How to Identify Bugs Inside Your House
- 1). Note the flat shape of a bedbug that enables it to hide in the tiniest crack or crevice. Bedbugs are only about a fifth of an inch long and have oval flat bodies. They are brown to red-brown in terms of color but a deep red after they have enjoyed a meal of blood. The mouth resembles a beak.
- 2). Ascertain a bug is a German cockroach when it has two parallel lines running down the back of the head to its wings. These cockroaches have a set of wings, but they cannot fly. German cockroaches, typically found where the environment is moist and warm, are a light brown color and up to 5/8-inch long.
- 3). Determine a bug is a silverfish by its color and flattened and elongated shape. Silverfish have three projections that grow from the tail end and two antennae on the head. They are a silvery shade, with some being a light brown color. They lack wings and have a soft body, growing to 3/4-inch long.
- 4). Identify the millipede by the four legs that go with each segment of its body. Most are dark brown, and when you discover a dead millipede, it will have curled up into a spiral. Millipedes typically do not survive long inside a home unless they are in a moist part of the house such as a bathroom or basement.
- 5). Distinguish a termite from an ant by the difference in some of their anatomy. Termites have a broad "waist" while ants possess a slim one. Termites have straight antennae on their heads while an ants have a shape like the letter "L." The four wings possessed by a termite are all the same length; an ant's are of two different lengths.
- 6). Recognize the European earwig by the forceps at the end portion of its abdomen. These forceps resemble a pair of pincers, and the earwig defends itself against other insects with them. Earwigs, which often hide in old newspapers, laundry baskets and inside walls, are about 5/8-inch long and are a dark brownish-red color.
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