Here is the situation. My bathroom has been invaded by bugs that I do not recognize. I know that they are not ants, cockroaches, or ladybugs. I don’t really know other bugs (because I failed 7th grade insect collecting/identification which was the only F I ever received and totally traumatized me because I was convinced it would ruin my life and I’d never get into medical school etc…but that’s another story).
Anyway, these bugs are dark gray, comma-shaped, about 4-8mm long, sluglike and live behind the tile in my bathroom. They don’t seem to mind the light. I only see one or two at a time. If you try to catch them they scurry back through the cracks in the tile. If you squish them, they leave a gray smear.
Anybody know what they are? More important, anybody know how to kill them?
Boy would a picture really come in handy right about now. Are they insects (segmented bodies, antennae, hard outsides) or slugs (ummm, soft and sluggy)? Try the Bug Guide.
I think I still need more details, or perhaps a picture. Do they have visible antennae? Filaments at the back end? Visible wings? I assume from your term “sluglike” that their legs are relatively inconspicuous. Do they run or jump?
DudleyGarrett’s suggestion of silverfish is a reasonable one. There are a number of different species of silverfish, as well as similar-appearing relatives such as jumping bristletails. Try this link and see if any of the images look right to you.
So they’re worm-like? Skinny? Do they curl up when you touch them? Sorta making a circle?
I see a few of those in my basement, usually around the drain. I just pick them up with a tissue and flush them. I refuse to believe that there’s a colony of them hiding somewhere. ::shudder::
That bug is Howard J. Smeatherston, and you may send next-of-kin notification (I assume that’s why you want its ID) to its family at: 486 Third Tile In, Second One Up, Your Bathroom.
From your description, I wonder if they’re larvae of some sort. You could be describing any number of fly maggots, beetle grubs, or sawfly larvae. For instance, they might be fungus gnat maggots feeding on organic material under your tile.
Does the image posted with question #251 on this site look like your critter?
By “gray smear,” do you mean something gooey? If so, I don’t know what the bugs are.
But if you mean something more like gray dust, then I definitely think they’re silverfish. I get them in my bathroom, too. Look a little closer, though - they have antennae, I’m pretty sure.
You could also check What’s that Bug? It’s a great insect identification site (which I learned about here on the SDMB). Have we definitively concluded that they are not some form of silverfish?
I don’t know what they are but I believe I’ve seen the same thing in my bathroom a couple of times. I would describe them as teardrop shaped, with the larger end being the head. There are no feelers or protuberances at all, which rules out silverfish, but they do seem to have feathery scales like silverfish, which do leave a smear if squished. The ones I’ve seen are only an eighth of an inch or so long. The body is very flexible, curving as the bug turns. What legs they have are short and not visible from above, yet they are pretty quick on their feet. Not cockroach quick but quick nonetheless.
Their shape and the way they curve as they turn always makes me think of some kind of creature in a Sci-Fi movie. Usually nothing good happens when those kinds of creatures show up. Let’s hope these bugs don’t watch Sci-Fi and get ideas.
