“I’m looking for answers. I found thousands and thousands of these little bugs (Worms? Caterpillars?) dancing through the streets and farms. They are dark, they seem to have little hairs and they move very fast… does anyone know what they are, what they are doing there and why there are so many of them?This is the question asked by Víctor Brito, a citizen of the south of Tenerife who has seen a plague of road bugs.
In recent months neighbors of Tenerife, La Gomera, The Palm, The iron either Gran Canaria have warned of the presence of thousands of these insects on some islands, due to the seasonality of this class of specimens, also known as carders either centipede.
harmless to people
The dean of the College of Biologists of the Canary Islands, Matías Fonte-Padilla, has insisted that, despite being able to give off a “very foul” smell, they are harmless to people.
These insects are “an invasive species that are present, in addition to the Canary Islands, in Africa and Oceania, as well as in some areas of Europe. The combination of “moisture, plant remains and heat are ideal for their expansion, hence, in in recent weeks, they have been seen by thousands on the Islands”, as specified in a statement on the program El primer café, of radio.
“It’s very seasonal. We only see it in spring and autumn, because the rest of the year it is underground. They feed on plant remains, they do not transmit diseases or are toxic, but when they are threatened they emit a substance that gives off a very fetid odor”, added the presenter of the program Miguel Reyes.
“They go to the houses because they are looking for a dry place, but with humidity and thousands of specimens can group together,” he continues. Also, there is no effective insecticide to kill them.
Centipedes are chilopods and are distinguished by the fact that in each segment or ring of their body they only have one pair of legswhich allows them to be fast to move.
They feed on decomposing plant material, mainly litter, while centipede They are very voracious predators, feeding on very small insects.
The sizes are variable in both groups, there are very small ones, from one centimeter and also very long, such as the giant scolopendras that can measure 20 or more centimeters.
