Eeeeeyyyyyyaaaak! Waterbug?! Insect people with info appreciated

In My Humble Opinion
1

So I hear a ruckus amongst the felines in the house about a week ago. I got out of bed an hour early to find out what was going on. Two of them are outside the bathroom, attention on something on the floor. To my dismay, it was a HUGE bug of some kind. My first thought was, “what kind of beetle could that be? It’s so big!” They batted it under a baseboard and it didn’t come back out. Well, I had gotten out of bed, so now I needed to pee. Got done with that and still no bug. I grabbed a cat toy that’s got a stick on one end, and used the stick to sweep under the baseboard.

Something like “hhhheeeeeeee” came out of my mouth. An inch long, sort of segmented, brownish-black, no wings, not a beetle, what the hell? I smooshed it with a paper towel over it, and it made a big splotch. Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew.

I might look at the same insect outside with mild interest, and let it go on its way. Not inside my home. No way. Then I looked it up. The nice word for it is “waterbug,” the real word for it is Oriental Cockroach. That “hhhheeeeeeee” sound came out of my mouth again.

Forward to yesterday. Got home from a grueling day doing relief work, I was sore, hungry, and grumpy. Had picked up groceries on the way home and set them on the table to put away. Went to open windows, and glimpsed something lying feet-up under the kitchen table. ANOTHER ONE! AAAAAAAHHHHH! At least it was dead.

So, the questions. Are these really an “infestation” problem in Chicago? From what I can tell, they’re mostly outdoors unless there’s something indoors drawing them in. My lovely neighbors like to leave things they don’t want to clean right away on the porch. Sometimes old produce, or trimmings from produce, and sometimes pots and pans with failed cooking experiments are out there for a couple of days before someone gets around to cleaning it. I know. I’ve complained to the bldg. mgmt., and they did clean up stuff that had been sitting all winter, but now stuff still sits a day or two.

What I’m thinking is that these insects are attracted to rotting stuff, therefore attracted to what’s on the porch, and are incidentally wandering under my back door (which isn’t sealed well on the bottom - gonna get that fixed!). I have diatomaceous earth spread around the walls in the kitchen, including under the door, and I think they’re walking over that which is making them sick and easier to catch for the cats, though my reading has mentioned these things are slower than the smaller German ones, so maybe not.

The kicker is, I’m on the 4th floor. So it makes me wonder if these things are a problem in the building, and not just an incidental happenstance related to my sloppy neighbors. From reading about them, they’re not usually this high up. I’ve lived here for a year, and never seen them before. Centipedes, yes, but those don’t bother me nearly as much - they eat the spiders.

Anyone have any info on these? There’s really not much coming up on Google, most of it is copied from the very short Wiki article. Should I let bldg. mgmt. know I found 2 of these within a week in my apartment? Should I worry I’ll keep finding them? It squicks me out to think I might find one in the kitchen sink cabinets, and then I’ll need to wash everything in there.

Ack.

2

I just live with the occasional one and the cat has a free toy. There was a huge beetle in our house last night that he played with for a good 20 minutes, because it took the entire episode of a show I was watching on Netflix for him to kill it and get bored with it.

ETA: To the actual problem, boric acid has worked well for me in the past. They always seem to come out in the summer here (old house, dumpstered food, often open doors), and kitty manages to leave it alone. Most of it is in places that he doesn’t go anyway (behind stove, under counters, etc).

3

That’s not a true waterbug, cockroaches are just sometimes called that. If you keep seeing them, you might need to call someone.

4

I’ve never heard that term “water bug,” but if I knew one was on my floor and only a cockroach, I’d be relieved.

Here is a typical “water” water bug.

Now with a hundred eggs.

Shudder

5

So…why are they’re sometimes called that? Do they end up in the water like this bug, or is it some sort of weirdly polite euphemism?

6

It’s mostly euphemism. They apparently are found in areas with a lot of moisture, though, around drains, leaf piles, rotting produce, basements. My reading indicated they tend to be ground level dwellers, which is why I was a little more concerned being that I’m on the 4h floor.

