# Creepy Insect Found! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573 "2004-07-11T16:25:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/1 "2004-07-11T16:25:49Z")
See this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264749) that I started detailing my harrowing experience with a strange insect. Well, I found it. Looks like it crawled out from under the couch in its last moments. I Felt kind of sorry for it despite its grossness. I made scans of it. On closer inspection it is unlike the stonefly picture that I linked to in the first thread. It is much shorter. It has also shrivelled up a good deal now. The wings are quite dark so it looks like a beetle when not flying, but if you look at its underside you can see it has a tapered waist. It also seems to have some kind of mouthparts for sucking nectar or what have you. [Here](http://tuscaroras.com/users/mahekun/Temp.html) Are the back and front scans of the beastie. Can anyone ID this thing? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/2 "2004-07-11T16:35:49Z")
Its some kind of Assassin Bug (Reduviidae). I’ll see if I can find the species. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/3 "2004-07-11T16:38:29Z")
Perhaps [a dentate stink beetle?](http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesGS.asp?sort=1&curGroupID=99&display=1&area=99&searchText=beetles&curPageNum=23&recnum=IS0176) Or [a spotted tiger beetle?](http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesGS.asp?sort=1&curGroupID=99&display=1&area=99&searchText=beetles&curPageNum=2&recnum=IS0247) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/4 "2004-07-11T16:40:41Z")
I suspect its a [Black Corsair](http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~sjtaylor/Melanolestes.gif) _Melanolestes picipes_ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/5 "2004-07-11T16:42:35Z")
> [@barbitu8](#): > > Perhaps [a dentate stink beetle?](http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesGS.asp?sort=1&curGroupID=99&display=1&area=99&searchText=beetles&curPageNum=23&recnum=IS0176) > > Or [a spotted tiger beetle?](http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesGS.asp?sort=1&curGroupID=99&display=1&area=99&searchText=beetles&curPageNum=2&recnum=IS0247) It’s definitely not a beetle. The sucking mouthparts and the wing structure indicate it is a '“true bug” of the Order Hemiptera. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/6 "2004-07-11T16:44:51Z")
No, it’s definitely not a beetle. It looks like it has a shell because of the width of the thorax and darkness and shape of the wings. But it has no shell and didn’t when it was alive either. If you look closely at the scan of it upside-down, it has a wasplike body. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/7 "2004-07-11T16:48:01Z")
**Colibri** , the body itself looks similar to the Black Corsair. But on mine the wings are a dark grey colour, almost black, which lends to the appearance of a shell. Mine doesn’t have the red markings that the Corsair looks to have. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/8 "2004-07-11T16:54:05Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > **Colibri** , the body itself looks similar to the Black Corsair. But on mine the wings are a dark grey colour, almost black, which lends to the appearance of a shell. Mine doesn’t have the red markings that the Corsair looks to have. There are two species, The one in the photo I think is actually _Melanolestes abdominalis_, which differs from _M. picipes_ in having red on the wings, whereas the latter is entirely blackish. However, the website I found the photo on indicates the two forms are probably the same species. [More on Assassin Bugs](http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2082.html) > [@](#): > > Assassin bugs, sometimes known as conenoses or “kissing bugs,” are occasionally found in the home (bathtubs, sinks, drains, etc.) and, if handled carelessly, can inflict a very painful bite, causing a severe reaction in some persons. Some are attracted to lights and require blood meals to complete their development. Many are bloodsucking parasites of mammals, including humans. Others are predators, feeding on bed bugs, flies, caterpillars and other insects. Most are found in late June to early August. These bugs have a long narrow head, short beak (three-segmented), long slender antennae (four-segmented) and an abdomen often widened at the middle exposing the margins of the segments beyond the wings. > > . . . > > Black Corsair > > Adults are black and 9/16 to 11/16 inch long. They resemble the masked hunter except have short wings. Adults overwinter under stones and are collected in early spring. Bites are painful to humans. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/9 "2004-07-11T16:57:49Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > which differs from _M. picipes_ in having red on the wings, Sorry, the red is actually on the sides of the abdomen, not on the wings. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/10 "2004-07-11T16:58:05Z")
Ok, I’ve managed to separate the wings and uploaded the pic to my link. It has 2 dark wings overlapping 2 transparent wings underneath. The abdomen is quite flat now but in life it was plumper and rounder. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/11 "2004-07-11T17:03:58Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > There are two species, The one in the photo I think is actually _Melanolestes abdominalis_, which differs from _M. picipes_ in having red on the wings, whereas the latter is entirely blackish. However, the website I found the photo on indicates the two forms are probably the same species. > > [More on Assassin Bugs](http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2082.html) Hey-yy, those pics are looking more like my guy. Maybe _that’s_ what’s been biting me at night!! See this [link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264468) . ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/12 "2004-07-11T17:06:29Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > Ok, I’ve managed to separate the wings and uploaded the pic to my link. It has 2 dark wings overlapping 2 transparent wings underneath. The abdomen is quite flat now but in life it was plumper and rounder. Yes, this indicates the typical wing structure of the Hemiptera, which means “half wing.” Note that the front part of the forewings is thick and stiffened, while the rear part is more membranous. In contrast, in other groups where the forewings are thickened, they are more uniform, as in the Orthoptera (grasshoppers, etc, where they are leathery) or Coleoptera (beetles, where they are hard). Hemiptera also are characterized by sucking mouthparts. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/13 "2004-07-11T17:16:43Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > Hey-yy, those pics are looking more like my guy. Maybe > _that’s_ what’s been biting me at night!! See this [link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264468) . Could well be - [Assassin Bugs](http://www.qmuseum.qld.gov.au/inquiry/leaflets/leaflet0037.pdf) > [@](#): > > Bites by Assassin Bugs > > Although most assassin bugs are slow-moving and non-aggressive,they will use their rostrum in self-defence if handled carelessly. Such bites may be extremely painful to humans because the bugs inject the same salivary secretion used to dissolve the tissues of their prey. This results in the death of a small area of cells at the site of the bite. The symptoms are an intense burning sensation, often followed by a small, itchy lump that may persist for several days. However, no true toxin is involved so it is rare for the reaction to last long or to extend beyond the site of the bite. Some bites occur when the bugs are purposely handled out of curiosity, but most happen through accidental contact while gardening or working > in the open. Some species fly and may be attracted by lights of houses at night and bites may occur indoors when such bugs seek shelter in clothing, bedding, shoes, etc. The sharp pain associated with assassin bug bites is usually enhanced by the surprise accompanying the experience. ---
**Author:** ![BrianJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/54ee81/32.png) [@BrianJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrianJ)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/14 "2004-07-11T19:11:14Z")
I started to read this thread and the links, and my first thought was “I hope that bug doesn’t live near me”, but then I noticed you live in Ontario! :eek: (Ottawa here) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creepy-insect-found/254573/15 "2004-07-12T13:14:12Z")
> [@BrianJ3](#): > > I started to read this thread and the links, and my first thought was “I hope that bug doesn’t live near me”, but then I noticed you live in Ontario! :eek: > > (Ottawa here) 🙂 Don’t worry. It’s the first time I ever saw one. I have no idea how common they are here, but at least _mine_ can’t get you, if that’s any consolation… 🙂