Dear What’s that Bug?
Last night, as I was preparing to bicycle over to a friend’s house, I noticed that my chain had fallen off. When I bent down to reattach it to the gear ring, I noticed this little feller, quite dead, resting on my derailer cables. I enjoyed keeping him on my bike for a few miles, as bugs are the only hitchhikers a cyclist can really pick up. I was charmed to have a rider, despite his deadness. When I brought my bicycle into my friend’s home, it was time for my rider to leave (not polite to bring cockroaches into a home, even if they aren’t breathing), and I ripped a page from a nearby phone book and prepared a makeshift coffin. It was only later that I wondered about the connection between my chain falling off and the presence of the bug. Could there possibly be a cause and effect at work here? Was this cockroach some sort of suicide attacker, hoping my chain problem would cause me to have an incident? Can bugs be devious? Are there any cockroaches in Al Queda? Should I call Homeland Security? Please advise.
Thanks,
Another paranoid American.
Dear Paranoid American,
While I would like to assure you that this was just a random event, ask any homemaker, and you will be assured that Cockroaches are indeed devious, well-organized and capable of planning strategies. What is most disturbing about your hypothesis is that this is definitely an American Cockroach, Periplaneta americana, and not an illegal immigrant. If there is an Al Queda connection, it would be frightening to think that we may soon be on high alert against native Americans. This is way too big for What’s That Bug? to handle and most assuredly a job for the leader of the Free World.
¶ Posted 12 July 2005 § ‡ ° YUCK!
Hi Bugman,
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me this is NOT a 1-inch long roach I found in the basement of my new house in North Carolina…
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a roach, but there is good news. It is immature and not breeding yet, and also it is not a German Cockroach, the worst infesters.
¶ Posted 01 July 2005 § ‡ ° Kitchen bugs
Dear Bugman,
For the last few months there have been bugs in our kitchen, they have begun increasing in numbers and are getting rather disturbing as they move very quickly. When you turn the lights on you just catch glimpses of them as they dart all the way across counters to hidden cracks in the cupboards. We are getting frustrated with them as we are finding them even in places that we have recently cleaned and disinfected like the silverware drawer. We were hoping you could tell us what they are and what we can do about it since there numbers are starting to increase rapidly. Attached are several pictures. Their length when full grown appears to be about 1/2" to 5/8" and their width is about 1/4". Thank you.
You have a German Cockroach Infestation.
¶ Posted 18 June 2005 § ‡ ° bug identification
As summer approaches I keep coming across these tiny guests in my apartment. Just one at a time, every now and then and I don’t seem to find any when I turn my furniture upside down. What species is it? How do I fight them?
Cheers, M
Hi M.,
Sorry to inform you that you have immature cockroaches. You must have breeders somewhere. You might want to get professional help before you have a real infestation.
¶ Posted 09 June 2005 § ‡ ° bug indentification
I just recently move to Florida and I have found two of these insects in my apt. what is it…please email me back….I have tried to find it online and i am not having any luck…Thank you so much…
Have No Clue
You have some type of cockroach, probably immature. It is difficult to tell exactly what is going on in your photo. It appears as though the cockroach has endured some type of bodily harm.
¶ Posted 02 May 2005 § ‡ ° Help!! Bug invasion
HELP!!!
I don’t know what kind of bug has invaded my home!! I saw a dead one of these in my basement a few weeks ago.. We just found another one in the upstairs bathroom yesterday.. so my husband sprayed the basment with a household bug spray and I found this one late that night on the wall in my livingroom…. it tried to hide behind my picture frame. Do I have a serious problem here???
Thanks,
Michelle
Hi Michelle,
The seriousness of the problem is relative. What you do have is an immature cockroach.
¶ Posted 14 February 2005 § ‡ ° new pic of bug
hey thanks for your help i found a dead bug after spraying and got a couple of better pics of it this one is one of the little ones i had mentioned i hope these pics are better in helping you tell me what they are like i said before i have only found five now and i have sprayed three times. thanks for all your help
thank you
Amos
Hi Amos,
Your new photo definitely is of an immature cockroach. It looks to be a German Cockroach, Blattella germanica, which is an insidious pest. It is recognized by the two darker longitudinal stripes on the head shield. Better find the breeders as well or you might quickly be overrun.
¶ Posted 22 January 2005 § ‡ ° Venezuelan bug.
Hi Bugman!
I’m a Brit living in Venezuela. I found you while trying to identify (unsuccessfully) a new visitor to our home. We get used to seeing all kinds of weird bugs, but after 12 years here, this is the first time I’ve seen a bug like this one. I guess it’s some sort of cockroach by the underside, but its top shell is like some kind of armour with a translucent "helmet".
Unlike cockroaches we’re used to, this one was fairly slow-moving, and "scuttled" rather than running, somewhat like a woodlouse. It wouldn’t scuttle far, and then seemed to "hunker down" and wait for some aggressive movement before moving again. It doesn’t have wings like the big roaches that fly in from outside, and the "shell" seems to be sticky, with debris stuck to it. My wife didn’t sympathize with my curiosity, and I had to zap it with bug spray to quieten her down. She wouldn’t let me keep it either, so I hope it wasn’t an important bug, because it’s gone to cockroach heaven now. I’ve attached three pictures.
Fascinating website – Congratulations. I spent an interesting couple of hours reading all your entries. Is there anything particularly interesting about the bug I’ve sent? I’d love to know.
Best wishes from Venezuela.
Terence Jeal
Hi Terrence,
I am not going to be able to help you with an exact species identification, but it is a species of Cockroach from the Order Blattodea. Hogue, one of our favorite experts, sums things up nicely when he writes: “Cockroaches are much maligned insects. A few pesky species ave given a bad name to the whole order of thousands of species, including more than fifty in North America. The few ‘bad’ cockroaches are common household pests in most warm parts of the world. By far the majority of kinds, however, are very interesting ‘wild’ cockroaches that inhabit caves, burrow in sand dunes, live in ant nests, or exhibit other unusual life histories. Cockroaches are also not all drably colored like the familiar household varieties. Many tropical species sport yellow, red, green, and othe colors on their bodies and wings and are quiet beautiful.” Thanks for sending in the photos of a very interesting looking cockroach..
¶ Posted 09 January 2005 § ‡ ° 
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