It looks to be some kind of ground beetle in the family Carabidae.
My gut says it's a Black Clock Beetle - Pterostichus madidus, but I'd need a bit more information (location, for example, I think Black Clock Beetles are a UK thing) a better scale and a better picture of the antennae to be sure.
The eyes are a bit off as well, but it could just be the picture quality and angle.
Oh sorry! Forgot location. I'm in Maine. Next one that visits, we'll try to corral it for a better pic. Just happy it's not a roach.
If you're in Maine, then I'd go with my edit- Harpalus pensylvanicus, or something so closely related I'm not equipped to tell them apart.
EDIT: Also, the good news is these guys are predators! ....but roaches would probably be too large for them to eat. They're kind of stereotypical Good Bugs.
EDIT EDIT: H. pensylvanicus is apparently a weed predator, meaning it eats important weeds, and not other bugs.
Started seeing a few of these running around the office at work the last few days. Are these cockroaches, or something less gross that just wandered in? They're maybe 3/4 of an inch long. Best pic I could get because the little asshole wouldn't stand still very long.
Not a cockroach. Cockroaches have (for example) very noticable spines along their legs and the abdomen and thorax joins smoothly.
This is a ground beetle. note the large "spurs" that are common to many varieties of ground beetle. The shape of the pronotum is also typical for ground beetles.
Now ground beetles is a huuuuge family of beetles and I'm not an expert so the exact species eludes me. I don't know of any specific groundbeetle that has spurs that large, lacks a striated elytra and has that general bodyshape. But it's 100% a ground beetle.
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
(I think the elytra are striated, it's just a blurry picture. I'm getting more confident that it's a member of the genus Harpalus)
EDIT: Harpalus has so many species oh man
Even the "pseudo-pennsylvanicus" group is pretty darn big (yes, there is a scientific category for ground beetles that look similar to pennsylvania ground beetles)
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
+4
Options
38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
Started seeing a few of these running around the office at work the last few days. Are these cockroaches, or something less gross that just wandered in? They're maybe 3/4 of an inch long. Best pic I could get because the little asshole wouldn't stand still very long.
Not a cockroach. Cockroaches have (for example) very noticable spines along their legs and the abdomen and thorax joins smoothly.
This is a ground beetle. note the large "spurs" that are common to many varieties of ground beetle. The shape of the pronotum is also typical for ground beetles.
Now ground beetles is a huuuuge family of beetles and I'm not an expert so the exact species eludes me. I don't know of any specific groundbeetle that has spurs that large, lacks a striated elytra and has that general bodyshape. But it's 100% a ground beetle.
Started seeing a few of these running around the office at work the last few days. Are these cockroaches, or something less gross that just wandered in? They're maybe 3/4 of an inch long. Best pic I could get because the little asshole wouldn't stand still very long.
Not a cockroach. Cockroaches have (for example) very noticable spines along their legs and the abdomen and thorax joins smoothly.
This is a ground beetle. note the large "spurs" that are common to many varieties of ground beetle. The shape of the pronotum is also typical for ground beetles.
Now ground beetles is a huuuuge family of beetles and I'm not an expert so the exact species eludes me. I don't know of any specific groundbeetle that has spurs that large, lacks a striated elytra and has that general bodyshape. But it's 100% a ground beetle.
What's the difference between a spine and a spur?
One of them prevents things from riding you, one of them helps you ride other things
+12
Options
H3KnucklesBut we decide which is rightand which is an illusion.Registered Userregular
edited August 2020
If it looks like the limb forks to better grip things, that's a spur.
If it looks like the limb has a row of spikes for defense, that's a spine.
Red Raevynbecause I only take Bubble BathsRegistered Userregular
Man this thread is so good, I love reading it. Thank you all!
I have my own bug question now. The first time we saw this bug was when I was cutting an apple I'd just washed. I noticed one bug on the bottom then turned it upside down and realized there were scads of them crawling out of the bottom bit. Sure enough they appeared to have tunneled into the bottom and gotten cozy inside the core. I'd (jokingly) chastised my wife for buying these apples sourced from New Zealand when we live in WA (she said none of the local apples at the store looked good) and now she's really not going to buy NZ apples again.
But now the little buggers are showing up all over the place! I took a (cloth) diaper liner out of the washbasket at the other end of the house and found one crawling on it (they do come out of the dryer in the room off the kitchen). My wife found one on the toilet and one on the bed as well. After a bit I noticed some have little wings so that may be how they're getting around. Tough to get a picture of because they're really tiny. I tried googling based off the apple core experience, but just got a lot of orchard pest information.
Pre-edit - I typed that and googled a little more and it's daggone weevils isn't it? A few days ago my wife said our big ol' bag of brown rice was infested (tossed it), and right at the top of wikipedia it says the maize weevil sometimes gets into apples. Daggone it, time for pantry cleaning and more reading about how to cleanse the house.
