Help identifying a bug?

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nytefaii

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Apr 19, 2009
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83
Location
Belmont, NC
So we had to slide out our fish tank to paint the walls, and when we did, we found a bunch of these little bugs eating the wood at the bottom of the fish tank stand.

The stand is a Sauder type brand. The wood is either compressed or particle board? Not sure what was used to make this?

They are very tiny. About a 1/4 size of a toothpick in length, maybe a tad bigger in diameter.

Any ideas?

bugs.jpg
 
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I hope it's not termites.

Doing research online I haven't seen any pics of termites that look like those. Most stages I found still have a head on them. These dont appear to have a head to me?

The closest thing I can find just by looking through images is a sowbug or pillbug?
 
These look like dermestid beetles to me, I have a small colony of them. They are scavengers used by biologist to clean the tissue off of animal skeletons. These skeletons are then preserved/stored in study collections. Not a good thing to have around the house because they will invade your food storage areas and damage clothing.
 
Pretty darn ugly, as are most bugs. Perhaps they are powder post beetles. Definitely not termites..especially since a termite looks similar to an ant. Some bleach will probably kill them and will also sterilize the wood in case any larvae are in there. Or, if you don't like chemicals, you can buy lizards to eat the bugs, snakes to eat the lizards, birds to eat the snakes and a shot gun to get rid of the birds.
 
You may want to put them in a pan with a little olive oil and garlic, cook umtil they are done and serve them over your favorite pasta.
 
workinforwood said:
Pretty darn ugly, as are most bugs. Perhaps they are powder post beetles. Definitely not termites..especially since a termite looks similar to an ant. Some bleach will probably kill them and will also sterilize the wood in case any larvae are in there. Or, if you don't like chemicals, you can buy lizards to eat the bugs, snakes to eat the lizards, birds to eat the snakes and a shot gun to get rid of the birds.
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LOL! Jeff, that reminds me of the old Burl Ives song "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly"
 
You collect them and feed them to the fish.

I have a parrot, now around 35 years of age, and about 12 years ago I got him/her/it a bag of "parrot feed." Five days later I have these danged moths all over the bag and everything else.

I also have a fish tank nearby. Moths have to drink and fish seem to wait for them to get their first and only drink. The moths lay their eggs in the bowl where I keep some dry cat feed as bait. About once a week I dump the cat feed (now full of larva) into the fish tank.

Fish go crazy and actually foam the surface of the water eating everything from the bowl. Must be good as I do believe the fish are licking their lips!

Damn I'm a great re-cycler. Now, I am just waiting for the fish to get some weight to them and then I'm going to recycle them as well. That dude on TV that eats everything would be a perfect dinner guest!

Then I'll start all over.

Through all this the bird thinks I'm actually crazy ... He/she/it keeps yelling, "What the hell are you doing!" as I feed the fish. It's a riot around here sometimes.

Oh yea, IF you mess with the ole woman that ate the fly, and if she doesn't die, get close enough and she will spit the fly in your eye! :eek:

I know, I know ... just what someone would really want ... a gummed to death and gnawed to hell and back, spit covered fly in their eye! :cool:
 
workinforwood said:
Pretty darn ugly, as are most bugs. Perhaps they are powder post beetles. Definitely not termites..especially since a termite looks similar to an ant. Some bleach will probably kill them and will also sterilize the wood in case any larvae are in there. Or, if you don't like chemicals, you can buy lizards to eat the bugs, snakes to eat the lizards, birds to eat the snakes and a shot gun to get rid of the birds.
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if you dont like guns there is this...

and a cat to eat the birds and a dog to eat the cats and the chinese to eat the dogs.

Editorial: I in no way mean to offend anyone with the above humor, it is just that, humor. If I have offended someone, my apologies.
 
wolftat said:
You may want to put them in a pan with a little olive oil and garlic, cook umtil they are done and serve them over your favorite pasta.
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Or you could collect them and cast them. Then you can make a pen and have people try to guess what it's made from.
 
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