Little Centipedes in the Soil

Description

• Centipedes resemble insects but have more body segments and legs. Their name means “100 legs,” but they usually have between 30 and 50 legs. They have a rounded head with a pair of antennae and curved mandibles. The centipede's first set of legs forms pincers that help catch their prey. Venom is injected through a tube in its mouthparts. The prey is immobilized and eaten.

Feeding Habits

• Centipedes are nocturnal predators that feed on a wide variety of other inhabitants of the soil food web. Crickets, worms, termites and ants are examples of centipede food. They also feed on insect pests that harm food crops. All arthropods help maintain balance among the micro-organism communities. Centipedes aerate and mix the soil as they feed, distributing nutrients for other micro-organisms to ingest.

Population

• Centipedes and other micro-organisms are active in the upper 3 inches of soil. A single teaspoon of healthy soil contains over 4 billion micro-organisms. Centipedes live in moist habitats such as soil, under rocks or rotting wood. In soil they are burrowers. They do not have an exoskeleton to keep moisture in their bodies, and they die quickly in dry conditions.

Controls

• Pesticides such as weed-and-feed lawn products, insecticides, rodent killers and weed killers are harmful to the beneficial centipedes that inhabit soil. Soil subjected to repeated use of these toxic chemicals loses its biological vitality and fertility. Centipedes, other arthropods, fungi, bacteria and earthworms function together to create the nutrients in food crops. Food grown on soil devoid of micro-organisms has less nutritional value.