Subject: Beetle?
Location: South Texas
July 8, 2017 10:30 pm
Found this creepy crawly while walking my dogs tonight. I have lived in this exact house for a majority of my life and have never seen a beetle like it. I have looked everywhere and cannot seem to identify it, it’s simple curiosity that has me asking. He was about the size of a quarter, fairly flat, a light gray color all over, his head was hidden from my view, he seemed to have sections similar to a pill bug. Hope you can help!
Signature: Brianna

Female Boll’s Sandroach

Dear Brianna,
This is not a Beetle.  It is a female Sandroach in the genus Arenviga, probably Boll’s Sandroach which is pictured on BugGuide.  According to BugGuide:  “The downy females have no wings and burrow in the dust under houses and in natural rock shelters where they feed on packrat droppings” and “Other related species occur in West and South Texas.”

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Subject: ID wanted for this insect
Location: 64111
July 7, 2017 4:52 am
Saw in kc Missouri early july 2017. Wings seem too short for its body.
Signature: Kathy H.

Oriental Cockroach

Based on this BugGuide image, we believe your Cockroach may be an Oriental Cockroach.  According to BugGuide:  “Flightless. Males have wings covering 3/4 of their body length; females have only rudimentary wing stubs.”  Based on this image from our archives, we would not rule out that this is a female Turkestan Cockroach, though BugGuide does not list any Missouri sightings.

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Subject: Cave cockroach
Location: Zamboanga del Norte, Mindanao, Philippines
May 29, 2017 9:13 am
Hi 🙂
Just curious what this cockroach is. I found this inside a cave in zamboanga del norte. I sent two pictures but its just one cockroach just flipped over.
Signature: With love

Cave Cockroach

Since you found it in a cave, and it is a Cockroach, we are content calling this a Cave Cockroach, but we decided to do some research.  We found an online article entitled Cockroaches (Insects, Blattodea) from caves of Polillo Island (Philippines), with description of a new species and there is an illustration identified as Ectobiidae:  Shelfordina sp., adult female that resembles your image.

Cave Cockroach

Thank you but it is different from Shelfordina sp. It has a beetle-like structure and it has those amber colored orb-like structures on its ventral area. I did a research and I think it’s more of an Ergaula capucina. I really appreciate your effort for responding quickly. 🙂

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Subject: Found on my shower curtain
Location: Maryland
May 27, 2017 5:23 pm
Help! I found this bug scattering around my shower curtain. It is spring/summer and I live in Maryland outside of D.C.
Signature: Michelle

Dusky Cockroach

Dear Michelle,
This is a Cockroach, but it does not look like one of the species that typically infests homes.  We believe we have correctly identified it as a Dusky Cockroach, Ectobius lapponicus, a species that according to BugGuide is:  “native to Europe (widespread), adventive in NA” and “earliest record in our area: NH 1984 (Chandler 1985).” iNaturalist has images of it crawling on leaves, so we suspect this individual just found its way into your home and it will not cause an indoor infestation.  According to ResearchGate:  “Adult and nymph males are typically found on low-lying vegetation, while females are more often found in leaf litter and decaying wood (Roth and Willis 1960).  That does not seem like behavior of a home infesting Cockroach.  Of the entire genus, BugGuide notes:  “Abundant in European forests, moorlands, scrubby woodland margins, and rough grasslands, mostly on the ground under dead leaves, among bracken ferns, in grass and moss, on lower branches of small trees and shrubs, and also in coastal habitats (sea cliffs, sand dunes, beaches).”

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Subject: identification
Location: Kenya, Malindi
April 7, 2017 9:18 am
Hi there, I would need if possible an identification for the following two insects, one seems to be a moth and the other some type beetle (?). They came flying on a veranda at night close to a light and landed on the curtain where they stayed for long. In Kenya, Malindi (coast) , April the second 2017.
Signature: Joan

Cockroach

Dear Joan,
Your Moth is a member of the superfamily Noctuoidea which contains Owlet Moths and kin.  What you have mistaken for a beetle is a Cockroach.

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