A call for readers’ pictures of Bermuda’s notorious centipede resulted in a bonanza of photos showing the creatures, popularly known as the St David’s centipede due to their numbers at the East End.

Judging by readers’ comments on our October 21 story, the many-legged arthropods — which are not insects, but insect-eaters — enjoy few friends among the human population.

“That is the grossest thing I’ve seen in a while,” one reader observed, adding that they’d been unaware that Bermuda had such creatures. Another suggested fire as the appropriate remedy.

In fact, the best candidate for tackling centipedes is the Island’s cane toad, Rhinella Marina, which was imported to Bermuda for precisely that reason.

At full size, Bermuda’s tropical centipedes can reach a foot or more in length, putting them on a par with the world’s largest.

The St David’s centipede has enjoyed a good summer, with plenty of rain providing them with abundant food, plus damp places to live.

The creatures have sharp senses, but extremely poor eyesight — which can result in centipedes inadvertently biting humans. The sting is not harmful in most cases, although severe allergic reactions have been reported. However, the venom causes burning pain. Soaking the sting in water that is almost too hot to bear can break down the venom.

An abundance of centipedes is nothing unusual for Bermuda: in 1998, East End residents reported large numbers of them making their way into homes, prompting the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to advise keeping a tight seal around doors-frames and windows.

The faint of heart can take comfort in the simple anatomy of the centipede: like other arthropods, the animals breathe through pores in their skins, which means they cannot grow to the truly giant size of science fiction.

For those who consider the St David’s centipede to be the stuff of nightmares, take heed: some 300 million years ago, when the planet’s atmosphere was richer in oxygen, far bigger arthropods walked the earth.

Arthropleura, a millipede-like beast that has left formidable fossil footprints, achieved a top length of eight feet. Unlike today’s predatory centipedes, however, the animal lived peacefully off vegetable matter.