12 Idaho House Bugs You Should Never Ever Step On

Ew, bugs: a memoir

Growing up, this '90s kid definitely wasn't pro-bug. After age six, I basically despised all living things that stung, bit, crawled, and slithered south of my Betty Boop high-top clad ankles.

Wasps were the mortal enemies of my pop cans. Spiders were relentless in their efforts to scare me out of climbing trees. And I vividly remember the day a snake taught my friends and I never to tinkle in tall grass. Thanks to our moms who made us stay in to do chores if they caught us on a bathroom break, snakes taught us that lesson a few times before it actually stuck.

The chilopodophobia struggle is real, y'all.

Chilopodophobia is the intense fear of centipedes, an affliction I've endured my entire life. Wasps, spiders, and snakes are one thing. At 38, I'm pretty much over my issues with those guys. Snakes for sure because of Oli, a ball python, my then boyfriend-now-husband, adopted and forced me to bond with in college.

But centipedes? That's a hell-to-the-no until the sun rises in the west and sets in the east, babe.

From their creepy-fast legs that range from 15 to 191 pairs, to their painful and venomous bites, I would sooner eat my ponytail than make contact with the yellowy-grey assassin.

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The "Alleged" Benefits of Having a Centipede in Your House

Do centipedes capture flies and roaches, and are they great for house plants? Yes.

Would I jump out of a moving vehicle to escape one? Also yes.

Centipedes are the only bug in the gallery below I refuse to co-exist with. To be honest, I considered excluding them because even pictures of them wig me out, but ethics, right?

Scroll for 12 Idaho house bugs they say we shouldn't step on.

12 Idaho House Bugs You Should Never Ever Step On

Who knows? Unless, like me, you despise the existence of centipedes, these bugs could be the most helpful, low-key houseguests you'll ever have.

Gallery Credit: Ryan Antoinette Valenzuela

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