CLOSED: Need help identifying possible bed bug

Watch Reply

Mark unread Print Skip to new

failbug Ann Arbor, MI Oct 18, 2008

A bit crushed but still intact. Please help!

Post #5686154

Quote

suunto Sinks Grove, WV Oct 18, 2008

It's a true bug (Hemiptera; suborder Heteroptera), but definitely not a bed bug (Cimex spp.); these are much smaller than your specimen - see http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef636.asp for more information on bed bugs.

Post #5686271

Quote

evgardener New York, NY Oct 18, 2008

I agree with suunto regarding size... but i can't help but notice the resemblance to the bed bugs I've seen in the news media. Granted, there is no sense of scale but the segments of the bed bugs look very similar.
http://www.mybugbites.com/bed-bugs-bites-fox-news/

I'll be curious to know what this is one way or another.

Post #5686784

Quote

suunto Sinks Grove, WV Oct 18, 2008

A. Compare the head of this bug with that of a genuine bed bug at http://www.preston.gov.uk/Images/General/Environmental%20Health/bed%20bug%20pic.jpg, paying attention to the eyes and antennae.
B. The quarter provides plenty of scale.
C. Bottom line: There is no way that this is a bed bug.

Post #5686978

Quote

failbug Ann Arbor, MI Oct 19, 2008

Can anyone help me figure out exactly what this is now that being a bed bug is ruled out?

Post #5689693

Quote

suunto Sinks Grove, WV Oct 19, 2008

It is too damaged for a definitive i.d. except by someone with more expertise in this group of insects than I have. If it was found indoors, it might be a leaf-footed bug (family Coreidae); at least one species in this family, Leptoglossus occidentalis, often enters dwellings in the autumn. See http://farm1.static.flickr.com/81/254783946_a5f2db4048.jpg?v=0 for an image.

Post #5690749

Quote

Malus2006 Coon Rapids, MN(Zone 4a) Nov 02, 2008

suunto, your link didn't work.

Post #5743226

Quote

suunto Sinks Grove, WV Nov 02, 2008

That's odd - I just tried it and it worked fine. If you still can't open it, simply Google the name "Leptoglossus occidentalis"

Post #5743352

Quote

Malus2006 Coon Rapids, MN(Zone 4a) Nov 02, 2008

I found it! When I tried before to open your link it said 404 error - oh well maybe it's just my computer.