few household creatures create the same reaction as a house centipede sprinting across a bathroom floor late at night. One moment the room appears completely empty. The next, a blur of legs shoots across the tile, climbs the wall, and disappears beneath a cabinet before anyone has time to react.
For many people, the speed feels almost unnatural.
House centipedes do not move like beetles, ants, or spiders. They seem to glide across surfaces with impossible acceleration, stop instantly without skidding, then launch in another direction as if gravity and momentum simply do not apply to them. Whether spotted in an apartment in Manhattan, a basement in Buffalo, or an older home in Albany, the experience often leaves homeowners asking the same question…