7

Heh, great username/post combo. :smiley:

I once catptured a giant water bug in norther Quebec - I was never bitten by it, for which I’m grateful. According to wikipedia:

“Their bite is considered one of the most painful that can be inflicted by any insect (the Schmidt Sting Pain Index excludes insects other than Hymenoptera); the longer the bug is allowed to inject its saliva, the worse the resulting bite, and as the saliva liquefies muscle tissue, it can in rare instances do permanent damage.”

Ug.

Here’s pics of the bugs eating turtles and snakes. Bugs should not be able to do that …

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13500857

8

I’ve never seen a Chinese Cockroach in my years in Chicago, but have seen plenty of plain ol’ American Cockroaches - without “segmentation”.

Yeah, call your landlord if they’re bugging (hah!) you. Or if you want to go DIY, Maxforceis really good stuff. The problem is, living in a multi-unit building, you can’t really get rid of them unless all the units are treated.

Keep things as dry as possible. Apparently they can live weeks without food (and will happily munch on their nestmates’ dead bodies, and some may consider things like sawdust and drywall “food”, so you just can’t starve 'em out) but not so long without water. Unfortunately, there’s always water, always, so the best you can do short of killing them is to keep your living area dry, forcing them to go for the water condensing on the pipes in your walls, instead of in the bottom of your sink or spilled on your tables.

If you’ve seen two, there are probably 2000 in the walls. Sleep tight. :wink:

9

Too bad WotNot’s last post was not yours. All the talk about starving them out is a bit Malthusian.

And for the record, Cthulhu is a bit squicked out by water bugs.

To continue a hijack, insects also snack upon birds.

10

Slight hijack (or technicality): I think the Chicago area is home to mostly German cockroaches. The American cockroach is also known as a palmetto bug and is much larger than those common to Chicago.

11

I’ve never had the exteme displeasure of seeing one and the only time I’ve ever heard of them is from my parents, who grew up in CHICAGO. I think others have probably covered it but I agree they are most definitely not german cockroaches (the smaller ones you tend to associate with filth / food lying around)nor do they sound like American (Palmettos). I think the answer is in keeping things dry as possible and absolutely contacting your landlord.

12

Yep, the two I found were definitely this one. And both female.

Thanks for your posts, all. I feel sooo much better!

(uhh… not) :eek:

I also checked under my back door in earnest, and there really is a decent gap there. I did some googling on how to place weather stripping since I’ve never done that, and found a vid that demonstrates how to adjust the sill on newer doors. I looked, and hey! There’s a sill under my back door. I’ll be adjusting it for a tight seal tomorrow. I’m really hoping they just came in from outside, since neither was near sinks or water sources or trash.

13

Dunno. Wikipedia says German cockroaches are generally 1.3 cm (0.51 in) to 1.6 cm (0.63 in) long (although they may be bigger), but most of the adult ones I see here are around an inch to even an inch and a half. We had a BAD infestation at our last place. Ick.

14

Sounds like damp bug would have been more apt, but then they’d have to compete with centipedes and sow bugs.

15

I used to get them in my house in SC. For a long time, I thought they came in on something I carried in from outside, or under a door, or what not. They were always single, but I’d see them most often in one or two areas.

In the end, I found they were coming up the drains in the bathrooms if the sink (back bathroom) or tub (front bathroom) traps ever dried out from lack of use. Running water at least once a week stopped them from showing up. I still have a habit though of putting an inverted cup over drains that don’t get a lot of use in the house, and haven’t seen them since.

16

I don’t know why I always feel compelled to point this out, but American cockroaches and palmetto bugs are not the same thing (although effectively they are, since We In The Know seem to shrink in number every day). See here for the difference, and join our hallowed ranks.

Incidentally, true water bugs (the things with the faux legs on their heads) are pretty difficult to kill with quick-acting poison such as Raid. They seem to just shake the stuff off and carry on being gross.