Insect ID Needed, a cross between a caterpillar and a spider?

Question

About 1" long, hairless, skinny (about 1/4cm wide) yellowish in color with brown stripes running the length of the body. There are 8 or more legs on each side which are clear/brown stripe (banded..around legs vs. down legs) and the ends of the legs are like thin light-brown hairs. It has things on the side of its mouth that pull food in (vs straw, suction, fangs, etc.), antennae. I squished it dead because it crawled across my bed and freaked me out, so there isn't much else to tell you. I am already freaked out about living on the first floor of the dorms because spiders are more prone to live down here, but I don't know what this creepy thing is! It (formerly haha) and I presently, live in southern WV. I know that helps determine ID. (took a forensic entomology class...Forensic student). Please ID so I know that type of RAID to buy! I shudder at the thought of what else is crawling around here!!

Answer 1

sort of sounds like a centipede, but they are not killed easily by squashing. they have a pretty hard exoskeleton. if it isn't, I'm thinking that it is a probably a Scutigera coleoptrata, which some people call the "household centipede", but i don't think it really looks like one.

type it in on google and go to images

Answer 2

Sounds like a House centipede, Scutigera coleoptrata. Beneficial as they feed on insects/spiders that may be in your dorm room. Most commonly found in damp areas; basements, bathrooms, etc.

Instead of using Raid right off the bat, try airing/drying out the area, sealing any cracks in walls and around pipes and eliminating their food source. If these methods don't work, then call an exterminator. Lots of products on the market claim they kill centipedes, but actually don't.

Nothing to be concerned about regarding their bite- most house centipedes are incapable of penetrating the skin.

Good luck. (Check the link below for some good pics)

Answer 3

A centipede