What is this bug?
September 22, 2014 7:58 PM Subscribe
A friend just returned from a trip and found about 15 of these bugs squatting in his Maryland apartment (mostly in the bedroom). Each bug is roughly 1/2" long and 1/4" wide. He's pretty sure they're not bedbugs because their abdomens don't appear to be the right shape, but what are they? Any ideas?
Bedbugs aren't that large and they don't have whip antennae.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:12 PM on September 22, 2014
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:12 PM on September 22, 2014
Response by poster: Wow, y'all are amazingly fast! (And, from a quick Google image search, accurate, too!) Thank you!
posted by unhappyprofessor at 8:49 PM on September 22, 2014
posted by unhappyprofessor at 8:49 PM on September 22, 2014
Just as a side note, this isn't the end of the world. Roaches are mostly harmless unless you have an allergy to them. Most are also fairly easy to control if you are able to (basically clean the hell out of everything and put your food in sealed containers).
Stop killing spiders in your house, and stop killing the crazy long legged millipedes or whatever they are called. Both these bugs eat all the bugs you really don't want (like these roaches).
posted by cjorgensen at 6:53 AM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Stop killing spiders in your house, and stop killing the crazy long legged millipedes or whatever they are called. Both these bugs eat all the bugs you really don't want (like these roaches).
posted by cjorgensen at 6:53 AM on September 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
crazy long legged millipedes
House centipedes. I too have made peace with them. Haven't seen a roach in ages.
posted by capricorn at 7:20 AM on September 23, 2014
House centipedes. I too have made peace with them. Haven't seen a roach in ages.
posted by capricorn at 7:20 AM on September 23, 2014
basically clean the hell out of everything and put your food in sealed containers
Roaches are often more interested in your water than your food, and if he's never seen them before they might have hitched a ride in with something (they like corrugated cardboard for laying eggs, so maybe a shipping box) or come from another apartment. If he throws away any recent packaging laying around, has a good vacuum, and then maybe sprays around the perimeters (include the openings around plumbing under sinks too) with roach spray, it should discourage just about all the usual roach vectors.
But if he is new to this apartment, this may be a traditional Fall situation as sprinklers are shut off on the local landscaping and they come looking for a warmer, wetter place to overwinter.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:32 AM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Roaches are often more interested in your water than your food, and if he's never seen them before they might have hitched a ride in with something (they like corrugated cardboard for laying eggs, so maybe a shipping box) or come from another apartment. If he throws away any recent packaging laying around, has a good vacuum, and then maybe sprays around the perimeters (include the openings around plumbing under sinks too) with roach spray, it should discourage just about all the usual roach vectors.
But if he is new to this apartment, this may be a traditional Fall situation as sprinklers are shut off on the local landscaping and they come looking for a warmer, wetter place to overwinter.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:32 AM on September 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Under the stove is usually their fortress. Years of grease and spills that were too much trouble to clean out make it homy for them. Be careful moving stoves. They're heavy and can rip linoleum. Moving gas stoves requires extra care, because of the gas line.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:53 AM on September 23, 2014
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:53 AM on September 23, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by scruss at 8:02 PM on September 22, 2014 [9 favorites]