Okay, I’m a little more calm now…
Dear WTB:
Long time reader, second time e-mailer… firstly, thank you so much for your wonderful website! It is an excellent educational tool and an essential public service! Thanks to you, my daughter is growing up to appreciate and love bugs (with the exception of wasps and hornets — she was bit twice last year) and, thus far, is not acquiring my neurotic hang-ups.
Please find attached pictures of a bug that I found this morning. He was kicking on his back in my darkened kitchen. I am not responsible for the damage to his one antennae and to a couple of his legs. This maiming was doubtless the work of my tiny perfect carnivore (domestic tabby cat). While on his back, I feared that he was an oriental cochroach. Having covered him with a translucent plastic container, I was able to slip a sheet of construction paper under him and tape the container down onto the paper, thus securing him for further observation and study. I spent a couple of hours on your website researching him and was quite convinced that he was an oriental cochroach until we managed to flip him over. Now, I’m pretty sure that he is a harmless species of ground beetle. He is 1.5 cm. long and .5 cm wide (5/8 " long, 3/8 " wide). He appears reddish-brown on his underside and black on his back. I can’t tell you how much I would appreciate it if you would view the pictures and confirm whether he is a beetle or a roach.
Sincerely,
Neurotic, fussy, home-maker (knowing it is half the battle)
near Toronto, Canada
Dear Neurotic, fussy home-maker,
Based on your self-evaluation, we are pretty certain we know what you will be doing the minute you get this response. We are relatively certain this is a Mealworm, Tenebrio molitor. We located a website with the following information: “Tenebrio beetles are black or dark brown and they feed as larvae and adults on grain products. T. molitor is an important post-harvest pest and occurs spread all over the world. Adult beetles are attracted to night-lights, are strong fliers, and are found in dark places. Each female lays about 275-600 eggs, which hatch into larvae in 4 to 14 days. Eggs are laid singly or in clusters during the spring over a period of 22 to 137 days. Larvae firstly eat the germs of stored grains and can feed on a wide variety of plant products such as ground grains, flour, tobacco and foodstuffs. Larvae are very voracious and highly resistant to low temperature; they can remain alive for 80 days at -5
Mastic Beach beetles
I sent you some pictures of the tiny beetles we have last week but it was from an email account I’ve been having problems with. I haven’t seen them posted nor did I get a reply so I’m sending you them again from an email account I know works. I’ve been through all of the beetle and ant pages and nothing posted looks like these creatures. Photos are all of dead bugs, the live ones won’t pose for me: IMGA0981 – several on the handle of a plastic knife; IMGA0989 – best I could do for a closeup of the head area
Thanks for your help.
Jeff
nevermind searching
I found the bug on another site, it’s as follows: Sawtoothed Grain Beetle (Oryzaephilus surinamensis): The Sawtoothed grain beetle is another very common pantry pest. It does not feed on intact whole grains, but feeds on many processed food products such as breakfast food, bran, dried fruits, nuts, sugar, chocolate and macaroni. It is especially fond of oatmeal and birdseed. These flat beetles can even get into sealed boxes and packages of food. Adults are nearly 1/4-inch long, slender, brownish-red and active. Their name comes from the six saw-like teeth on either side of the thorax behind the head. After finding a potential food, the female lays white, shiny eggs that hatch into yellowish-white larvae. There can be as many as seven generations each year, but sawtoothed grain beetles often stop breeding in the winter, unless buildings are heated and moisture is sufficient. Adults are very long lived and remain active in the winter. The habits and traits are a perfect description and I think the source is the food we get for our parrot. Here’s the link to the other site and a copy of the photo. Between my closeup and the description I think I have a match.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the information, and sorry we have been slow, but we could literally spend 24 hours a day answering letters, which is impossible. There is another closely related species, the Merchant Grain Beetle, Oryzaephilus mercator, that looks very similar. According to Hogue: “Its distinguishing feature is a small swelling on the head behind the eye which is lacking in O. surinamensis.” Your closeup seems to indicate this swelling. We favor the Merchant Grain Beetle.
Help with this one
I know my bug isn’t glamorous like a Luna Moth but I am really concerned about this thing and if somehow, not seeing any for 3 years, it has followed me from Chicago to New York. I sent a message a little over a week ago with a pic that wasn’t that clear. Hopefully these are better. He is pretty small so it is tough to get a good close up focus.
This is a Mezium Spider Beetle. They are pests in stored grain products.