As my father said when he thought weevils got into our oatmeal: protein!
In retrospect, I wonder if comments like that play into his current health issues.
0
Options
ceresWhen the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderatormod
Congrats, you live out of ziplock bags for 6 weeks now!
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
On the plus side, that is some pretty impressive close up photography of weevil kind.
I mean, it's not much of a comfort, I'm sure. But it's something.
I'm not sure those are maize weevils specifically, but it does look like some kind of grain pest weevil.
You can seal up bags of grain and put them in the freezer for a few days if you don't mind the notion that you might end up eating the larvae inside the rice grains. Ziplock bags, as mentioned, are your friends, as is the freezer (NOT FRIDGE) for anything you think can survive a few days in there and be edible.
I'm always the last person to recommend chemical methods of control, but you could try minor fumigation if the problem persists, but I'd contact a professional first.
Yep, there's a silver lining to everything. I recently waged war against a meal moth infestation. Those fuckers reproduce like crazy and every time I thought they were gone, a new generation would emerge from somewhere, driving me crazy.
But I also have an aquarium, and the moths and their larvae make perfect fish food. My fish have never looked as colorful and healthy as during the Moth War.
Yep, there's a silver lining to everything. I recently waged war against a meal moth infestation. Those fuckers reproduce like crazy and every time I thought they were gone, a new generation would emerge from somewhere, driving me crazy.
But I also have an aquarium, and the moths and their larvae make perfect fish food. My fish have never looked as colorful and healthy as during the Moth War.
I wonder how the fish viewed that
"The mythological time in history when the Ape gods waged war against the air meat. It was a time of plenty my son. When the bodies of the fallen fell into the sacred waters to be consumed, and everyone was wearing a coat of gold."
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
Found this little guy on my son’s leg during our bike ride. Assuming some kind of stick bug nymph?
Northern VA.
Ed: Ugh. iPhone uploads.
Ed2: ooh! Might be an assassin bug nymph, which might really hurt if it was older. Good thing we didn’t play with it too much and put it back on a nearby tree after pictures.
It's a Zelus luridus nymph, aka Pale Green Assassin bug, So your guess of an assassin bug nymph is correct.
The easiest way to tell the difference is that walking sticks have a very long distance between each pair of legs, while assassin bug nymphs have their legs clustered in a more normal insect manner.
Fiendishrabbit on
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
+7
Options
H3KnucklesBut we decide which is rightand which is an illusion.Registered Userregular
Edit: although, if someone happens to know what species the big one on the far left, and the little one in the center are, I'd be interested (kind of surprised the video description doesn't say).
Not asking for ID's, just thought people here might enjoy this weird video YouTube recommended after I watched one of those stick bug meme videos.
Edit: although, if someone happens to know what species the big one on the far left, and the little one in the center are, I'd be interested (kind of surprised the video description doesn't say).
I think that's a devil's flower mantis (Idolomantis diabolica). Mantids are my favorite insects, and that's my favorite mantis.
Edit: although, if someone happens to know what species the big one on the far left, and the little one in the center are, I'd be interested (kind of surprised the video description doesn't say).
Yeah mantids are basically the insect version of cats. Graceful and terrifying predators, but also kind of dumb and cute. Those mantids in the video are all terrified though. The only reason they're not attacking one another is, they're trying to defend themselves against an even bigger predator, the camera man. In my opinion it's not right to subject them to that kind of treatment.
Bliss 101 on
+2
Options
H3KnucklesBut we decide which is rightand which is an illusion.Registered Userregular
edited August 2020
Aw, crud. Didn't know any of that.
The channel it's on has a whole bunch of videos showing different arthropods, so I'd just assumed they were some kind of professional handler or something.
Like some other ambush predator insects and spiders, they have the ability to enter a kind of standby mode where their metabolism and energy consumption is next to zero. Yet they can instantly spring to action at maximum efficiency when they detect prey or a threat. Our electronic technology is still getting there.
I'm really curious about that spider. It looks like some kind of orb weaver, but those spike clusters on its front legs are quite peculiar.
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
I was told it was an Neoscona crucifera, the Hentz orb weaver
we have a bunch of them on our porch
Looking at the identification for that species, I'd probably agree with whoever told you that, but I'm not a spider expert by any stretch of the imagination.
I was told it was an Neoscona crucifera, the Hentz orb weaver
we have a bunch of them on our porch
Looking at the identification for that species, I'd probably agree with whoever told you that, but I'm not a spider expert by any stretch of the imagination.
