Can you ID this bug?

September 4, 2017 8:44 AM

I found this bug in my home. Can you tell me what it is?

P. S. That's my cat purring, not the bug. 😅

posted by Cogito to Science & Nature (12 answers total)

A single in-focus photo (or a set!) would be better than a blurry video. It may also help to know where in the world you collected it.

Could be a dermestid beetle, e.g. black carpet beetle. Those can be problematic but not usually a big deal.

You may be concerned that it is a bed bug. It is roughly the right size for that, but I can't make out from the video if it has smooth hard elytra (beetle) or segmented, soft expandable abdomen (bedbug). I think it's not a bedbug, I think the overall body shape and blurry antennae look beetle-y.

There's one easy test to rule out bed bugs: squish it. If it crunches, it's not a bed bug.
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:00 AM on September 4, 2017

Response by poster: I'll try to get some better pictures and post them shortly.
posted by Cogito at 9:16 AM on September 4, 2017

Response by poster: How's this? I can take more if there's a particular feature you're looking for.

I'm loath to squish it since I'd want to have it intact for an exterminator to potentially examine.
posted by Cogito at 9:37 AM on September 4, 2017

that looks like a bedbug to me but I am not 100%, I hope someone else will prove me wrong.

edit: see for reference
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:54 AM on September 4, 2017

although that pronotum is giving me pause. Don't give up hope. Don't squish the one you have though.

post one looking at its back from above so we can get a better look at the antennae and pronotum.
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:00 AM on September 4, 2017

Carpet beetles are smaller and rounder. But it looks like another type of beetle to me.
posted by jgirl at 10:22 AM on September 4, 2017

Response by poster: It does seem to have wings. And here's a dorsal view.

I'm regretting I never invested in a macro lens now.
posted by Cogito at 10:23 AM on September 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

Given the dorsal shot, definitely not a bedbug. It’s the wrong colour, shape, everything. Some kind of beetle.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 11:05 AM on September 4, 2017 [4 favorites]

Definitely a beetle, elytra are the key. True bugs (Hemiptera, of which bed bugs are an example) never have their forewings shaped like full hard shells, at most they have hemelytra, and this "half-hard wing" is the basis of the order's name.

Honestly, I'd not bother with the exterminator unless you start to see them every day, or lots at once. If you really care what specific genus of beetle, send these photos to reddit whats that bug. But if "beetle, mostly harmless" is enough for you, that's what you got here.
posted by SaltySalticid at 11:22 AM on September 4, 2017

Response by poster: Thanks so much, everyone! This puts my mind at ease.
posted by Cogito at 11:50 AM on September 4, 2017

excellent!! that's a relief.

wings ftw.
posted by fingersandtoes at 12:28 PM on September 4, 2017

Sorry, late to the conversation, but definitely not a bed bug.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 7:47 PM on September 4, 2017