AboutEd Saugstad Expertise Will accept most questions in general entomology, including those related to medical entomology, taxonomy, ecology, arthropod surveillance, and pest management.
If you are requesting a 'mystery bug' identification, PLEASE either attach an image to your question, or post an image on a web page (such as Flickr) so that I can look at it, as verbal descriptions frequently are insufficient for a definitive identification.
Experience 21 years in the U.S. Army as a medical entomologist; duties varied from surveillance of pest populations (including mosquitoes, cockroaches, ticks, and stored products pests) to conducting research on mosquito-virus ecological relationships and mosquito faunal studies. Ten years as a civilian analyst for the Department of Defense, primarily on distribution of vector-borne diseases worldwide. Limited experience on surveillance of agricultural insects in North Dakota and Indiana.
Organizations Entomological Society of America, West Virginia Entomological Society, Society for Vector Ecology, National Speleological Society, West Virginia Association for Cave Studies.
Publications American Journal of Public Health, Contributions of the American Entomological Institute, Japanese Journal of Sanitary Zoology, Journal of Economic Entomology, Mosquito News, and Mosquito Systematics.
Education/Credentials B.S. in entomology from North Dakota State University in 1963, M.S. in entomology from Purdue University in 1967.
Hi, I live in Alhambra, Ca for a long time, but recently I've seen this annoying insect appear more frequently as days go by. I've seen this insect many times in the house and it's number doesn't seem to be decreasing.I was hopping if you can help my identify it and how to exterminate it.
I tried taking pictures, but it's very blurry since the insect is small, about 1/2 the size of a grain of rice, so I drew a crappy picture with more details than the camera phone can provide.
I'm unsure of it's number of legs but I assume it's 6 or 8. Like many insects, it's attracted to light and I've found many bodies under the lamp. It has a hard shell body and I think it has a shell on top of each wing too. It's not very fast and can easily be caught by the hand. It's body also resembles that of a cockroach. I do not know what it feeds on or where it came from or it's mating spot is or if it has one.
I also found a bunch of tinny dark red balls near a wall so I crushed it with a paper towel and cleaned up the place. I than find a hole near it so I taped it up not sure if it's the source. Next day I see a white color worm like creature in the hole, so I used bug spray on it and re taped the hole. Not sure if it killed the worm or not. I'm not even sure if the worm is even a evolutionary stage for this bug. It is also a very calm and easy to kill insect since it can be crushed by anything without much effort. Hope this is enough information. Again, sorry for the lack of picture but all my cell phone can give me is a oval blur. BTW it's a dark red color insect, shelled and winged in case you forgot.
Thank you for your time and any help you can give.
Answer Dear Jim - Unfortunately, I cannot provide a definitive identification from the information you provided. About all that I can say is that the hard-shelled ones are beetles of some sort, and that whatever else you saw likely is not related in any direct way. The only beetles of concern that small and approximately in the color you describe would cigarette or drugstore beetles in the family Anobiidae - see http://tinyurl.com/dba9uj to see if there is any resemblance to yours. If not, I suggest that you take some specimens to the Los Angeles County office of the University of California's Cooperative Extension service - see http://tinyurl.com/nwc6sl for contact information. Someone there should be able either to assist in identification, or could forward the specimens to the appropriate university office.
Hope this helps,
Saugy
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