That's for sure, I've seen you play your Widow in City of Heroes
Lens says: this moth is Haematopis grataria, the chickweed geometer. It has feathery antennae, which probably means it's male
Lens says: this butterfly is Limenitis arthemis, the "red-spotted purple" (this one) or "white admiral". Apparently there are two fairly distinct patterns for this species, based on location, but the groups overlap so there are lots of hybrids in between. They're also pretty cool because light interacts with them in tricky ways, from many angles they just appear black or dark blue. Took me a bit to get an angle that would show the colors and pattern.
Lens says: this butterfly is Limenitis arthemis, the "red-spotted purple" (this one) or "white admiral". Apparently there are two fairly distinct patterns for this species, based on location, but the groups overlap so there are lots of hybrids in between. They're also pretty cool because light interacts with them in tricky ways, from many angles they just appear black or dark blue. Took me a bit to get an angle that would show the colors and pattern.
Limenitis arthemis. ssp. astyanax. Red spotted purple (not a hybrid). They're only called white admirals when they have that characteristic white stripe further in on their wings (which this specimen lacks).
This particular pattern is more common around Georgia, but you can find it anywhere in South-eastern United states.
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
This particular arthemis was also interesting because the right rear wing was pretty much entirely missing, presumably due to a close call with a predator. Wiki says the red-spotted purple patterning is an attempted mimic of the "unpalatable" pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor). If the missing wing was due to a predator, mimic fail, I guess?
Well, mimicry isn't like...an innate thing. Birds aren't born knowing that the toxic or unpalatable organisms shouldn't be messed with. The evolutionary game that's played is "Do more mimics survive if they can exploit learned behaviors in predators than not?" and so far the answer is "yes".
But quite a few mimics still die because predators either haven't encountered the true form, or the predators are desperate enough to take a swing.
I'm pretty impressed at how close Lens got on those identifications, to be honest. I'll need to play around.
It's a roach nymph. Specificly it's a Luridiblatta trivittata, a roach that has only recently migrated from the mediterranean (in the last 15 years).
However, you're lucky! They don't form indoor colonies and only wander in from your garden occasionally to seek shelter. So you don't need to tear your kitchen apart (but you might want to do an extra careful cleaning under the sink and fridge). Also. They're super fond of sugary foods, so sugar-water (or even better, fruit juice) is pretty good bait if you want to trap and get rid of any indoor vagabonds.
P.S: After looking at some images. It's an adult since it's one of the wingless species.
Fiendishrabbit on
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
It's a roach nymph. Specificly it's a Luridiblatta trivittata, a roach that has only recently migrated from the mediterranean (in the last 15 years).
However, you're lucky! They don't form indoor colonies and only wander in from your garden occasionally to seek shelter. So you don't need to tear your kitchen apart (but you might want to do an extra careful cleaning under the sink and fridge). Also. They're super fond of sugary foods, so sugar-water (or even better, fruit juice) is pretty good bait if you want to trap and get rid of any indoor vagabonds.
P.S: After looking at some images. It's an adult since it's one of the wingless species.
we've seen four of these in the past week, and we just had a hellish heat wave here the week before. they probably are inside now seeking shelter?
thanks for the ID! we keep things pretty clean, so were surprised to see a cockroach of any kind.
Most likely yes. If you keep your kitchen clean they're most likely in there looking for moisture.
"The western world sips from a poisonous cocktail: Polarisation, populism, protectionism and post-truth"
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
Posts
If you're in Maine, then I'd go with my edit- Harpalus pensylvanicus, or something so closely related I'm not equipped to tell them apart.
EDIT: Also, the good news is these guys are predators! ....but roaches would probably be too large for them to eat. They're kind of stereotypical Good Bugs.
EDIT EDIT: H. pensylvanicus is apparently a weed predator, meaning it eats important weeds, and not other bugs.
Learn new things every day, I guess.
Not a cockroach. Cockroaches have (for example) very noticable spines along their legs and the abdomen and thorax joins smoothly.
This is a ground beetle. note the large "spurs" that are common to many varieties of ground beetle. The shape of the pronotum is also typical for ground beetles.
Now ground beetles is a huuuuge family of beetles and I'm not an expert so the exact species eludes me. I don't know of any specific groundbeetle that has spurs that large, lacks a striated elytra and has that general bodyshape. But it's 100% a ground beetle.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
EDIT: Harpalus has so many species oh man
Even the "pseudo-pennsylvanicus" group is pretty darn big (yes, there is a scientific category for ground beetles that look similar to pennsylvania ground beetles)
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
What's the difference between a spine and a spur?
One of them prevents things from riding you, one of them helps you ride other things
If it looks like the limb has a row of spikes for defense, that's a spine.
