House centipedes are fast, flat, and have too many legs for anyone’s comfort. Finding one sprinting across your bathroom floor or emerging from a basement drain at midnight isn’t something you forget quickly. They’re harmless to humans in any practical sense — and they actually eat other insects — but that’s cold comfort when they’re showing up regularly in your Honey Creek home. And regular sightings usually mean there’s a larger population, and a moisture problem, worth addressing. Miller Pest Solutions can take care of both.

Signs of a Centipede Problem

  • Live centipedes found in bathrooms, basements, or laundry rooms — the house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) is the long-legged, fast-moving species most commonly found indoors
  • Centipedes in bathtubs or sinks — they fall in while hunting and can’t climb the smooth sides to escape; seeing them here regularly means they’re active throughout the bathroom
  • Activity near floor drains or sump pump areas — these are both moisture sources and harborage areas
  • Centipedes in basement corners, crawl spaces, or behind stored items — they favor dark, undisturbed areas with high humidity
  • Increasing frequency of sightings — seeing one or two per week suggests a larger population hiding in wall voids or damp structural areas

One important note: centipedes are predators. If you have a centipede problem, you almost certainly have the prey insects they’re feeding on — silverfish, spiders, earwigs, cockroaches, or flies. Centipede control without addressing the underlying pest population is fighting half the battle.

Why Centipedes Are Common in Honey Creek

House centipedes need two things: moisture and prey. The Honey Creek area’s humid summers drive moisture into basements and crawl spaces across the region, and older homes especially accumulate the kinds of undisturbed, damp corners where centipedes and their prey thrive. Even newer construction can develop centipede problems if basement moisture management isn’t adequate.

The rich soil and earthworm populations of eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa also support the silverfish, earwig, and other prey populations that fuel centipede activity. A home that’s had unchecked silverfish or earwig problems for years tends to accumulate the centipede population that feeds on them.

Centipedes can overwinter in wall voids and structural spaces, emerging repeatedly unless the population and conditions are addressed together.

Our Centipede Control Process

Because centipedes are predators, truly effective control means treating both the centipedes themselves and their food source.

  • Comprehensive assessment — We assess where centipedes are active, what moisture sources are contributing, and what prey insects are likely sustaining the population. This shapes the full treatment plan.
  • Residual insecticide treatment — We apply professional-grade products to basement perimeters, crawl spaces, floor drain surrounds, and other harborage areas where centipedes hide and travel. Crack-and-crevice treatments target wall void access points.
  • Prey insect treatment — Where silverfish, earwigs, or other prey insects are identified, we treat for them simultaneously. Eliminating the food source is essential for long-term centipede reduction.
  • Moisture management recommendations — We identify contributing moisture sources — drainage issues, humidity problems, plumbing leaks, poor vapor barriers — and recommend corrections including dehumidification. This is the structural fix that makes chemical treatment durable.
  • Exterior perimeter treatment — Treating the foundation exterior reduces centipede entry from outdoor populations.

Why Choose Miller Pest Solutions

Miller Pest Solutions has been in the business since 2001, serving Honey Creek and the greater Omaha-metro area. Joel Miller has been personally in pest control since 2007. QualityPro certified and NPMA member — a local, accountable company with real expertise in the pest pressures specific to southwest Iowa.

We offer free phone bids. Tell us what you’re seeing, and we’ll tell you exactly what we’d do about it and what it costs.

Get a Free Phone Bid Today

Tired of centipede surprises in your Honey Creek home? Call Miller Pest Solutions at (402) 769-0997 or visit millerthekiller.com. We’ll address both the centipedes and the conditions that are bringing them in — free phone bid, no pressure.