These shiny-but-bumpy black beetles show up outside a lot during the summer and fall (in the Southern Nevada area, near Las Vegas), and quite a few show up inside my house on the walls or the carpet. When spotted, they seem to freeze, and then, if they get bumped or scared or whatever, they release their grip on the wall and curl their legs up, falling down behind the desk or bookshelf or whatever. They also like to die and dry out and pretend that they’re still alive until you try to scoop them up, at which point they disintegrate into a hundred crunchy pieces of shell.
I included the tab from a 12-ounce can of Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi as a size comparison, since I couldn’t find a ruler or coin.
So, what kind of insect are these? Thanks for any help here!
Sorry - no help, but I do know that there is a website devoted to answering these types of questions. Again, not much help because I don’t know the name of the site, but it does exist. I just saw a reference to it this weekend in the NYT. “What is this bug?” “What is this spider?” Poke around …
Thanks everybody. Definitely looks like some kind of weevil. This page even says:
“But most weevils in nature aren’t ever noticed because the average size is about 5-7mm and many species let themselves drop down when they notice someone coming (which makes photographing them more difficult).”
Exactly the kind of behavior I’ve noticed. So now I wonder what kind of food they’re after around here…
This page shows an extremely similar insect and calls it a “strawberry root weevil.” It mentions that they feed on the roots of, among other things, grape vines. Among other plants, my neighbors (in the same physical building that contains four townhouses) have grape vines growing in their yard, which is right next to our yard and front door. This may be the solution to where they are coming from…
