some type of adult girl

biomedicalephemera:

Meet my new friend! I have named it Rory.

I believe this is at least the second generation of house centipede (Scutigera coleoptera) to live near my computer. It lives behind my whiteboard calendar. The first generation (to me) lived in the windowsill, though I have reason to believe it has since died and been replaced by its progeny. Rory was a tiny scamp just a year ago, but has since grown to a lovely 1.75 inch (~4.5 cm) body length (excluding legs/antennae).

Centipedes are difficult to gender without dissection, but Rory is a good centipede name, I think. I already have one named Legs. I am astounded that Rory made it to adulthood since my cat has taken to hunting wall-bugs.

House centipedes have a very long lifespan for arthropods, especially those in regular contact with humans, often living for 3-7 years. Rory will probably be here long after I have moved on.

Also, they have purpley-blue blood! This is due to having their bodies transport oxygen via the non-iron-containing hemolymph, rather than iron-containing hemoglobin, which is red, and what almost all vertebrates have.

I do not like their creepy legs or their crazy proportions or their speed, but house centipedes are harmless - they mostly come about as a result of you having spiders or ants about, which they feast on, and which are much more likely to try and bite you…unless you swat a house centipede or hurt it for no reason, they almost never bite humans - and when they do, their venom is nothing compared to their jungle relatives.

[More on House Centipedes]