# Please help me ID this bug (pic included) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 12, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-id-this-bug-pic-included/546418 "2010-07-12T17:04:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-id-this-bug-pic-included/546418/1 "2010-07-12T17:04:44Z")
Found in my friend’s home on Long Island, NY [http://drop.io/q6km5rb/asset/image-png-2](http://drop.io/q6km5rb/asset/image-png-2) Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-id-this-bug-pic-included/546418/2 "2010-07-12T17:23:50Z")
Looks like a bug in your camera software to me. Although it’s out-of-focus, offhand I’d guess some kind of [earwig](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwig). ---
**Author:** ![moldybread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@moldybread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldybread)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-id-this-bug-pic-included/546418/3 "2010-07-12T17:29:59Z")
That looks like a [Two-pronged Bristletails (Diplura)](http://bugguide.net/node/view/32981/bgpage) To blurry to get a better identity ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-id-this-bug-pic-included/546418/4 "2010-07-12T17:34:09Z")
Well, there’s no easy cue for scale in the photo – how big was this bug? The bristletails are quite small, 2 to 5 mm in length, and always pale (unpigmented). The bug in that picture doesn’t look unpigmented to me. ---
**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 12, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-id-this-bug-pic-included/546418/5 "2010-07-12T17:37:05Z")
> [@moldybread](#): > > That looks like a [Two-pronged Bristletails (Diplura)](http://bugguide.net/node/view/32981/bgpage) > > To blurry to get a better identity Too dark to be a dipluran (which are mostly unpigmented). They are also very small, and typically live in leaf litter rather than houses. Seems to me earwig is the best guess. Rove beetle is another possibility, but I haven’t found any pictures that show any species with such long “tails” (cerci) at the end of the abdomen. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-id-this-bug-pic-included/546418/6 "2010-07-12T17:44:16Z")
[quote=“Sailboat, post:2, topic:546418”] Looks like a bug in your camera software to me./QUOTE] LOL. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-id-this-bug-pic-included/546418/7 "2010-07-12T17:47:48Z")
My vote is for [silverfish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish). Quite common in houses, especially bathroom/laundry areas. ---
**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 12, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-id-this-bug-pic-included/546418/8 "2010-07-12T17:52:45Z")
> [@davekhps](#): > > My vote is for [silverfish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish). Quite common in houses, especially bathroom/laundry areas. I don’t think so. Silverfish almost always have a tapering abdomen; the abdomen of the insect in the photo is rather bulbous. Also, a silverfish would normally show three “tails,” not two. ---
**Author:** ![moldybread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@moldybread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldybread)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-id-this-bug-pic-included/546418/9 "2010-07-12T17:56:30Z")
As Colibri mentioned maybe rove beetle. [Here](http://bugguide.net/node/view/268069) is the closest I could find ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-id-this-bug-pic-included/546418/10 "2010-07-12T18:00:06Z")
My vote for rove beetle as well (although that pic is pure shite - try to get something clearer!) - its blurry as all hell, but I think I can see the short elytra.