Tiny Crab Like Bug
I was sitting at my computer when i noticed this little thing crawling across my desk. It has long crab like pinchers, and 6 little legs, teardrop shaped body that was extremely flat with stripes brown in color. Sorry my first instinct was eww bug kill it. I did take a picture after its death. Its next to one of my hairs to show relation to size. What is it? Do I need to worry? Thank You
Matthew

Hi Matthew,
We are so busy right now that we can only answer and post a small fraction of the numerous letters we are sent. Were it not for your very descriptive letter with good search terms including crab-like and your wonder image with the open claws on your Pseudoscorpion, it might have gone unanswered. Pseudoscorpions are quite harmless, but they are fierce predators if the prey is small enough for them to capture. They are known to catch and eat house flies much larger than themselves. We also hope the next Pseudoscorpion that crosses you path will continue unharmed as this is truly unnecessary carnage.

Eight Legs + Two Claws — Insect?
Hello,
I love your site. After my grandmother was attacked in Arkansas by a very aggressive, female, Dobson fly, my love of insects has only increased. Your site has provided hours of fantastic information and wonder. I finally found out what a house centipede was. But now I have an unknown, which I submit with pictures. I live in Minneapolis in an apartment building. Today I found crawling on my wall a fairly small, maybe 3-4 mm long, eight legged creature with an additional two large crab-like claws in the very front. Its body is very similar in shape and coloring to a cockroach nymph. The creature carries its claws in front of its body in much the same way a crab would, slightly extend and slightly raised. Additionally, the creature uses its claws in much the same way a crab would. It seems to regularly bring a claw to its mouth and “taste” what’s on the claw. Please review my photos and tell me what you think. I can’t seem to find anything on the net that even hints and what this might be. Thanks a million Bug Man!
PS – On closer inspection it appears this creature has no antennae.
Ellen

Hi Ellen,
This is not an insect, but an Arachnid. It is a harmless Pseudoscorpion. Pseudoscorpions are quite harmless, but they are fierce predators if the prey is small enough for them to capture. They are known to catch and eat house flies much larger than themselves.  We get submissions of Pseudoscorpions from around the world.

some kind of pseudoscorpion??
Hey Bugman!! I love LOVE your site it’s awesome! My name is Mischa and I’m 14 years old. I found this bug in my house. It’s not new, I’ve seen it before, but I’m not really sure what it is… It’s about 2 mm long. I live in New-Brunswick, Canada. I would really appreciate if you could identify this for me, I quite like this little bug!! Thanks soo much, keep up the good work!!
Mischa, NB

Hey Mischa,
You did a great job of getting that photography of your Pseudoscorpion through the magnifying device. Though there are different species of Pseudoscorpions, we aren’t prepared to do an exact species identification.

Pseudoscorpion
Dear fellow,
I found that little "scorpion" in stored corn grain and take some photos for your collection.
Horia

Hi Horia,
What a detailed photograph you have sent our way. We wish you had provided a location for this interesting Pseudoscorpion specimen.

Hi,
Yes ideed is a pseudoscorpion, possible Pselaphochernes anachoreta. This specimen was found in a cereal grain storage, because this is a somekind of predator of other insect or mites. The specimen is mounted with Eukitt on slide. When is possible I’ll send you other interesting images with small insects.
Horia

Thanks, Your website helped us identify this pseudoscorpion found in our apartement
in Copenhagen. We are relieved they are harmless! Buggy regards,
Michael Sears

Hi Michael,
Many of our readers who encounter Pseudoscorpions erroneously believe them to ticks.

Odd German bug…
Dear Bugman,
I’m currently studying abroad in northern Germany, in the vicinity of Bremen, and I did a search on the internet in hopes of identifying a bug I just saw. I found your website, and I was wondering if you could help me. I’m especially interested to know whether or not it’s harmless. I’m afraid I squished it in fear before I could take a picture of it while it was alive. I’ve attached a couple of pictures of it dead, though… (And I’m sorry I squished it, it’s just that I have a skin condition that causes me to react negatively to ALL bug bites. Even mosquito bites cause baseball sized reactions on me. If it doesn’t bite or sting, I remove it nicely from my house. My host parents here even taught me how to catch flies without hurting them.) In case the picture doesn’t tell all, I will describe it… It was really really tiny, to begin. It dropped onto my hand as a fly buzzed around my hand (at first I thought it was fly poop, that’s how small it was). When I looked closer, it appeared to have the body shape of a tick (though it squished much easier than a tick), and the body was brown. It’s legs were tiny and comparable to a typical beatle’s legs. Attached to the front end of it, by the head, where these long stinger like things. Two of them. One on each side, extending out in front of the bug. They were more of a reddish brown color, and looked very much like scorpion tails. These scorpion-like stingers were very large in comparison to the bug, and I would say they were three quarters the length of the body. If you can identify this bug, I would really be interested to know more about it. And feel free to publish my photos (though they’re not the greatest). Thank you!!
Penninah Jones

Hi Penninah,
There was no need to kill the harmless Pseudoscorpion. These fascinating creatures have a nearly worldwide distribution. They sometimes hitch rides on flying insects, a phenomenon known as Phoresy.

Crab Spider?
My wife found this bug in a stack of her papers. It looks like a tic or spider, but has 10 legs including the pincers on front. All of the pictures of crab spiders I have seen do not include the pincers in the front as this one does. Any guesses? I have the picture out to a few expert agencies and have heard nothing. ? Thamisus Onustus ? or not ? Western MD pandhandle.
David Rebar

Hi David,
Nice image of the underview of a harmless Pseudoscorpion.

crab bug?
Hi,
I found this bug in my bathroom on the ceiling. Its rather scary looking, it reminds me of a scorpion but seeing as I live near Toronto I am sure it is not a relative. It is very tiny, in the pictures it is next to a pin. Could you please tell me what it is and if it is harmful. It is the only one I’ve seen so far, I’m hoping there will not be anymore. Thanks
Have a wonderful day!
Amanda

Hi Amanda,
This is a Pseudoscorpion and it is totally harmless.