Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bug

Name That Bug!

amro — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 11:59:53 -0800

What kind of bug is this? This is in central New Jersey, in a home that's fairly close to a canal if that's relevant. The bug is a little over a half inch long, and he's pretty flat.

Identify this bug!

event — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:06:37 -0800

What is this bug? I'm living in a recently-constructed tenth-floor apartment and have been finding these things on my floor. I have never seen a live one -- only dead remnants like this one. It appears to be some kind of centipede. Specifically what species is it, why am I finding them dead all the time, and how can I get rid of them? Thanks!

Up, up, down, down...

LSK — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:58:02 -0800

Having an issue with a dance mat on PC - down button works, but left + down and right + down don't. I'm using Red Octane's Ignition 3.0 dance mat (for Dance Dance Revolution games) on Windows Vista using the USB plug. While all individual buttons operate properly, if I press left and down at the same time, or right and down at the same time, only left or right (respectively) is read by the computer. Is this an issue with the hardware itself or is it something that can be addressed within the OS?

It should be noted that this isn't the more common opposite-axes issue; left + right works properly, as does up + down.

What were these bugs that we called "bloodsuckers"?

ErWenn — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:40:41 -0800

There is this insect/arachnid I remember from my childhood in Las Vegas. It had a body about the size of a raisin, only it was quite flat. They were red with black spots (larger than ladybugs, but flatter), and the kids in the neighborhood called them "bloodsuckers" for some reason. (I have no idea if they bit or not.) I don't remember them flying, but I could be wrong about that. What insects were they? Scientific name or common name is fine, anything I can use to find out more info.

I think I saw a bed bug, what do I do now?

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:44:32 -0800

I think I spotted a bed bug this morning. What do I do now? I've been getting itchy spots over the past couple of weeks and I just blew them off as being allergic to something here and getting mosquito bites since the itchy spots varies in sizes and location.

This morning I spotted a tiny bug on my comforter, about less than 1cm in size and it was a clear, light brownish in color. It was reaaaally small, and I wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't moving around.
When I was leaving for class today, I spotted a bug, about 1-3cm [wasn't really paying attention to the size, was too freaked out about finding a bug on my portfolio bag] on my art portfolio bag and I got rid of it and flushed it down the toilet.

I am currently in a freshman at my college and i'm dorming here as well. I currently have 4 suitemates and no roommate in my dorm room.

Since now I think I spotted a bed bug[s], what do I do now? Should I sleep on the couch in the living room or the empty bed in my room tonight? Should I burn all my clothes? I'm afraid of finding more bugs since I have a fear of them. I'm seriously starting to freak out about this.
Throwaway account at stopthebedbugs[at]gmail.com

Are spiders crawling on my sleeping face?

Morrigan — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:31:58 -0800

Periodically (maybe a couple or few times a year), I wake up with something on my face that seems like a bug bite. Nothing dramatic; it itches a bit, raises a small welt and then heals. My family called these "spider bites." Is that what they are? My home (mid-Atlantic US) has no obvious evidence of spiders living inside. Do mosquito bites present differently on the face? These are not as itchy as mosquito bites usually are and I haven't noticed it happening more in summer. It doesn't resemble a blemish, either; its center seems to have bite-like qualities and it is often in non-blemish-prone areas like my cheeks. Googling "spider bites" is an unhelpful horror show.

A mysterious chirping from inside my wall...

Earl the Polliwog — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:37:41 -0800

There's a bug in my house that I want to identify. The tricky part? I've never seen it. While in the bathroom three days ago, I started hearing a sound. It was a chirping, that sounded very cricket-like but slightly less shrill, and each "chirp" lasted ten or more seconds. It was coming from inside my wall!

Having played more than my share of Animal Crossing, I investigated mole crickets, but the two species that have any chance of existing in this area (Lansing, MI) produce chirps that are lower and more scratchy, by my limited research.

Any clues? Maybe species that I am missing? Or could it be something non-cricket-like altogether?

