I'm in Lincoln CA, and my wife found some small bugs on the floor in the
shop. The floor is concrete, and at first we thought maybe they were
feeding on some sawdust on the floor, but I can't find them anywhere
else in the shop. In the area we found them there were maybe 50 of
them. They are up to the size of ordinary black ants, but their legs
are much smaller. They squash easily, appear to be black or very dark
brown, and kinda fuzzy. They are up to a little over 1/8" long, 1/32"
or so wide, and thicker at one end than the other. Two little antennae
at the narrower end. I thought at first they didn't have legs, but we
looked at one under a magnifier, and can see little tiny legs on the
under side at the narrower end. They also appear to have little pincers
at the opposite end from the antennae, and they can jump an inch or two.
Any idea what these critters are?
--Steve
You should be able to find it on this site.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/index.html
"Steve" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm in Lincoln CA, and my wife found some small bugs on the floor in the
> shop. The floor is concrete, and at first we thought maybe they were
> feeding on some sawdust on the floor, but I can't find them anywhere else
> in the shop. In the area we found them there were maybe 50 of them. They
> are up to the size of ordinary black ants, but their legs are much
> smaller. They squash easily, appear to be black or very dark brown, and
> kinda fuzzy. They are up to a little over 1/8" long, 1/32" or so wide,
> and thicker at one end than the other. Two little antennae at the narrower
> end. I thought at first they didn't have legs, but we looked at one under
> a magnifier, and can see little tiny legs on the under side at the
> narrower end. They also appear to have little pincers at the opposite end
> from the antennae, and they can jump an inch or two.
>
> Any idea what these critters are?
>
> --Steve
Steve wrote:
>Any idea what these critters are?
Your local cooperative extension service should be happy to identify the =
insects for you. An entomology student will probably recognize what =
they are right away.
Also, if you can get a good pic, or put one in a baggie and scan it, =
there are on-line sites that will help to identify.
Doesn't sound like any of the borers - they all have complete =
metamorphosis and are caterpillar-like while boring, and the adults are =
either beetles, moths, or horntail wasps.
The fact that they hop & perhaps have cerci on the butt makes one think =
of cricket nymphs, but I'm not familiar with any fuzzy ones.
Pincers on the butt indicate earwigs, but I've never heard of them =
hopping, or seen fuzzy ones.
Small legs & hopping bring to mind springtails - OK - I'm going with =
springtails: small, short legs, hop, some fuzz, can be blackish brown, =
would appear on a basement floor, the spring could look like pincers, =
maybe. DAGS springtails and see if that's them. =20
--=20
Timothy Juvenal
www.tjwoodworking.com
Steve <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> I'm in Lincoln CA, and my wife found some small bugs on the floor in the
> shop. The floor is concrete, and at first we thought maybe they were
> feeding on some sawdust on the floor, but I can't find them anywhere
> else in the shop. In the area we found them there were maybe 50 of
> them. They are up to the size of ordinary black ants, but their legs
> are much smaller. They squash easily, appear to be black or very dark
> brown, and kinda fuzzy. They are up to a little over 1/8" long, 1/32"
> or so wide, and thicker at one end than the other. Two little antennae
> at the narrower end. I thought at first they didn't have legs, but we
> looked at one under a magnifier, and can see little tiny legs on the
> under side at the narrower end. They also appear to have little pincers
> at the opposite end from the antennae, and they can jump an inch or two.
>
> Any idea what these critters are?
>
> --Steve
>
Could it be an earwig? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwig
They're common here in orange county, usually in damp places.
Don
On Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:24:14 -0800, Steve <[email protected]> wrote:
>I'm in Lincoln CA, and my wife found some small bugs on the floor in the
>shop. The floor is concrete, and at first we thought maybe they were
>feeding on some sawdust on the floor, but I can't find them anywhere
>else in the shop. In the area we found them there were maybe 50 of
>them. They are up to the size of ordinary black ants, but their legs
>are much smaller. They squash easily, appear to be black or very dark
>brown, and kinda fuzzy. They are up to a little over 1/8" long, 1/32"
>or so wide, and thicker at one end than the other. Two little antennae
>at the narrower end. I thought at first they didn't have legs, but we
>looked at one under a magnifier, and can see little tiny legs on the
>under side at the narrower end. They also appear to have little pincers
>at the opposite end from the antennae, and they can jump an inch or two.
>
>Any idea what these critters are?
>
>--Steve
no idea what they are, Steve, but it would scare me seeing that many small ones
at once.. indicates a hatch to me..
Maybe try getting a few in a jar and showing them to some neighbors?
We try to do that with anything we're not familiar with here...
mac
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