Bug identify, 2 for 1

May 23, 2018 10:11 AM

I’m constantly paranoid about German cockroaches and carpet bugs (which my neighbor is dealing with) and really any other thing that appears in my apartment. Pictures inside, ID appreciated!

The first was the little chubby grey worm or larvae that appeared ON TOP of my bed sheets in a fold. I swear it wasn’t there a few hours ago so not sure where it came from. I’ve washed my sheets just in case.
https://imgur.com/a/ULtMVXg

The second was right after, dead in the opening of my closet. Are they related?

https://imgur.com/a/M2fXGdh

I’ve always heard if you find one of something, there are secretly millions. This has never been the case for me, especially since I check for droppings and signs in places. My meticulously clean mother would even get bugs popping up in the house due the summer and just...well, they come from outside. But is that actually the case? If you think I have an impending doom by finding these two bugs, please let me know about next steps! I’m deep cleaning the apartment this weekend.

posted by socky bottoms to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Best answer: I don't think either of these are German cockroaches. German cockroaches don't have larvae - they hatch from egg sacks in an immature state, but it looks like a small round bug. The adult bug also does not look like a German cockroach.

(I don't know about carpet bugs, but I have had German cockroaches, studied them, sketched them at various life stages).

I think German cockroaches come in the thousands, rather than the millions - and they seem to need a certain threshold of population to really explode, so a couple might not spell doom. But if your neighbour has them, you will have them in at least small numbers. There are management things you can do - keeping things DRY is surprisingly effective. They need a fair bit of water, and the worst infestations I've seen have also been associated with leaking taps. They also prefer rotting plant material to any other food source.
posted by jb at 10:22 AM on May 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I can't figure the first one, but the second is a click beetle. They are herbivores and only end up inside if there are plants to eat or they got lost.
posted by Gneisskate at 10:23 AM on May 23, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Well, it's definitely not a German cockroach, and I don't think it's a carpet bug either. It looks like a beetle to me, though obviously that doesn't narrow it down much. But there are only a few varieties that really do the whole communal nesting/infestation thing, and that doesn't look like any of the ones that I know about.

I wouldn't worry about it, it probably just snuck in from outside.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:25 AM on May 23, 2018

Best answer: I concur that the adult looks like some kind of click beetle, and that the larva is definitely not related to it, and also does not particularly look like a cockroach larva. Beyond that, very hard to identify a single larva, but could be a pantry moth or clothes moth.
posted by drlith at 10:32 AM on May 23, 2018

Best answer: cockroaches are direct developers, so they do not have a larval form... that said, the grub picture is very indistinct, so it's hard to tell if it is a beetle or moth larva.
I concur with all the above saying the adult is some sort of click beetle.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 10:42 AM on May 23, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Ok thank you all! I feel way better knowing it’s a click beetle. Still unsure about the larvae. If it’s a moth larvae, should I be looking for moths? I haven’t seen any so I can’t figure out where this little guy came from.
posted by socky bottoms at 12:47 PM on May 23, 2018