What's biting me?

captainawesome — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:49:53 -0800

What's biting me, and how do I make it stop? So I know this is going to be a vague, hard-to-answer question, but I'm mystified. I'm in the Los Angeles area (specifically, Burbank) on a summer internship and I keep getting bitten by something. I have a few dozen of these bites, which look and itch a lot like mosquito bites, except I haven't noticed anything that could be biting me - it's not like I'm being swarmed by flying insects or anything. And with a few dozen bites, you'd think I'd at least notice when they happen. But I don't: I only notice when they've begun to itch, and while they go away eventually, it seems like fresh ones are popping up all the time.

The bites are mostly on my arms (which are always exposed - I wear a short sleeve shirt for most of my waking hours) but some on my chest and side and legs, and a few on my back (all areas that are mostly covered). So, Los Angelites (or anyone, really): what kind of bitey critters are out here that can fly under the radar like this? And how do I encourage them to stop? 'cuz I'm puzzled.

misbehaving macbook using windows

a womble is an active kind of sloth — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:57:51 -0800

My recently purchased 13'' Macbook Pro has been behaving strangely. I recently got a 13'' Macbook Pro, with a 2.53GHz duo processor and 4gb of RAM. I use some software which only runs on Windows, so I installed windows using bootcamp and the drivers provided by mac. After about a week and a half, windows would no longer boot, aside from in safe mode. I would turn on the computer and the splash screen would appear, but then the screen would remain a very dark gray color.

I reinstalled both OSes (OSX and Windows), and everything was fine until a week later when the very same problem happened. Both times, I had VMware installed on OSX , and the second time I was able to boot up windows and shut it down using VMware. OSX appeared to be fine both times. I was running the Bootcamp partition using VMware.

I ran all checks that I could on the Mac after the first incident, and the second time I brought into Mac where they did a thorough check of everything, and reinstalled OSX. They and I found no hardware issues. I had not installed anything, or made an system changes before this problem occurred.

Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions about what could be going wrong?

I am ok using VMware, but I would prefer to certain that I can use Windows natively.

Thanks.

How do I file a Google Maps bug report?

breezeway — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:02:44 -0800

Google Maps has my street name misspelled. How do I get them to fix it?

La cucaracha ya no puede caminar

aiko — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:27:42 -0800

It's a terrible picture, but is this a cockroach? ☐ Yes. ☐ No. It is - err, was - about 7/16 of an inch long, had a ribbed thorax (abdomen?), and had a grey-ish underbelly. Looking at cockroach pictures here, the ribbed thorax looks like a cockroach feature.

What is causing this and how do we stop it? (kill it. kill it with fire?)

exlotuseater — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:07:52 -0800

Help identify possible source or cause of these bites! My SO has been getting some raised / swollen areas on her heel / foot, and one on her pinky finger, beginning four days ago. We believe they are bites, but the source eludes us. She's extremely sensitive to tactile stimuli, so ordinarily she would notice say, a mosquito or similar. At first we suspected the dreaded--shhhh!--bedbug but these bites are occurring during the day, and an exhaustive search (including stripping the bed and laundering everything) turned up nothing.

The bites are extremely itchy at first, swell quickly like a mosquito bite, then recede, except in one case, in which the bite receded somewhat, then blistered, filling with clear liquid (lymph? plasma?).

The size of the bites vary, but they generally range from 5-15 mm in diameter, and the high point of the swelling is perhaps 3 or 4 mm.

Pictures here and here here.

We have an indoor cat, who hasn't been particularly itchy or scratchy--we combed her today, also turned up nothing. If it were fleas, we would see them. Likewise with bedbugs or spiders (but which, under different circumstances, would fit certain diagnostic criteria for bites of this nature).

I vacuumed the other day, and we have regular high-traffic wall-to-wall carpet, which I just crawled over with a high-powered flashlight, literally prying apart the nap to examine. Nothing.

Interestingly, she has gotten several "bites" like this recently, I have been in all the same places, and I have not received a single one. She does not use any skin lotion or any attractant we can identify (no perfume, etc).

She just brushed against the shower curtain five minutes ago, and the one on her pinky "reactivated" and is now itchy again.

We live in a rented condo, have been here for four years, and nothing like this has happened in the past.

We are in upstate New York.

Thing 1 calls it "Umbrella Buggly"

rahnefan — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:16:12 -0800

What is this insect? It's at least two inches long. Or was. It's dead now. It was under my patio parasol. Easy to catch, didn't appear to try to fly.

