YUCK!!!!!!!! An insect!

[Deja Q]

Occasionally I have to deal with a lot of small insects; about 2mm long. They are brown, fly, and are shaped like a scarab (or the logo to the 80s rock band Journey).

These can be squished and it feels as if they have no liquid component. Just the 'shell'.

Today, I just saw an adult bugger fly onto my keyboard. YUCK! It was nearly an inch long!!! It flew away before I had a chance to deal with it... yuck!!

I have no clue where they came from, but I want to get rid of them. They are annoying and creepy.

Any suggestions on what this critter is called would be helpful.

Thanks!

[LadeJarl]

1. No idea

but I just killed 2 roaches here, one was about 3 inches long, the other about 2-3 inches and sitting on the wall in my bathroom :)
That's Florida...

[Gothic Sponge]

2. Am i the only one that doesn't kill bugs?

If i find a bug in my house i put it outside... Unless it's a tick or a mosquito. I will kill them.

[everythingsxen]

5. I don't

[Deja Q]

3. I think I've got cockroaches...

Minnesota. 80 degrees indoor temp year round. 40% humidity.

I thought I wiped 'em out a few months back.

But I caught the 'adult'. It's close to an adult and looks like the pic I'd seen on a website.

Except this species doesn't use its wings until it reaches an adult level, and I've got lots of lil' babbies flying around. I've had the babies through the most of winter, though the last 2 months seemed to suggest I'd rid myself of these nasties.

My guess is that when I bought some bird food (Hecho en Mexico, you know), these critters hopped the fence...

Now I wonder how they can be killed...

And as much as I love Zoe, he's out the door too. :cry: It's impossible to bring in pests with fish food...

[phaseolus]

4. Where do you live, and what color brown was it?

I'm thinkin' the large one is a June Beetle

although they come in green, too - see http://images.google.com/images?q=june+beetle&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=active&as_qdr=all&start=0&sa=N

...which is simply the adult form of a grub that lives in lawns. The two beetles are different. Beetles are the adult stage of the insect, they don't grow up.

In Milwaukee these start emerging the last week of May; if you're 3-400 miles south of me, now would be about right. They're perfectly harmless and your lawn doesn't need insecticides.

[phaseolus]

6. Others I've seen a lot --

various dermestid beetles. They eat seeds and grains and can be stored food pests, are about 2mm long with an attractive zigzag pattern

or these guys, about 3/8 inch long with a white stripe

...which, thankfully, aren't in my house right now. Their real job is to eat dead animals and things, but they'll often live in carpets and eat food crumbs & other stuff that collects under the furniture.

[Deja Q]

7. Not quite. Now that I've captured two of these vile things:

Long - 3/4"
Black eyes
Dark brown/black in outer color.
6 legs, seem smooth.
2 feelers - not smooth, there's a jagged look to them.

Head and middle segments. With wings that extend all the way back.

When it wants to fly, it reveals a yellow ribbed-like area - its 3rd section.

Funny thing is, the babies are 2mm long, are red-brown,and fly also. Cockroaches do not fly until they become adults.

I'll see if I can get a pic up...

[phaseolus]

8. Is it shaped like a shield?

If so, that would put it in the "true bug" category, which has a 'nymph' stage -- young'uns look a lot like adults, only smaller. (Incomplete metamorphosis, as opposed to complete which has egg-larva-pupa-adult stages, like beetles.)