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
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).”
I just discovered my 7 lb dog hunting a nearly 4 inch (it gets bigger every tI me I think of it brown beetle she bug with wings, very elongated. Thankfully it was on its back and not able to flip over or I might have failed Ted or had a heart attack or both. Worse still, it was squeaking. I lived in Venezuela for 3 years and this thing rivaled almost anything I saw there, except for the poisonous centipedes. WHAT IS IT? And more importantly, why ME? My husband saw one a few days ago at the far end of the house. It’seems been extremely hot and humid here in NJ for 2-3 weeks. How do these things even get in the house? I’m 64 and I’ve never seen anything like it. Your help is appreciated and no, I didn’t get a picture but it didn’t look like a cockroach. I live in the country. Thank you
Perhaps it was a Broad-Necked Root Borer.