I have my own bug question now. The first time we saw this bug was when I was cutting an apple I'd just washed. I noticed one bug on the bottom then turned it upside down and realized there were scads of them crawling out of the bottom bit. Sure enough they appeared to have tunneled into the bottom and gotten cozy inside the core. I'd (jokingly) chastised my wife for buying these apples sourced from New Zealand when we live in WA (she said none of the local apples at the store looked good) and now she's really not going to buy NZ apples again.
But now the little buggers are showing up all over the place! I took a (cloth) diaper liner out of the washbasket at the other end of the house and found one crawling on it (they do come out of the dryer in the room off the kitchen). My wife found one on the toilet and one on the bed as well. After a bit I noticed some have little wings so that may be how they're getting around. Tough to get a picture of because they're really tiny. I tried googling based off the apple core experience, but just got a lot of orchard pest information.
Pre-edit - I typed that and googled a little more and it's daggone weevils isn't it? A few days ago my wife said our big ol' bag of brown rice was infested (tossed it), and right at the top of wikipedia it says the maize weevil sometimes gets into apples. Daggone it, time for pantry cleaning and more reading about how to cleanse the house.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
In retrospect, I wonder if comments like that play into his current health issues.
I mean, it's not much of a comfort, I'm sure. But it's something.
You can seal up bags of grain and put them in the freezer for a few days if you don't mind the notion that you might end up eating the larvae inside the rice grains. Ziplock bags, as mentioned, are your friends, as is the freezer (NOT FRIDGE) for anything you think can survive a few days in there and be edible.
I'm always the last person to recommend chemical methods of control, but you could try minor fumigation if the problem persists, but I'd contact a professional first.
Yep, there's a silver lining to everything. I recently waged war against a meal moth infestation. Those fuckers reproduce like crazy and every time I thought they were gone, a new generation would emerge from somewhere, driving me crazy.
But I also have an aquarium, and the moths and their larvae make perfect fish food. My fish have never looked as colorful and healthy as during the Moth War.
I wonder how the fish viewed that
"The mythological time in history when the Ape gods waged war against the air meat. It was a time of plenty my son. When the bodies of the fallen fell into the sacred waters to be consumed, and everyone was wearing a coat of gold."
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
Northern VA.
Ed: Ugh. iPhone uploads.
Ed2: ooh! Might be an assassin bug nymph, which might really hurt if it was older. Good thing we didn’t play with it too much and put it back on a nearby tree after pictures.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
The easiest way to tell the difference is that walking sticks have a very long distance between each pair of legs, while assassin bug nymphs have their legs clustered in a more normal insect manner.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
Edit: although, if someone happens to know what species the big one on the far left, and the little one in the center are, I'd be interested (kind of surprised the video description doesn't say).
I think that's a devil's flower mantis (Idolomantis diabolica). Mantids are my favorite insects, and that's my favorite mantis.
edit: the one on the left that is.
I love the green one on the right,
What are we doing guys? Posing? ok !!!!
*looks around again*
Still posing? you sure? ok, I guess
*poses again*
The channel it's on has a whole bunch of videos showing different arthropods, so I'd just assumed they were some kind of professional handler or something.
Nighttime:
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Like some other ambush predator insects and spiders, they have the ability to enter a kind of standby mode where their metabolism and energy consumption is next to zero. Yet they can instantly spring to action at maximum efficiency when they detect prey or a threat. Our electronic technology is still getting there.
one of three big ladies
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
we have a bunch of them on our porch
Looking at the identification for that species, I'd probably agree with whoever told you that, but I'm not a spider expert by any stretch of the imagination.
That's for sure, I've seen you play your Widow in City of Heroes
Limenitis arthemis. ssp. astyanax. Red spotted purple (not a hybrid). They're only called white admirals when they have that characteristic white stripe further in on their wings (which this specimen lacks).
This particular pattern is more common around Georgia, but you can find it anywhere in South-eastern United states.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
It still seemed to be moving around ok, though.
But quite a few mimics still die because predators either haven't encountered the true form, or the predators are desperate enough to take a swing.
I'm pretty impressed at how close Lens got on those identifications, to be honest. I'll need to play around.
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
However, you're lucky! They don't form indoor colonies and only wander in from your garden occasionally to seek shelter. So you don't need to tear your kitchen apart (but you might want to do an extra careful cleaning under the sink and fridge). Also. They're super fond of sugary foods, so sugar-water (or even better, fruit juice) is pretty good bait if you want to trap and get rid of any indoor vagabonds.
P.S: After looking at some images. It's an adult since it's one of the wingless species.
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden
we've seen four of these in the past week, and we just had a hellish heat wave here the week before. they probably are inside now seeking shelter?
thanks for the ID! we keep things pretty clean, so were surprised to see a cockroach of any kind.
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
-Antje Jackelén, Archbishop of the Church of Sweden