# What are these??



## noahweb (Feb 11, 2010)

let me call my x-girlfriend and ask her what the name was. looks familiar


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## wrangler (Oct 9, 2008)

I'm not an entomologist, but that looks alot like a tick. There are so many types it is hard to tell for sure.


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## tpolk (Nov 7, 2009)

are you in va?


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

First. I must say, I was slightly horrified when I saw there were pics associated with this thread, horrified and enthralled.

Second. It looks like a beetle to me, right now my attic is crawling with them and I could see one ending up in bed. (they apparently hibernate inside and in the spring swarm while they're making their way out...)

UGGGGHHHH!


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

no, not a tick. It is a beetle of some sort.


from what I can tell, it looks a lot like this guy:

http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Varied-Carpet-Beetle


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## ovahimba (Dec 25, 2007)

That looks like a dermestid beetle or carpet beetle. They are enemy number one in natural history museums where they have stuffed animals and other dried specimens. Without chemical protection the larvae will eat up collections. Around the house they are harmless.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Call a licensed exterminator. A good one can get rid of the bugs and the girlfriend at the same time. 

Or rush to a box/home improvement store and spend a fortune on insecticides that will not work even though they have very pretty bottles.

Could you please click on your username and update very basic geographic info so we know where you are?


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## tpolk (Nov 7, 2009)

the virginia forrestry dept in its infinet or not wisdom years ago unleashed a ladybug look alike to rid us of the gypsy moth infestation that was defoliating our forests. now we have these bugs in the millions. at our house every year late fall they swarm, you cannot keep them out. remuddling here i opened a wall in winter and every stud pocket was packed full. they are still coming out during the warm part of the day thru the windows. in your hair while you sleep, bite if inyour bed while you sleep, and they apparently are attracted to light colored siding. our neighbor has a dark siding vs our off white and they have almost no problem. next house after them light colored and over run. lowes has a spray that is somewhat effective but will not completely stop them, and of course you need to spray all around windows and doors so clean up gets tacked on. thanks va forrestry, what next to get rid of them


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## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

Yup! We got dem same little bugs down here. As they look so much like various other "Ladybug's", we just call them "Ladybugs". I find most of the concentrations behind vinyl siding. I was always taught they would eat those little white aphids from underneath tree/shrub leaves. Actually--I've not seen them do any harm other than be obnoxious. David


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

Thurman said:


> Yup! We got dem same little bugs down here. As they look so much like various other "Ladybug's", we just call them "Ladybugs". I find most of the concentrations behind vinyl siding. I was always taught they would eat those little white aphids from underneath tree/shrub leaves. Actually--I've not seen them do any harm other than be obnoxious. David


those are the real ladybugs that eat the aphids. and the good old American ladybugs don't infest your house either but the asian ladybugs do.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

The asian ones that hit Central Illinois for a few years by the millions were introduced to help with insect populations in pecan orchards in the South. They migrated and fell in love with soybeans and the farmers loved them. They had some sort of disease that caused them to die out over generations but they did real damage to the friendly ladybug populations we all grew up to love. And the Asian ones bite and stink like crazy when you wack them with a shoe. I happen to be violently allergic to the suckers. As mentioned they did pack themselves around window frames in the Fall, especially during harvest season. Box store insectisides will not work well for anything. Vacuuming and trash bagging them worked as well as anything for me.

I think I saw something about exterminators using some sort of cryogenic stuff for household beetle things. I think it was liquid nitrogen?


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## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

"sdsester"--My dear Suh, could you possibly be implying that us'ns in Beloved Dixie, with our many thousands of acres of fine Pecan Orchards, would have dare'st to import a varmint which even might turn and proceed North what to cause a hindrance to our Beloved Yankee friends? :whistling2:
Suh--I do believe Germ Warfare was forbidden under The Geneva Convention.

Of course I ain't in no Geneva eeder. 

You'uns have a nice day now, you hear! David


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## BugsBugMe (Mar 23, 2010)

That is a photo of a varied carpet beetle (Anthrenus verbasci). Adult females lay about 40 eggs in a lifetime. The eggs hatch in 10 to 20 days but remain in larval state for 222 to 323 days (if you've ever seen what looks like a tiny fuzzy caterpillar in the corner of a room or quite commonly where the ceiling meets the wall, that's what the larvae looks like)

Hope this helps.


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