Entomologist Anyone?

[shostakovich]

Yesterday I found a creature in my son-in-law's house. It looks like a bean with legs. The color is gray-green. The legs seem to be about hair width and a quarter inch long or less. They appear in the front third of the little beast. Seven of them are moving. So it either has 6 legs and 1 antenna, or 7 of 8 legs. I go for the latter, as it seems to provide mobility. The mouth reminds me of a ladybug's. The body is not segmented, and has no wings. It is about 1/2 inch long. It looks unsuited to land, sea, or air. I put it into a plastic container. To my surprise it was able to climb the vertical side with it's tiny legs and relatively big body. I put some bread crumbs around it, but it was not interested.
When I look at it, I think of something prehistoric. Any help? I have not yet attempted to find out what music it might respond to.
Shos

[piqaboo]

It sounds like a well-fed tick to me, but I avoid bugs as much as possible, so am probably wrong.

I'm forwarding your description to my friend who is an amateur bug-lady (aka entomologyst)(sp?). I'll letcha know.

[Serenity]

Try comparing it to the pictures at the following link (hopefully it's not lice):

www.life.uiuc.edu/Entomology/insectgifs.html

Did you find it indoors or outdoors? What was its environment?

[shostakovich]

Thank you for the help. It was found in the entry of the house, on a rug. The neighborhood is slightly wooded 'burbs. We took it to the local agricultural experiment station. They deal with insects, especially pests to agriculture. We got a call later in the day. It was identified as a "very engorged dog tick".

HAH! That's what they would say to throw me off the track, so they can identify a new species and take credit for the discovery. I'm very intersted in a second opinion from your friend, Piq.
Shos

[Shapley]

Perhaps you've found a Mexican Jumping Bean in the larval stage.

[analog]

Maybe ticks are uncommon so far North as you live?

Growing up in South Florida was to co-exist with bugs. Ticks are particularly loathsome.

Here's my experience, i hope it's ot belaboring the obvious. But if we'd had a blizzard in Florida I'd appreciate your advice.

In case you didn't know, dog ticks aren't choosy as to a host mammal. A single big gray one like you found will lay a million or so eggs. If one does so in the carpet, in a matter of weeks the whole room will be crawling with small red ticks . They'll crawl up anything they can so as to drop onto a passing body. You may first notice them on the walls or light colored furniture.

Your son-in-law needs to shampoo the dog weekly with an insecticide bearing pet wash. Dont put yard spray on the dog it'll poison him.
As to the carpet, I found the flea and tick spray from home depot pretty effective. It is in gallon jugs with a red label.

Ticks are tough critters to kill. If you try aerosol bug-bombs get some with "precor", a chemical that keeps insect larva from maturing. I used those in combination with liquid spray on the carpet.

Good Luck, and I hope you dont get an infestation.

[The Great Carouser]

Originally posted by analog:
Maybe ticks are uncommon so far North as you live...

et al...

analog, your post should have come with a warning label... for those of you unfortunate enough to have stumbled across it before eating... bon apetit!

<small>[ 05-11-2004, 11:20 AM: Message edited by: The Great Carouser ]</small>

[piqaboo]

GC -LOL!

Unfed ticks look like little crabs.

Analog, thanks for the practical advice - have never had home infestation- did have to have yard sprayed once upon a time. We'd go over the dogs stem-to-stern after every walk. My dad had a pair of flat rocks set aside in the garden as tick-crushing stones.<barfing icon here>

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

This whole thread is pretty gross.

This is not any kind of authoritative advice, but I'm a non-bug-loving sort of person with decades of experience with Sandy Eggo grade ants and fleas.

Get out the big guns now. Take the dog to the vet and get him on the oral stuff that renders the bug that bites him sterile. Call a pest control company, tell them about the tick being inside the house, take their advice and pay them whatever they want.

Yeccch. Millions of tiny bugs climbing the walls so they can drop down and bite the people passing under? I don't think so. Shudder!

[OperaTenor]

So, what makes you tick?


:p

[BigJon]

When I find a tick, I put him in our stainless sink so he can't crawl anywhere. I light a match and blow it out, then apply the glowing ember to the tick's back. No sink damage if there is no flame.

Heat, it kills bugs dead. (new sig?)

Yes, I get ticked!
BigJon

[piqaboo]

I'm with Selma on this one.
Treat the dog, treat the house, treat the yard.

Teach the kids to check their hair when they come back from playing in the woods. Takes ticks a while to latch on, and they're easy to lift off before then.

And, dont get paranoid. It spoils the fun of being in the woods. In ~ 20 years of hiking/backpacking/just kicking around, I only got ticks on me once, and I got em off before they did damage (bit me). I confess I did get a bit jumpy for a while after that, but it could be because there were 23 of the little "treasures" in my hair and clothing... I must have walked right thru a recently hatched nest. <another barfing icon>.

Happy hunting!

[OperaTenor]

I'm trying to picture just what a barfing smilie would look like.....


LMREO!!!

[analog]

Sorry folks for not prefixing a PG rating to that post!

A home infestation is indeed a shocker. Some insecticide in the house would be prudent, whether professional or DIY.


I always shied away from spraying the yard. We kept bird feeders and I didnt want the birds eating poisoned bugs for dessert. But since the neighbors all sprayed, i didn't really help the birds very much.

Another product that seems to work is Sevin garden dust. You can sprinkle it lightly around the dog's bedding. It won't hurt the dog. I use it on my own clothes when going to the deep woods.

I thought this was a sunbelt & tropics problem. Do you suppose insects are moving north with global warming? I heard recently of an Eskimo who just saw the first mosquito of his life.

[OperaTenor]

First, the cows, now the bugs.....



Jim "cross-thread" B.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Merry, who is from Alaska, has informed me repeatedly that the Alaska state bird is the mosquito. And I thought that was Minnesota!

Lyme disease has been in New England for some time, yes?, and it's carried by a deer tick. How different could a dog tick be?

[Shapley]

You can see a dog tick without a magnifying glass!

[OperaTenor]

What makes a dog tick, anyway?

[piqaboo]

Generally, swallowing a watch.

[Shapley]

No! That was a crocodile, Tinkerbell!