What Is a Group of Centipedes Called?
A hundred-legged name for a creature that almost never actually has a hundred legs.
A group of centipedes is called a creep — a fittingly unsettling word for an animal most people would rather not see even one of, let alone several. Crawling and swarm show up as looser alternates, though centipedes are largely solitary predators, so any of these terms describe an incidental gathering (say, under one overturned log) rather than a real social group.
Quick Facts
| Animal | Centipedes |
|---|---|
| Scientific class | Chilopoda |
| Category | Arthropods (Myriapoda) |
Deck of Nouns
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What Is a Group of Centipedes Called?
Creep is the term most commonly listed for centipedes, and it earns its keep: few collective nouns match their subject’s reputation quite so well. Crawling and swarm turn up as informal alternates in general reference lists, but none of these describe true social behavior — centipedes are solitary, territorial hunters that only end up near each other by accident, usually because they’ve converged on the same damp, dark hiding spot.
Where Did the Name Come From?
Unlike classic hunting-tradition terms of venery, “creep” for centipedes reads as plain descriptive English — a nod to their fast, many-legged, low-to-the-ground movement rather than a coined literary flourish. Centipedes were never quarry animals for medieval huntsmen, so they have no entry in the 15th-century Book of Saint Albans alongside terms like “murder” of crows; their collective nouns are newer and much more functional, describing what the animal does rather than assigning it any symbolic status.
Centipede Facts
- Not actually 100 legs: “Centipede” means “hundred feet,” but species range from 15 to 191 pairs of legs — always an odd number of pairs, so no centipede species has exactly 100 legs.
- Venomous hunters: A centipede’s front-most pair of legs has evolved into venom claws called forcipules, used to inject venom into insects, spiders, and other small prey.
- Ancient lineage: Centipedes are among the oldest land animals known, with fossil evidence dating back over 400 million years.
- Global range: Centipedes live on every continent except Antarctica, from desert sand to tropical rainforest floors.
- House centipede: The common house centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata), with its long legs and startling speed, is actually a beneficial predator that hunts other household pests.
Example Sentences
- The gardener jumped back when a whole creep of centipedes scattered out from under the flowerpot.
- After the rain, a crawling of centipedes emerged from the woodpile looking for drier ground.
Other Names for a Group of Centipedes
Creep is the term most reference lists lead with, and it’s the one worth remembering. Crawling and swarm appear as secondary, more generic descriptions, but since centipedes don’t form real cooperative groups, none of these terms describe anything more organized than several individuals happening to occupy the same patch of leaf litter or damp basement corner at once.
🧠 Test Your Centipede Knowledge
Three quick questions. See what stuck.
1. What is a group of centipedes called?
2. Do centipedes actually have exactly 100 legs?
3. How do centipedes deliver venom to their prey?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a group of centipedes called?
A group of centipedes is called a creep, with crawling and swarm also used as looser alternates.
Do centipedes really have 100 legs?
Almost never exactly 100. Leg counts vary by species from 15 to 191 pairs, always an odd number of pairs, so the name is more evocative than literal.
Are centipedes dangerous to humans?
Most centipede bites cause only mild, localized pain similar to a bee sting; only a few large tropical species can cause more serious reactions.
Do centipedes live in groups?
No. Centipedes are solitary, territorial predators, so any “group” is really just several individuals sharing the same hiding spot.
How long do centipedes live?
Depending on species, centipedes can live anywhere from one to several years, with some larger species living up to a decade.
A Creep Worth Knowing
“Creep” might be the most on-the-nose collective noun on this entire site — a word that captures both the movement and the reaction in one syllable. Solitary as they are, centipedes have earned their strange, evocative group name fair and square.