Ugly from above

Ugly from below

What is this worm inside a flat shell?

crabintheocean — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:47:27 -0800

Google isn't helping me find out what this bug is, mostly because I don't know what on earth to search for! Found in LA, it's a half inch flat greenish grey thing that seems to be a casing or pod, with a tiny red and black worm poking out the end and pulling it along... This bug just showed up on the inside of some white curtains in Los Angeles. It was hanging by the worm part and pulling itself up. The worm section can retreat all the way inside the shell. The shell is very flat, slightly iridescent, and has a tiny hole at both ends.

Here's a video of it doing its thing across a paper towel. The color is off, it's a greenish grey with a black worm with a red head.

Can anyone help me ID? I have it in a jar now, so I can answer questions. What is it, and what is it going to turn into? Is it some kind of larval or pupal stage...

What's this bug I found in my bed?

roomwithaview — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:12:03 -0800

BugFilter: Found a bug on my bed. Legs are in the wrong location on the body for it to be a bedbug, so what is it? Photo here. It is a pretty slow little bugger -- I'd say slower than an ant. It measures about 5mm in length. If there are other details I can provide to aid in identification, please ask. Thanks!

Who do I call for non-electrical issues with my television?

kingjoeshmoe — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:19:23 -0800

Who do I call to fix decidedly non-electrical problems with my projection TV? Do I really need a television repair man? If so, can you recommend one in Los Angeles? Sorry for the ridiculous question, but it's ridiculous enough that I've been avoiding dealing with it because I don't know the answer.

So I have a big projection TV. It has two problems:

1. A very tiny bug has crawled into the television, and there is a spot of (actual size, perfectly outlined) bug-shaped-darkness in the middle of my screen. I think I'd need to disassemble the TV to get to it.

2. There is a streak across the top of the screen that does not wash off. I don't know how it got there, and I can't get rid of it. It annoys me out of all proportion to its size.

Both of these, obviously, have nothing to do with the working of the television itself. One just needs someone to take it apart and grab the bug. The other, at worst, requires a new screen. At best some kind of cleaning I don't know about.

Who do I call for this? It seems like bug and screen washing is not generally what a television repair man does, but it doesn't seem like something anyone else deals with either. If I do need a television repair man, does anyone know someone good in Los Angeles?

What is this insect?

Zinger — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:07:36 -0800

Insect ID please. What is this and any tips about reducing their number?

What kind of insect stung me?

m_lazarus — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:36:38 -0800

InsectBiteFilter. Help! Last Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona I was chilling outside and then some insect stung/bit/injected my neck. It was not a bee/wasp/spider/ant. It was a tannish brown color and I think it had transparent green wings but I can't recall for sure. It was about half an inch long. I tried to just forget about it but each day the sting gets more painful. I just hope there's no brood in my neck. Anyone know what kind of critter this could be? And, yes, I know I should go to the doctor but I wanted some hive-mind reassurance that I'll be fine. Thank you so much! Dang bugs.

The Mystery Insect

Atreides — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:50:25 -0800

Insect Identity Crisis: So I took a picture of what I originally thought was a mosquito on a leaf, but upon closer inspection, realized it was something else all together. After searching AskMe and the rest of the internet (I googled, I swear!), I'm at a loss. It'd probably fit on a dime, for idea of scale, and as you can see from the picture above, has a black spot on each wing. Alas, I seek the wisdom of the Mefi One Mind, please help me with your assistance.

Virus Scan Company That Accepts Submissions?

Quarter Pincher — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:31:59 -0800

Do any of the major virus-scan software sites permit sending in a questionable programs for possible addition to the ongoing alerts? Ultimately, I'm wondering whether the Marie Brighton / Synovate computer survey is safe to take -- they're asking me to install and run this program that sends them details about my machine (system name, machine name, installed devices, various settings, etc). It sounds really hokey. I don't want to just share the program with the world, here, in case it has account-related information along with it already.

Pretty much all the details are here, and requests to see whether I can just check off a manual survey of "do you have this"-style questions merely state that I'd only get the incentive ($20) for running the program. I've saved-as the program, but haven't run it yet. I'm just fine with simply not running it, but there doesn't seem to be any coverage of the subject on the web much at all, and I'm sure someone else would like to know also.

