Do centipedes invade homes in autumn?

Every other insect on this hub — cluster flies, brown marmorated stink bugs, Asian lady beetles, boxelder bugs, the western conifer seed bug — shares one specific driver: shortening day length triggers diapause, and the insect then masses on a sun-warmed, sun-exposed exterior wall before squeezing inside to sit dormant until spring (for Asian lady beetles specifically, a controlled field study found the wall's visual contrast, not its warmth, is the actual landing cue). House centipedes do none of this. Published research on centipede physiology explains why: their thin cuticle loses water rapidly, so they depend on humid microhabitats to survive, not on finding a dry, sheltered void to enter dormancy in. A centipede isn't racing the calendar toward a specific wall in September — it's living wherever the humidity and prey supply already support it, which in most houses means a basement, crawlspace, or bathroom, all year.

Extension entomology is direct on this point: house centipedes thrive 'as long as there is a place to hide, sufficient humidity, and enough food' — moisture and prey availability, not photoperiod or wall temperature. Michigan State University Extension identifies the house centipede as the only centipede species documented to reproduce indoors in that state, which means a home with a recurring centipede presence usually has an established population tracing back to a persistently damp space, not a wave of new arrivals timed to fall. Cooler months can genuinely raise the odds of a sighting — heated indoor air holds less relative humidity in some rooms while damp basements and crawlspaces stay reliably moist, and centipedes are nocturnal and become more active hunters as prey insects also seek shelter indoors — but this is a correlation with the season, not the same causal chain that drives cluster flies to your siding.

Because the real driver is moisture and prey rather than a sun-exposed wall, the fix is different from the rest of this hub's playbook, and it's worth saying plainly rather than force-fitting centipedes into the same 'seal before September' advice. Dehumidification, fixing leaks, improving crawlspace ventilation or encapsulation, and reducing the smaller insects centipedes hunt will do far more than an exterior perimeter application timed to a fall entry event that isn't actually happening. A single centipede spotted near a basement window is usually incidental rather than a sign of a serious problem. It's also worth stating the really reassuring fact plainly: the house centipede is a beneficial predator that preys on other household pests, it rarely bites, and when it does — almost always because it was handled directly — the sensation is commonly compared to a mild bee sting rather than anything more serious.