📸 PhotoPhoto: User:OpenCage · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Japanese house centipede
Thereuonema tuberculata (Japanese house centipede · ゲジ)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A survey in Hokkaido, Japan found this centipede inside a house in Obihiro in February (where the average February minimum temperature is about -12 °C). The paper interprets this as adults overwintering indoors to escape the cold.
- 💡 In the Hokkaido study, collection sites were centered around houses, schools, highway rest stops, and parks. It is a centipede commonly encountered near buildings where people live.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Japanese house centipede is a centipede in the family Scutigeridae, widely distributed across Asia including China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. It has been reported as an introduced species in the United States and the United Kingdom.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its body has a bluish-green tint, with many long, pointed projections (spiculae) on the dorsal plates of the body segments. Around the spines of the 6th tergite there are 50–80 bristles.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
In a survey in Hokkaido, it was found mainly in human-influenced places such as houses, schools, highway rest stops, and parks. Indoor rearing studies report that it stops molting around November, overwinters in that state, and has a lifespan of 3–4 years.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is listed as 'Hokgeurima' (Korean name) in the National List of Species of Korea, and research papers note that it is distributed on the Korean mainland and Jeju Island.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • catalogueoflife.org — 56CZ6
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000047138 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000047138
- • wikidata.org — Q6508482
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Thereuonema tuberculata (Wood, 1863).jpg
- • checklist.pensoft.net — 107349
- • kmkjournals.com — 33 2 160 170 Nefediev Farzalieva for Inet.pdf
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Andy Wilson · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Scutigeridae)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.