# Can you ID this insect for me, please? (Hopefully not a bedbug) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2022, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005 "2022-08-03T07:15:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/1 "2022-08-03T07:15:15Z")
I was lying awake last night and felt something crawling on my skin. I caught the insect and took pictures of it, one of which can be found [here](http://andreaswitte.com/images/insect.jpg) (JPG file). For scale, I placed a one cent coin of the euro next to it; those have a diameter of 16.25 mm (about 0.64 inches), i.e., they’re a bit smaller than the American pennies. What insect would this be? My fear is that it could be a bedbug, with [all the ghastly consequences this could have](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bedbugs-best-way-to-get-rid-of-them/917599). It doesn’t look to me too similar to the photos of bedbugs I have googled, but I’m certainly no expert. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/2 "2022-08-03T07:42:38Z")
It’s a weevil of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/3 "2022-08-03T07:53:01Z")
Yeah, a nut weevil I would say. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/4 "2022-08-03T08:43:05Z")
Thanks a lot! That’s a relief. I guess it’s then not something that would be nesting in my home but simply got in from the outside. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/5 "2022-08-03T09:00:07Z")
Does it have a smaller companion? If so, get rid of the larger one, because in life one must always choose… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/6 "2022-08-03T13:34:01Z")
It am a little black bug, jes’ a-lookin’ for a place to stay. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/7 "2022-08-03T13:44:32Z")
Also looking for it’s missing leg. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/8 "2022-08-03T14:01:46Z")
Luckily it’s not a [Brown Marmorated Stink Bug](https://bainpestcontrol.com/pests/stink-bugs/#:~:text=The%20Stink%20Bug%20most%20common,glands%20it%20uses%20when%20threatened.). Where are you located? The picture resembles a common beetle here in southern New England, not destructive I think. I can’t recall the name and there are plenty of similar looking bugs but with your general location it may be easier to identify. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/9 "2022-08-03T14:19:47Z")
My “Seek” app says Curculio glandium for what it is worth. > **[Curculio glandium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curculio_glandium)** > > Curculio glandium is a species of European carpophagus weevil in the genus Curculio, the acorn and nut weevils. It eats by a rostrum, an elongated snout, that is used for piercing. > > Curculio glandium is a member of the genus Curculio, which comprises seed beetles. All members of Curculio have characteristically long rostrums and ovipositors, an adaptation that specifically developed by their reliance on seeds for food and reproduction. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/10 "2022-08-03T14:37:26Z")
That probably got lost when I captured the little fellow. I didn’t intentionally hurt it, but I did grab it with my fingers in the middle of the night in a dark bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/11 "2022-08-03T14:38:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Where are you located? Central Europe (Germany). ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/12 "2022-08-03T14:50:56Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Luckily it’s not a [Brown Marmorated Stink Bug](https://bainpestcontrol.com/pests/stink-bugs/#:~:text=The%20Stink%20Bug%20most%20common,glands%20it%20uses%20when%20threatened.). But if you do have them, make lemonade out of lemons! Especially if you are out of fresh cilantro. > **[Jumiles (Stink Bug) Salsa](http://cannundrum.blogspot.com/2018/03/jumiles-stink-bug-salsa.html)** > > Jumiles are stink bugs in the Taxco region of Mexico, Guerrero State, that are collected to be eaten. They are eaten raw (whole or ground)... ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/13 "2022-08-03T14:56:09Z")
It may be harmless, but I’d prefer not to have an insect with “an elongated snout, that is used for piercing” crawling on me in the dark. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/14 "2022-08-03T15:02:54Z")
@Schnitte is perfectly safe as long as they’re not a nut. 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/15 "2022-08-03T16:26:46Z")
Sometimes you feel like a nut Sometimes you don’t ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/16 "2022-08-03T16:39:30Z")
I don’t know weevils, but I can say with 100% confidence that it’s not a bedbug. ---
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/17 "2022-08-03T18:17:57Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Does it have a smaller companion? If so, get rid of the larger one, because in life one must always choose… I just want to acknowledge this great joke! ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/18 "2022-08-03T18:22:50Z")
> [@Saffer](#): > > I just want to acknowledge this great joke!.. Yes. I was too lazy to reply before. But I longed for a ‘like’ button. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/19 "2022-08-03T18:25:06Z")
Very good. The subtle approach worked well. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005/20 "2022-08-03T19:17:14Z")
I’m thinking that what you may have is a [woggle-bug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woggle-Bug). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-id-this-insect-for-me-please-hopefully-not-a-bedbug/969005.md?page=2)