Expert Update: (05/22/2008) spider beetle errors
Dear Bugman,
I believe I had written earlier when looking at many of the spider beetle pictures. Almost all of the shiny brown, globular body, images are of Gibbium aequinoctiale and not Mezium species. There is a combined 2 image photo (finger and beetle & 2 beetles) of Mezium : the answer was posted by Eric Eaton, I believe. Gibbium species do not have a velvety covering on the thorax, Mezium species do. You should correct your website postings so people will have a better idea of what they have been finding. Best regards,
Lou
Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E.
Entomology Section
Division of Invertebrate Zoology
American Museum of Natural History
New York
Dear Lou,
Thanks so much for resending this vital correction to our website. We really appreciate your expertise on this. We sincerely hope that addressing you with such familiarity doesn’t detract from your professional status.
mystery beetle
Greetings!
Can you please identify the bug in the attached photo? It appears to be some type of beetle. Actual size is just under 1/8 of an inch long. It’s very slow moving, and will sit motionless for long periods. Coloring consists of alternating gray and black bands. I live in Northern New Jersey, and this bug was found indoors in February. I’ve seen this kind of bug occasionally all my life, always indoors, and always just sitting motionless. I have no idea what they eat. They’re never around in large numbers, but I’ll see three or four throughout the year, in various parts of the house. They are not associated with the kitchen, or anyplace else where there’s food. Thanks! I hope you can tell me what this is.
Don Riemer
Hi Don,
This is an Anthrenus Carpet Beetle, one of the Dermestids. Here is what Charles Hogue has to say: “These are the common Carpet Beetles. The adults have conspicuous variegated patterns of red, white, or black splotches on the back. The larvae are stout and less than three times as long as they are wide; they have hairs along the body that are generally stiff and erect, and there are two tufts at the rear end. These beetles are hated by entomologists because they often destroy collections of dry insect specimens.”
micro beetle
thanks for the past questions. i got a new bug for you.. whats this tiny micro beetle.
Charles
Hi Charles,
We thought this was a species of Carpet Beetle, and we have seen them on our squash blossoms. We checked with Eric Eaton and here is his response. “Ah, a carpet beetle in the genus Anthrenus! Please keep it away from my insect collection:-) You are correct that, outdoors, many species in the genus pollinate flowers in their search for pollen to eat. Eric” The larvae are destructive to collections and natural fibers.
Bed Bug or Flea?
My wife found this in our newborn twins’ nursery. We live in NYC and do not have pets. Very rarely have we gone out because it is cold out! Threw out the day bed and sanitized the nursery this morning. We thought it was a bed bug but it doesn’t have a head and the legs are long. Could it be a flea although it seems large? Definitely not a lady bug. It has long legs, no distinguishable head. It is flat along the sides. Can’t see if it has pincers. What do you all think?
Regards,
Jeffrey Hwang
Hi Jeffrey,
This is a wonderful image of a Spider Beetle in the genus Mezium. They are common household pests that infest grain products. It is harmless to your twins.
Expert Update: (05/22/2008) spider beetle errors
Dear Bugman,
I believe I had written earlier when looking at many of the spider beetle pictures. Almost all of the shiny brown, globular body, images are of Gibbium aequinoctiale and not Mezium species. There is a combined 2 image photo (finger and beetle & 2 beetles) of Mezium : the answer was posted by Eric Eaton, I believe. Gibbium species do not have a velvety covering on the thorax, Mezium species do. You should correct your website postings so people will have a better idea of what they have been finding. Best regards,
Lou
Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E.
Entomology Section
Division of Invertebrate Zoology
American Museum of Natural History
New York
Dear Lou,
Thanks so much for resending this vital correction to our website. We really appreciate your expertise on this. We sincerely hope that addressing you with such familiarity doesn’t detract from your professional status.
Help Please!!
Hi,
I have been finding these bugs in my pantry (mostly in dry pasta and flour) and they must relocate!!!! I have found one in an empty bowl cupboard and one in the soap dish in the bathroom. I find only one at a time (not in groups), sometimes live and some dried up or skins. The image is scanned and enlarged about 100 times; actual size is about the size of a grain of rice.
Thank-you so very much!!!
Amy
Canada
Hi Amy,
You have Dermestid Pantry Beetle Larvae, a common household pest that infest stored grain products. The best remedy is to toss out all perishables in the pantry and stock anew, keeping only what you can use in a short period of time.
