Bug in the Bunk Bed
January 23, 2010
My parents have a 20 yr old oak bunk bed which seems to be hosting a weird bug. I had first found it on the wall next to the bed then we moved the bed into a different room and I found another one a month later on the bed sheet. After each find, I cleaned like crazy…and yes another month or so later I found this one…What is it??? I took the bed out of storage in a barn four years ago. I think I remember seeing one then too but dismissed it. But now, it’s driving me crazy and well I don’t want my kids to be sleeping in the cool bed their grandparents set up for them when they stay there in the summer…can you help?
Kind Regards
Western Massachusetts, country home
Pseudoscorpion
This is a harmless Pseudoscorpion, a predator that will help keep unwanted insects from your home without presenting any threat to humans or pets, unless your pets are cockroaches or houseflies.
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply.
I’m am honestly amazed for both the speedy response and the actual bug itself.
Thank you again.
Emily
Bug Idnetification
January 23, 2010
these bugs started showing up last summer in our log home. We have a bat problem that we are trying to remedy. Reroofing and reunsulating. These bugs are found mostly up in the loft and master bedroom. But have also been seen all over the house. They are biting myself but not my husband (he’s a logger) and I believe they are occaionally biting the 2 cats and dog. The bite leaves quit a welt and is very itchy for days(similar to a flea bite). The bug seems to want to bite multipe times. It is not truley nocturmal but I am getting bitten alot at night. I am a Veterinary Technician and I have never seen this type of parasite. Can you please help ?
Mary MacKenzie
Algoma Mills Ontario
Swallow Bug
Hi Mary,
Your insect is in the Bed Bug Family, Cimicidae which is represented on BugGuide, but we don’t have the necessary skill to definitively provide you with a species. We suspect, due to the description in your letter, that this is probably a Swallow Bug, Oeciacus vicarius, which may be viewed on BugGuide. According to BugGuide: “Bugs lay eggs that hatch in 35 days; nymphs mature in 10 weeks; adults are long lived and will mate and reproduce as long as food is available. Adults disperse to other nesting colonies by clinging onto the feathers of the host as it seeks for suitable nest sites. During the fall and winter when the birds are absent, the adults either seek alternative hosts (e.g. mice, bats, other birds) or remain in the empty nest- the bugs can survive for up to a year without food.“ If your log cabin is in a remote area, we doubt that this is a Bed Bug, but Swallow Bugs and the related Bat Bugs, also pictured on BugGuide, might bite humans if their primary food source vanished. The reroofing may have removed a bat or swallow population in the loft. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to ascertain from your excellent microscope photo if this is a Swallow Bug, a Bat Bug or a Bed Bug.
Swallow Bug
mites in phone?
January 21, 2010
First, let me say I know all about delusionary parasitosis. what I’m about to describe differs in that I have no sensation of anything “crawling on me…”
I enjoy insects of all kinds. they do not creep me out at all.
So here’s my question; I have an old fashion telephone, the kind with a handset and the curly wire. If I look into the earpiece I see several pale colored creatures that I’m guessing are mites. they move slower than spider mites and are slightly smaller. It takes a magnifying glass to see them well. There are also afew in the cradle where the phone rests, but they are mostly concentrated in the ‘vents’ of the earpiece. Again, I have never found one on me, and there is no itching. The only other place I’ve seen one of these was walking across the page of a library book. I know what a psocid looks like, it’s not the same. Please tell me what these are, why they are in my phone, and can they effect me or cats. I’m keeping the phone in a plastic bag until I find answers.
thanks
darn! it won’t let me submit my question without a pic…so, sorry, but this pic has nothing to do with my question. It’s obviously just some nice bees in a cactus flower. no need to id.
just wondering
north california
Dear just wondering,
Without a photo, it is difficult to say. We suspect probably book lice.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/18966/bgimage
Culture Mite
Thank you, but it turned out to be Acarus siro …the phone was on the floor, and there was a piece of kibble cat food in the carpet just COVERED with ‘em.
