I just saw the ugliest bug ever

[mikester]

....and it was in my house. Where the heck it came from or what it was I have no idea. The best way I can describe it is to say it was an extremely large ant-looking thing and it gave me the creepy crawlies.

Did I mention it was in my house? I'm lucky - my little sister or my wife didn't see it - otherwise we would likely be moving.

It was about 2 inches long and very bulky and it looked like and ant with long hind legs (6 legs in total). It was reddish brown.

I could take a picture of the carcus as I scooped it up in a cup and killed it outside. It didn't move fast at all.

Any ideas?

[goat]

Did it look like this


These buggers scare the heck out of me. and they are big!

[Zeke]

Sure sounds like a water beetle to me. They're pretty fast though, unless it was about to croak. Some folks call those roaches. They're not the German roaches which are smaller.

I didn't see the above pic when I posted. I have seen that thing once before somewhere here in SoCal. Frightening, isn't it?

[mikester]

That's it - What is it?!

[KevinP73]

I get those ugly things around my place too. Especially around the woodpile. They're harmless but ugly and they screech when threatened.

[bryanthompson]

look at these... they look close to that cricketish thing:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=sand+treader&btnG=Search

[bryanthompson]

http://www.nps.gov/grsa/resources/endemic_insects.htm

Giant Sand Treader Camel Cricket

Daihinibaenetes giganteus

Perhaps Great Sand Dunes' best known insect, the Giant Sand Treader Camel Cricket is not endemic to the dunes, although it was originally thought to be. The sand treader camel cricket was originally described from the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in 1962, but recently was found to inhabit other sandy ecosystems in eastern Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It is about 1.5" (4 cm) long.

Sand treader camel crickets are omnivorous. They begin foraging at dusk and have been observed to feed on dead and live plant material, insects, and mammal fecal material. They are fossorial (burrow-digging) insects. Their large hind legs sport horny growths called `sand baskets' that help them to push sand out of burrows. Males may build a burrow in the evening, and are known to have `harems' of females. The male's burrow will be visited by several females over the course of the night, and the male, too, will visit other burrows during the course of an evening.

[goat]

I think they are called a jerusalem cricket. Don't know if they bite.
I have never seen more than one at a time, so herds of them would be uncommon I hope.
Just know if one of these crawled up into your bed I am sure it would pull the bed sheets off ya so it could get comfy!

[mikester]

Originally posted by bryanthompson
look at these... they look close to that cricketish thing:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=sand+treader&btnG=Search

The legs on that one are too long and the head is too small. Also the antenna are too long to be what I saw exactly. The first picture is it though...

Man...I am thoroughly creeped out (it doesn't take much in the world of bugs to creep me out though).

I think I've seen one before at my parents old place in florida. It was a little smaller though.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Amateurs.

I've killed one of these in my home, and three in our barn.

[bryanthompson]

that, right there, is the reason why I stay away from Arizona!

[BigD9146gt]

i've always known them as potato bugs. there everywhere our here, they like sand and soft dirt, they don't bite. As for the scientific name?

[goat]

Actually one web site stated this about this cricket...They can be ferocious and cause a painful bite. So beware and use a long stick if you are inclined to observe them and their behavior.
Ferocious!!
Don't you AZ guys have the Gila Monster?

[LeeH]

Originally posted by BlueSkyJaunte
Amateurs.

I've killed one of these in my home, and three in our barn.

Yep, it's a little scary when the bugs can kill you or your kids. We averaged one bark scorpion a week inside our house during summer the first couple of years we lived here. I took the fight to them and started going out at night with my black light and rubber mallet. It's creepy to see them glow in the dark, but it makes them easy to find. We only found six or so in the house this year.

True story.... A real estate agent friend of mine built an incredible custom home on a hillside near us. When he first moved in I asked him if he had a scorpion problem. He said they recently counted over 50 scorpions. I asked him over what time period. That's what they counted on their back wall AT ONE TIME on one evening! They lived there less than a year before they moved and had to disclose this little issue in their sales contract.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

potato bug... creepy looking suckers

[motion]

Was it one of these guys? I found this one in my back yard last summer. Have found a few scorpions as well... one in my hot tub the morning after I had spent an hour in it!

[mikester]

Motion - that's him. Thanks for the extra creepy photo.

[mikester]

here we go...

http://www.potatobugs.com/

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Originally posted by goat
Don't you AZ guys have the Gila Monster?

My wife works in a somewhat rural and arid region east of Phoenix. They go out and find gila monsters occasionally. And diamondbacks. And some sort of giant toad. Actually, that might be her boss.

We also find infrequent black widows in the barn or garage. Always females, though. The males aren't poisonous AFAIK.

We've also got fire ants. They sting like hell but are really small. Oh, yeah, and the Africanized ('killer') honeybees.

And coyotes. Outdoor cats don't survive very long around here.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Oh, yeah, I haven't mentioned the "water roaches", have I? Huge f*cking roaches that infest our whole community. Lovely. I pay more for pest control than I do for internet access.