I just had to go down to the basement to do some laundry. It’s not a finished basement. When I was little, it gave me the creeps. It’s a creepy basement that floods whenever it rains. And there are mice, sometimes.
Right now, there’s an enormous beetle. It’s cruising around on the little carpeted area that I use as a workout area, but our ironing board is there, too. And I’m not joking when I say it’s huge. It’s looked about three inches long, but I was’t going to measure, because it looked evil. All sleek and black and bulbous, like a badguy’s getaway car in a science fiction movie. Only with wiggly little legs.
It creeped me out, and that’s why I’m wearing a wrinkly shirt today.
Any suggestions as to getting rid of it? I’m not going to smoosh something that big. Messy messy messy.
If you’re dealing with a ground beetle, I suggest you befriend it. No, seriously: they’re very useful in getting rid of ants, termites and spiders. In my naturestudy-days, we used to catch them in little plastic coffecups we dug in the sand, and study them (and yes, we released them afterwards). These beetles run around all day and night to catch insects. If you compare the predators of the insect-world to mammals, these beetles have the method and stamina of solitary hunting wolves.
Once you’ve have worked up the nerve to look at them up close, they are quite beautiful and interesting. Ground beetles are completely harmless to humans, although the beetles we caught tried to defend themselves by producing a slightly foulsmelling fluid in their observation-jars, but that didn’t deter us at all. The largest Dutch ones were 2 inches and I have no doubt they get bigger in warmer countries.
Beetles are good bugs, with the exception of those Tokyo varieties. Scoop him up and put him outside where he can do his benevolent insecty thing. I too would have qualms about squishing something that big anyway. Back in the day, I hated even squishing 1/2 inch cockroaches, though I seriously wanted them dead.
[QUOTE=Maastricht]
Couldn’t it be a groundbeetle? Like [URL=http://www.habitas.org.uk/groundbeetles/7134_p.html]this pretty one? QUOTE]
THAT is the general reason why I will NEVER be on Fear Factor. I could never stand to eat something like that. The legs…and the crunchy shell and…shudders
Yuk. I hate bugs. I had an enormous beetle in my bathroom last week. It was about as big as my thumb and it was walking. I just freaked until Mr. K evicted it.
Bosda, it’s definitely the second one. Big and evil and bloodthirsty, of course. And I’ve been busy battling it, which explains my lack of responses.
Okay. Actually, a friend called me and told me they were having an awesome sale at a store so we went shopping. But I just went and visited and it’s still chilling down there, now by the workbench. And indeed, it does look like the aforementioned Ground Beetle.
Can they fly? Because now that I’m pretty sure it’s not going to go evil and bloodsucky, I’m going to try to get it into a cup or something and let him outside. But if something that size takes off flying about the house, I’m freaking out.
Alternately, I’m just gonna name him Gregor and keep him around and possibly - if he upsets me - throw an apple at him.
All beetles can fly, in theory, but they pretty much choose a lifestyle (either flying, walking, burrowing of swimming), or any combination thereof and stick to it. Groundbeetles are pretty specialized in walking. Based on my experience, I’d say it takes more then putting it in a cup to have it take to air.
The site I linked to says “Most individuals have reduced hind wings, but in some they are fully developed”.
If you want to know more, I suggest you do some research on your new housemate Gregor.
Groundbeetles are a favourite subject of many entomologists, so there’s a lot of info on them. I’ve found that it is virtually psychologically impossible to study something enhusiastically and yet remain afraid or grossed out by it. That will come in handy if you run into any more beetles in your basement.
That beetle ain’t nothing. You should have seen the HUGE spider I found last night in a bread pan in my kitchen. :eek: Bigger than a half-dollar, very hairy, looked just like a mini-tarantula. I think it was a wolf spider. I let him go out back. I was not happy.
