Pseudoscorpion Holding onto House Fly
Location: Southwest Indiana
August 18, 2011 11:58 am
Hi!
I just want to let you know how much my family and I appreciate your site. After searching, I never fail to identify the bug I am looking for.
I am including pictures of what I believe, thanks to your site, is a Pseudoscorpion hitching a ride on a house fly. He was actually holding onto the fly’s mouthpiece, much to the fly’s dismay. The fly would constantly stop and try to pull the little guy off.
Afterwards, we released the fly and his hitchhiker out in the garden. Thanks again.
Signature: Heather
Phoresy: Pseudoscorpion and House Fly
Hi Heather,
Thanks for the compliment. This phenomenon of hitchhiking is called Phoresy and Pseudoscorpions are quite good at it.
Phoresy: Pseudoscorpion and House Fly
Bug ID
Location: North Eastern Illinois
July 22, 2011 6:10 pm
This little guy (or girl) was found in a home in a wooded area of North-Eastern Illinois (Lake County). He (or she) is only big enough to sit on your pinky nail, and has a plump, elongated and segmented abdomen, apparently six legs not including two dispropotionately large front pincers. There appear to be two antenae protruding from the head, but those may be an additional set of legs. Coloration is black or deep brown, yellow or white striping at the segment seams, and on the belly. The pincers and legs appear to be red-ish.
Hope you can work with that and the picture!
Signature: K-Dizzle
Pseudoscorpion
Dear K-Dizzle,
This is a harmless predatory Pseudoscorpion. It will not harm your or your pets (unless your pets are small insects) and it will not damage your home.
¶ Posted 23 July 2011 § ‡ ° Finally something in return!!
Location: Wellington, Colorado
June 25, 2011 5:26 pm
Dear WTB,
I have been following for a while and we have used it to identify a few interesting insects. Being a biologist, Ichthyologist, I love biology. Most of the bugs I find, I know already, but I have something in interest for you. Today, 25 June 2011, I just found our first Pseudoscorpion in Wellington, Colorado, USA.
I have a lot of macro photos, digital in JPEG format that I would like to share with you. Some of the photos have a scale (mm) and some with UV blacklight (personal interest in trying to find scorpions) trying to see if they glow like scorpions.
Please email me and I’ll return with about 10 to 12 pics of closeups of the pseudoscorpion.
Thanks for all the work you do and I love the bug carnage as well as the identification.
You will also notice a red scale across the bottom of some of the pictures. This is a ruler and the increments are millimeters. This little guy was approximately 7 to 8 mm in lenth.
Enjoy and if there are any bugs in my area that are of interest for photography, please let me know.
Signature: Sean Seal
Pseudoscorpion
Hi Sean,
Thanks so much for sending your photos. It is interesting to learn that Pseudoscorpions do not glow under UV light the same way that regular Scorpions glow. Phenomena like glowing under ultraviolet light might be evidence that certain creatures are able to “see” under different conditions, though this is purely conjecture. Pseudoscorpions are harmless predators that are frequently mistaken for ticks by many people.
Pseudoscorpion under Ultraviolet Light
¶ Posted 26 June 2011 § ‡ ° What is this bug?
Location: Brookings, SD
June 22, 2011 9:20 pm
I have only found a couple of these bugs in my house but there may be a lot more that I am not noticing due to their tiny size. What is it? Is it harmful to my house or anything? Thank you.
Signature: Chris Williams
Pseudoscorpion
Dear Chris,
We absolutely love your photo of a Pseudoscorpion. It is a beneficial predator that will not harm you or your home. It has no venom.
What is this bug?
Subject: What is this bug?
Location: Found in cupboard, came out of old egg dying box.
April 24, 2011 6:22 pm
I found this bug when I was getting some old egg dying stuff out it is April in the Spring time. I sat the carboard box on the table and it came crawling out. I put it in a baggie and was trying to find out what it is…no luck. I do hope you guys can help me.
Signature: Miss Rebecca
Pseudoscorpion
Our Automated Response:
Thank you for submitting your identification request.
Please understand that we have a very small staff that does this as a labor of love. We cannot answer all submissions (not by a long shot). But we’ll do the best we can!
Hello,
I am glad to see I recieved an email back so quickly to at least inform me you have noticed I submitted my bug. I do thank you but I actually finally got the research I was looking for and found out what it was. So, please do not feel the need to have to research and send me information. Thank you again for your time and for the great website. It is very interesting to look through it all.
Have a Great Day!
Dear Miss Rebecca,
People don’t usually respond so politely to our automated response. This is a harmless Pseudoscorpion. It is a fierce, though tiny predator. We hope your eggs turned out pretty.
small scorpion looking bug
Location: wisconsin usa
December 25, 2010 9:58 pm
found this bug on the wall in my infant childs room. is there any danger? thanks
Signature: josh kwiatkowski
Pseudoscorpion
Hi Josh,
The harmless Pseudoscorpion if often found in the home where it will prey upon small insects and other arthropods. Since the Pseudoscorpion lacks venom, it is perfectly harmless and you have no cause for alarm.
¶ Posted 26 December 2010 § ‡ ° Scorpion looking thing.
Location: Monee IL
November 17, 2010 8:56 pm
Hi Bugman. This is the 3rd one of these little guys i have found in my bathroom it has always been on the wall. he is no bigger than 4mm total. He looks kinda scary but im sure he’s harmless. Thanks for your help.
Signature: Brian
Pseudoscorpion
Dear Brian,
The Pseudoscorpion got its name because it looks like a Scorpion, but it is not a Scorpion. It has no stinger nor does it have venom. You are correct that it is harmless. Pseudoscorpions are able to capture large prey with those animatronic-like pedipalps. Pseudoscorpions are also capable of phoresy, an activity by which they hitch rides of off other creatures, often flying creatures. We have numerous images in our archives of Pseudoscorpions engaging in phoresy.
¶ Posted 17 November 2010 § ‡ ° Spider, Tick, Tailless Scorpion, or something else???
Location: Enfield, New Hampshire
November 17, 2010 2:59 am
I have found a bug in my home that I very rarely find and dont know what it is??? Today is the 3rd time I have seen this species since I lived here since 1994. I have found this bug mostly in dark places like the floor of our broom closet, and once fell off a box of spaghetti and onto my stovetop. This time however I was making our bed and say him and got excited while my wife was disgusted with a bug in our bed. I found a small zip lock bag and a piece of paper and scooted him into the bag. His attitude towards this was defensive and he always turned in the direction of the edge of paper and he reminded me of a scorpion, but without a tail. I found my wifes digital camcorder and went to go back to the ziplock bag to get a snapshot and the ziplock bag had a broken seam on the side so he escaped =( I would really like to know what type of bug he is and if he is harmless or not. When observing these guys in their habitat they are usually forraging in dust and using their s corpion like pinchers to bring stuff to their small mouth. So I dont know if mites have pinchers if this is what he is. Really bummed that he got loose. i have a stereo microscope and was hoping to get a nice picture of him. If I went to try to find them, i can never find them. I only find them by accident, so I am thinking their population within my home is very small. I drew a picture of what i found and can supply more info if needed. Added a dime to photo to give scale or the bugs size in lower left. Larger picture i drew to show pinchers and body features. He also has 8 legs + the 2 pinchers i believe.
Signature: Thanks, Dave
Drawing of a Pseudoscorpion
Hi Dave,
Thanks to your excellent drawing, there is little doubt in our mind that you have found a harmless Pseudoscorpion.
2
¶ Posted 17 November 2010 § ‡ ° 
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