If spiders make you squeamish, centipedes take the ick factor to another level. Despite their name, centipedes don’t have 100 legs—but they might have upwards of 300 or as few as a couple of dozen.

Centipedes have been known to bite, though it is extremely rare; a bite is supposedly reminiscent of a wasp sting. It can be startling to encounter a many-legged creature scurrying around your house, ...