on the wall of my apartment. What is it?
Tonight I found
this insect on the wall of my apartment. My girlfriend’s dog actually found it first (thank god she wasn’t here at the time), and I found the dog staring at it. The bug was about 4 feet up on the wall, just sitting there. This was at roughly 8:00 p.m. EST. I tried to brush it down to the floor and it flew off the wall. It seemed to fly very lightly and easily, like a moth almost, but it didn’t fly more than a few feet down to the floor. I saw it fly a few times, but never more than a few feet. I managed to capture it easily (perhaps in part thanks to the dog, Teddy, who mauled it a bit). After capturing it in a drinking glass, I took some pictures of it. I think it sustained some physical trauma from the dog, because it has been very easy to capture and control and I always heard that roaches were very elusive.
After taking some pictures of the beastie, I killed it with ammonia-based generic brand window cleaner. After that I photographed it
next to a coin for size comparison.
After some quick google research, I don’t know exactly how to classify this insect. It looks a lot like a roach of some sort. The wing pattern seems to look like what I consider a roach, but it is very light-brown colored. Most pictures of roaches I came across are a lot darker than the thing I found on my wall.
A few more facts: I live in an apartment in suburban Alexandria, Virginia, USA. My roommate and I are not exceptionally messy, but we have been known to let some stuff pile up in the sink or garbage can now and then. Nothing ridiculous though, just a little cluttered at times. The neighborhood is pretty clean though, and I have heard no other complaints of cockroach infestations. My building is three floors tall (I’m at the top) and it has four apartments on each floor.
Also, yesterday I got back from a two-day long camping trip to West Virginia, and brought a bunch of stuff up to the apartment from the car. There is a possibility that I brought this in from outside.
To date this is the first experience I have had with what may be a cockroach. Tell me, mefites, is it a roach? If so, what kind? Where may it have come from, and do I or will I have an infestation on my hands?
Thanks!
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posted by iconomy at 6:59 PM on June 12, 2007