Scutigera coleoptrata (Linnaeus, 1758)

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Common name

House Centipede

Status:

GB IUCN status: Not applicable (non-native)

ID Difficulty

2

Identification

Scutigera coleoptrata is a centipede of highly characteristic appearance, with 15 pairs of greatly elongated legs bearing violet bands, three dark stripes running along the full length of the body and very large compound eyes similar to those seen in insects.  

However, a second scutigeromorph Thereuonema tuberculata has been found in Britain, which is of almost very similar appearance.

More information to allow accurate identification is given in the published identification keys by Tony Barber (2008 & 2009).

A video about the discovery the House Centipedes in Nottinghamshire by Trevor Pendleton aka Ramblings of an Entomologist can be viewed here.  

J.P. Richards
Nigel Partridge
Nigel Partridge
Tylan Berry

Scutigera coleoptrata has been well established on the Channel Islands since the 19th Century, but historical records for mainland Britain are sparse; inside a paper mill near Aberdeen in 1883, then a wine cellar in Edinburgh in 1907 and a pre-1955 record from Colchester. 

Since the 1990s there have been several records annually and since 2020 there has been a steady increase in sightings, possibly due to climate change. Modern sightings are mainly from southern English counties, but it occurs as far north as Lancashire and Yorkshire (Gregory, 2023; Gregory, 2025). In 2024  an unprecedented 99 records were made, which is more than all previous records added together.  It has yet to be recorded from Ireland. 

It is typically recorded inside buildings, such as factories or homes, but a few English records are from gardens in the summer months. It is able to survive outdoors in synanthropic habitats, such as gardens, on the Channel Islands. In 2023 a rural population was discovered on a vegetated sea-cliff in West Cornwall (BMIG Newsletter 47, pg.8)  

This updated account is based on the 'Centipede Atlas' (Barber, 2022).

References

Gregory, S.J. (2025) The House Centipede Scutigera coleoptrata (Linnaeus, 1758) (Chilopoda: Scutigeromorpha) in Britain: its here to stay. Bulletin of the British Myriapod and Isopod Group, 37: 26-33. 

Links

ChiloBase 2.0 - World Catalogue of Centipedes: https://chilobase.biologia.unipd.it/searches/result_species/791

BRC code

21

idBmigTaxa

Cen_198