Scolopendra home - a poisonous family friend

Scolopendra home is not a separate species. So affectionately called settled in the human habitation representatives of arthropods scolopendrovyh family. However, the appearance of this invertebrate can cause a person, who saw him for the first time, only a feeling of disgust, disgust and fear. Imagine: a centipede of up to twenty-six centimeters (a giant scolopendra), all covered with antennae, bristles, hairs, poisonous, moreover has so-called "jaws", which tear food, sending it to the mouth.

As for the virility of the scolopendrum, there are various rumors. Some believe that talking about their deadly for human virulence does not correspond to reality, others - that the bite of scolopenders of some species is still fatal to humans. But, be that as it may, these arthropods often live in a person's home (especially in the tropics and in the southern part of the temperate zone), and the clever host never expels them from home, preferring to tolerate some inconvenience due to their presence ... Why?

The answer to this question is simple. Scolopendra domestic, being a predator, cleverly hunts for different livestock. No, the mouse is too tough for her, but the numerous invertebrate enemies of the person are very much in the teeth (and to their taste). Scalopendra includes cockroaches, bedbugs, spiders, fleas, moths and other less troublesome inhabitants of his home. Settled in the house, skolopendra digs underground underground passages, which are also her home. With a man skolopendra not conflict, to human food are indifferent and bite can only in the order of self-protection. And not always they can bite the human skin. And even if this happens, the pain will be, as from a bee sting, no more.

In Russia, the distribution area of skolopendra is the North Caucasus, Rostov, Volgograd, Astrakhan and Orenburg regions. North they do not meet. The scolopendra, home to the south of Russia, is rarely longer than six or eight centimeters.

If scolopendra, when defending, bites a person (they do not attack people, there is no need), then a swelling forms in the place of the bite, which in most cases passes through a couple of hours. If the scolopendra is large, the pain sensations (gradually fading) can last up to a day and a half. Then they completely pass. More bothers no bite scolopendra (our, Russian) will not deliver.

There is one documented case where a seven-year-old boy died from a bite of a giant tropical scolopendra. But it was not in Russia, but in the Philippine jungle. And even then, if you have time to get medical help on time, a lethal outcome would have been avoided. But the home scolopendra, which is found in the territory of Russia, does not pose a threat to a person. On the contrary, these very useful arthropods can greatly facilitate a person's life. It's just a pity that many owners of private houses do not understand this and destroy them. Well, it's not their fault that they were born such ... unpleasant (from the human point of view). In short, a skolopendra in the house - to prosperity. Is not it a new sign?