I vaccumed really well, spritzed the carpet with isopropel, and put the phone in the freezer.
My question now is; how long should the phone stay in the freezer? will over night kill them completely?
I love your website. Thanks for all your necessary and educational (and fun!) writing.
Thanks for the followup. We are posting your letter with a photo from our archives of a Culture Mite, Acarus siro. We posted this image in 2005. Regarding freezing, we believe the longer the better.
Ed. Note: We do not like to spread paranoia, but we thought in the interest of public awareness, we should post this link.
Aloha Daniel -
FYI -
A hui hou -
Eliza
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/killer-funnelweb-spiders-invade-sydney-1874230.html
¶ Posted 23 January 2010 § Spiders ‡ ° Fat, Green Worm
January 23, 2010
We came across this while camping near Lehman Caves at the Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada in the Summer of 2006.
Tyson Cramer
Great Basin National Park in Nevada
Glover's Silkmoth Caterpillar
Hi again Tyson,
This is a Giant Silkmoth Caterpillar in the genus Hyalophora. The likeliest candidate in our opinion is Glover’s Silkmoth, Hyalophora columbia gloveri. We are unable to link to BugGuide this morning, but we did locate an image on the Butterflies and Moths of Arizona website.
Bug on Wet Wood
January 23, 2010
We pulled a stick out of the river while camping at the Great Basin National Park, and there were these bugs all over the stick.
Tyson Cramer
Great Basin National Park in Nevada
Mayfly Naiad
Hi Tyson,
Thanks for sending us such detailed images of Stonefly Naiads. We are going to post all three of them because it is nice to have them clinging to their habitat.
Mayfly Naiad
According to the University of Kentucky Entomology website: “Stonefly naiads occur in fast moving streams where they are most commonly found clinging to the undersides of rocks. Many stonefly naiads are predators, feeding on other aquatic arthropods. Naiads of other species eat plants and algae. Although stonefly naiads were once very common in streams, they are very sensitive to pollution. These days, stonefly naiads are only common in very clean water. Stonefly adults can’t fly very well, and are usually found sitting on rocks near the streams where they emerged. Many stonefly adults do not feed, others feed on algae, pollen, or other plant parts. Stoneflies are a very important food source for fish and birds, and they are also eaten by spiders and predatory insects.”
Mayfly Naiad
Red Spiky Bee-Type Bug
January 22, 2010
We were hiking to Lower Calf Creek Falls between Escalante and Boulder, Utah last September, when we came across this strange looking bee-type bug. What is it?
Tyson Cramer
Between Escalante and Boulder, Utah
Tachinid Fly
Hi Tyson,
What a gorgeous photo of a Tachinid Fly. It will probably take an expert to get a definitive positive species identification, but it does look quite similar to Macromya crocata, a species posted on BugGuide and photographed in nearby Arizona.
Costa Rican Hopper? Crazy looking ‘nose.’
January 22, 2010
Walking through the primary forest in NE Costa Rica near Rio La Suerte, I stumbled across this beauty on on the bole of a tree. Being in the tropics I unfortunately couldn’t identify the tree, but it had a very smooth bole and according to a local these bugs frequent this particular tree. I’m guessing it’s some sort of hopper/spittlebug or something of the sort, the nose is so unusual, I’ve never seen anything like it.
Mike Cleveland
North Eastern Costa Rica
Fulgorid Planthopper
Hi Mike,
This is a Fulgorid Planthopper in the family Fulgoridae. In attempting to locate information on Costa Rican species, we stumbled upon a technical paper coauthored by Piotr Naskrecki who often assists us in the identification of Katydids. We will contact him to see if he recognizes your species.
Instant Gratification thanks to Piotr Naskrecki
Hi Daniel,
I know this species very well. It is Phrictus quinquepartitus, a beautiful
species found in the lowland forests of Central America, often on Peruvian
almond (Terminalia oblonga).
Cheers,
Piotr
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