As for the original question -- I'm curious as to whether there's a well-established scanner/etc site out there that accepts user submissions of questionable programs, instead of just checking it with a scan. I'd like vastly superior details on the program, not just a red or a green flag.

Stop Gmail auto-adding to my contacts list?

wastelands — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 08:20:45 -0800

Gmail, can you please stop automatically adding to my contacts list!? How do I get Gmail to stop adding every single person I email -- even one-off crap -- to my contacts list? It bugs me because those addresses show up in the keyboard address completion when I'm adding contacts to a new email. I find myself regularly pruning the All Contacts list. Even stuff that's NOT in any contacts list will auto-complete when I'm typing in the To/CC/BCC fields.

I absolutely love Gmail, but this feature drives me nuts. I've looked through Settings, nothing. I've googled for help, no real luck.

MeFi to the rescue?

zit or is it?

Wroksie — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:25:22 -0800

I'm getting a strange new kind of zit (or is it?) My skin is fairly clear, but when I do get spots, they're the normal kind, small whiteheads and blackheads on my face and occasionally on my upper back. These new spots are like nothing I've ever had, and I'm worried that they might be some kind of bug bites or rash.

They're always on 'soft' parts of my skin - the side of my breast, inside of my thigh, under my arm- but never close to any kind of hair follicles so I don't think they're ingrown hairs or infected hair follicles. They're medium-to-large, sore, itchy, bright red conical bumps with a whitehead in the centre. Gross, huh?

Before you ask - I have been to the doctor. He said they're just normal pimples. They keep coming and coming, though - they're really unsightly, sore as hell, and zit cream just irritates them and makes them more red. I use a gentle exfoliant every day in the shower, and that hasn't seemed to make a difference. Aside from being on soft, relatively hairless skin, there's really no rhyme or reason to where they appear - i.e., sometimes it's a place that's always covered in clothes, sometimes not, sometimes on skin that touches other skin (inside of thighs), sometimes not. I am going back to the doctor soon to insist on a referral to a dermatologist (this is in the UK, so doing this kind of thing through the NHS can take a while) but in the meantime I'd thought I'd see if anyone else has any ideas or has experienced something similar. Spider bites (there are tons of spiders in my house)? Allergic reaction? Evil curse?

What are these desert insects?

metadave — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:25:38 -0800

What are these two (possibly male and female) insects? Here are two pictures of each. These insects are about 4-cm long and are on a Century Plant bloom stem. Anyone have any idea what they are? Thanks for any and all responses.

- Dave

is there a song limit in iTunes?

dylanjames — Wed, 13 May 2009 07:10:03 -0800

Why is my iTunes 8 "capping" my library at about 30,000 songs? My iTunes 8 is acting very much like this description of an old bug in iTunes 4. Clearly Apple thinks this bug is gone, but not for me. I'm guessing the increased the bit-width of some key index value. Hardly a likely regression bug, right?
Before I go supplicate at the Genius bar, "has anyone here had this problem?" Oh, yes, the number of songs...yes, they're all mine. I just boxed up and moved manymany CDs to my basement, and I've belonged to eMusic since they opened. Help! My digital seams are bursting!

Name that bug!

xsquared-1 — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:54:36 -0800

I'm home alone. Except I'm not. Please help me identify my new visitors. Here's the bug in question:
http://flickr.com/gp/xsquared/Q8Hz7P

Saw and killed 1 on Sunday night. Thought it was a fluke. Killed four yesterday. Just killed NINE in my dining room. I'll be calling the exterminator tomorrow. In the meantime, I'd like to know what I'm dealing with.

I'm located in NJ, where we're having unseasonably warm temperatures the last few days (near 90F).

The bugs have wings, but I haven't seen any flying. They are about 1 inch long. Most appear to be dazed and have trouble walking. Some are on their backs. All except one have been found on the 1st floor of my house. The house is about 80 years old. We've lived here 5 years and have never seen them before (but we do have an issue with ladybugs).

My husband thinks they look like they are dying, and there's nothing to worry about. I think they look like they are just waking up from a long winter's nap, and soon they'll be flying around my house.

I'll sleep better knowing what this is.