Bug??
We found this bug (.05 cm) in the carpet few days ago and today we found a lot more. There is any danger (there is a little boy, playing around) and, or were there usually come from. Thanks so much.
Daniel Correa
Miami
Hi Daniel,
This is some type of Weevil. They will not harm your little boy. They might be infesting stored grain products in your pantry and they sometimes infest pet food.
Bug Identification !
Hi there!
I’m Heather from Southern California, I recently have been finding lots of bugs all over my tiles and carpet area… They crawl really slow, and when touched or blown agaisnt , tuck there legs in. The pictures that i took are of the bugs on a 12inx12in tiles. If you could help me identify the bugs and let me know where they came from that would be great!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
Heather
Hi Heather,
This is a Grain Weevil, a type of Pantry Beetle. We are guessing they are infesting some stored food, possibly pet food or other flour product in your kitchen.
Hi,
I have found these guys a couple of times in my bathroom and was wondering what they were.
Sebastian Sparenga
Hi Sebastian,
What a detailed photo of a Spider Beetle from the genus Mezium. They are household pests. These tiny beetles will infest grain as well as exotic substances like cayenne, tobacco and opium. We doubt that you have an opium stash in your bathroom, but perhaps they are feasting on pet food, or shudder, the dead remains of an animal in the wall. Occasionally they will even eat woolens and other non-synthetic fibers.
Expert Update: (05/22/2008) spider beetle errors
Dear Bugman,
I believe I had written earlier when looking at many of the spider beetle pictures. Almost all of the shiny brown, globular body, images are of Gibbium aequinoctiale and not Mezium species. There is a combined 2 image photo (finger and beetle & 2 beetles) of Mezium : the answer was posted by Eric Eaton, I believe. Gibbium species do not have a velvety covering on the thorax, Mezium species do. You should correct your website postings so people will have a better idea of what they have been finding. Best regards,
Lou
Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E.
Entomology Section
Division of Invertebrate Zoology
American Museum of Natural History
New York
Dear Lou,
Thanks so much for resending this vital correction to our website. We really appreciate your expertise on this. We sincerely hope that addressing you with such familiarity doesn’t detract from your professional status.
Last resort
I have been a faithful, daily reader for some time now and really enjoy your website. I have also been trying to identify these little critters but can’t seem to find them on your website. I live in St. Louis, they like my bathroom and at any given time there are 3 or 4 of them hanging around. They appear to have only 6 legs but are the size of a mite, maybe 2 mm. Please tell me they are nice bugs. They are so cute I don’t have to heart to kick them out.
Teresa Spitz
St. Louis, MO
Hi Teresa,
Granted, Spider Beetles in the genus Mezium are cute, but they are nonetheless, household pests. These tiny beetles will infest grain as well as exotic substances like cayenne, tobacco and opium. We doubt that you have an opium stash in your bathroom, but perhaps they are feasting on pet food, or shudder, the dead remains of an animal in the wall. Occasionally they will even eat woolens and other non-synthetic fibers. You could have found images of Spider Beetles from previous readers on our Pantry Beetle page.
Expert Update: (05/22/2008) spider beetle errors
Dear Bugman,
I believe I had written earlier when looking at many of the spider beetle pictures. Almost all of the shiny brown, globular body, images are of Gibbium aequinoctiale and not Mezium species. There is a combined 2 image photo (finger and beetle & 2 beetles) of Mezium : the answer was posted by Eric Eaton, I believe. Gibbium species do not have a velvety covering on the thorax, Mezium species do. You should correct your website postings so people will have a better idea of what they have been finding. Best regards,
Lou
Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E.
Entomology Section
Division of Invertebrate Zoology
American Museum of Natural History
New York
Dear Lou,
Thanks so much for resending this vital correction to our website. We really appreciate your expertise on this. We sincerely hope that addressing you with such familiarity doesn’t detract from your professional status.
gnat or what?
Can you identify the pesty, tiny, flying insect in the attached picture? Is it some type of gnat? Our house has been invaded by these bothersome creatures. They don’t seem to bite, but like to fly around my face and the lamps. It is smaller than the lead of the pencil in the picture. It has stripes on the top side is is solid dark grayish color on the underside. Thank you for any help you can give us.
Kathe
Hi Kathe,
You have an infestation of Dermestid Beetles, probably one of the Anthrenus Carpet Beetles. These miniscule beetles are very destructive to museum collections including insect collections.
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