insects

[Suzy Q]

I just spoke with my elderly neighbor across the street, and she seems to be having a problem with a certain kind of an insect.  Not sure how they are coming in.  They seem to be around one or two of her windows.  She showed me one and it sort of looks like a roach but it has wings and an orange stripe.  It also doesn't move very fast.  She says that it mostly crawls but on occasion she has seen one fly a few feet.  They also don't seem to hang around any food areas.  I tried looking on the internet for common household insects but I am not coming across anything that looks like that.  Does anyone have any ideas as to what the insect is? 

[chandasz]

Could they be Elder bugs?

[dukesdad]

Probably, since she is elderly.

[chandasz]

HAHAHAHA. Cute

Box elder bug
Hemiptera: Rhopalidae, Leptocoris trivittatus
SIZE: About 1/2 inch (12.7mm)

COLOR: Black with red lines

DESCRIPTION: This bug is about 1/2 inch long and 1/3 as wide. It is black with three red lines on the thorax, a red line along each side, and a red line on each wing. The wings lie flat on the back when at rest. The young nymphs are red and gray. The population of bugs may number into the thousands.

HABITAT: Box elder bugs normally feed on the leaves, flowers, and seed pods of the boxelder tree or silver maple. Large numbers of box elder bugs are usually on the female, or pod-bearing, tree. These insects feed on male box elder trees and other trees and plants, but they usually do not build up to such large numbers. The adults search for a place to overwinter which brings them into houses where they hide in small cracks and crevices in walls, door and window casings, attics, and around the foundation. During warm days in winter and early spring they come out and scatter through the house. They are primarily a nuisance as they crawl or fly about in the rooms.

LIFE CYCLE: The adult bugs lay eggs in the spring and the nymphs emerge in a few days. The nymphs are small and show more red than adults. These nymphs develop into adults during the summer, then mate and lay eggs which hatch into the nymphs of the second generation. Activity of nearly fully grown nymphs is noticed in August and September when they gather in large numbers on the trunks of box elder trees. The migration of the adults begins at this time.

TYPE OF DAMAGE: The box elder bug becomes a pest in many houses each year in fall and spring. They do no damage by feeding, but their excrement spots on draperies are difficult to remove. The bugs cause little damage to trees.

INTERESTING FACTS: On warm days during winter and early spring, box elder bugs sometimes appear on light painted surfaces outdoors on the south and west sides of the house, resting in the sun.

[Bonster]

wow...I saw a couple of these back around this time...interesting...

[TAL]

I've seen two bugs in my house that look like centipeds or millipeds (sp?). They die quickly in hot water. But yikes!

[Boris]

TAL,

house centipedes:



are GOOD! They eat roaches and spiders and anything else they can catch. If you have centipedes, it means you also have stuff that they are eating. If there's no food, they leave. If you can stomach their lovely charm, I'd leave them be.

[Bonster]

right on Boris...
they're nice looking, and they feel neato when crawling on your skin.


As long as I don't have roaches, I'm OK...
Anyone see any cool snakes in their backyards this year?  I've had a couple.

[hounddog]

all I have is a 'possum and a couple of bullfrogs.

[scoon]

Dear Lord I hope Mrs. scoon doesn't read this... 

Anyone know where I can get a mongoose?

[scoon]

Anyone see any cool snakes in their backyards this year?  I've had a couple.

Dear Lord I hope Mrs. scoon doesn't read this...  

Anyone know where I can get a mongoose?

[TAL]

TAL,

house centipedes:
are GOOD! They eat roaches and spiders and anything else they can catch. If you have centipedes, it means you also have stuff that they are eating. If there's no food, they leave. If you can stomach their lovely charm, I'd leave them be.

Yeah! that's him. as long as they won't kill me I can leave them alone, but I'm not touching 'em. I've only seen two, and I've killed them both. Now I feel bad.

[chandasz]

Cool! What kind of snakes did you see?

I saw a couple bats at Proksa.....

[Bear]

Yup...we got snakes too...A couple weeks ago a CSO was wrestling with a large snake
in front of the condos in the 3300 block of Grove. The large perp was captured and taken
to the vet who handles such creatures.

[Matryoshka]

Large, like how large? Not like a garden snake? Like maybe someone's pet snake???

[Sandy]

I am guessing that the large snake was an escaped pet. Our natives are garter snakes. There is a species of rattlesnake native to Illinois, but they are endangered and not very likely to be seen in Berwyn. It prefers wooded, secluded areas.

[Berwyn Patsy]

I saw the snake being humanly captured by CSO. being a fan of  the show Animal Planet, it looked to me as a snake that was a native to the Amazon region of the world. Maybe it got to eat well , before the capture.  Remember the

[Berwyn Patsy]

Sorry, what I wanted to say was, remember the BIG RAT invasions in that grove/Oak Park Ave. Maybe That's
why the snake was found in that area.

[Bonster]

Anyone see any cool snakes in their backyards this year?  I've had a couple.

Our first sign of snakeage for '07...left a full, beautiful skin for us...

Looks like a healthy one!

[Bear]

Naw Bons...Alice was just in town at Fitz