Need help id'ing a bug

Poststructural Pub
1

OK, guys, I know there are a few bug experts among us…I need help ID’ing something so I know what it is and what, if anything, to do about it.

What: little bitty tiny blackish / greyish caterpillarish things…about 1/8 inch long at the longest. Fuzzy looking, very small, looks like many many legs but hard to see clearly. Almost look like a little rolly-polly but when disturbed flop about (ugh!) instead of curl up into a ball.

Where: in a sink and on the rim of the sink.

How many: roughly 20 (ugh!)

What I did about 'em: washed most of em down the sink, got the rest on tissue and flushed 'em. Free trip around the city, and all of that.

Ok, I know we have a silverfish problem and that they live in the drains. Can these be baby silverfish?

If anybody knows what they are, how do I get rid of them? Are they living in the drains or did they come from somewhere else? I would almost think they may have fallen from the air vent on the ceiling, but none were in evidence except on the sink.

Thanks for any help / advice.

–James

2

A photograph would help.

Slan,
D. :wink:

3

Firebrats are related to silverfish but are darker in colour and so may look a bit smaller. They can tolerate higher temperatures and lower humidity than silverfish.

4

Silverfish already a problem, I’m betting on them. Nasty little book-eaters!

5

AFter it happened, I was disturbed. I couldn’t stay in the house. Things like this, unfortunately, thoroughly freak me out. I spent the next two hours feeling like I had things crawling all over me.

I don’t have a picture of the things…it would never have occurred to me to try to photograph them before destroying them.

Posting here was a kind of afterthough–I know there are a few folks on C&F with a lot of knowledge about various insects and other “bugs.”

The more I can find out about them, the less the whole thing will freak me out. If I can name them, if I know what they eat, how they act, and what they grow into, it’ll still be disturbing to see them, but not as disturbing, and I’ll recover faster.

Anyhow, my thanks to those who’ve responded. It does help.

–James

6

Its when you’re typing on your computer’s keyboard, and they start running out from under the keys, and then they’re swarming over your fingers, and they start charging up your wrists onto your forearms, and then they’re at your elbows, and you just know that there’s nothing you can do to stop them from charging up your upper arms and your neck and into your face and … and … and … and then I really start getting upset! :boggle:

djm

7

I wish I could help. I know how you feel about finding a bunch of bugs. You might be a little more disturbed than I would be, but I sure know the skin crawling feeling! We have silverfish around here, although just a few, and I’ve never seen what you are describing. Good luck with your problem. And remember, it may just be a one time thing. Sometimes that can happen.

8

Oh dear! You’re upset! I hadn’t realized you were so upset, or I would have said something earlier.

First, if you see any more of them, please photograph them before flushing them. A visual is always handy in identifying bugs. Just pop them into a ziploc–that will give you time to do the heeby-dance before you get out the camera.

Second, it’s not likely you’ll see any more of them. I say this because this is the first time you’ve seen ANY of them. If you’d seen them before, this wouldn’t be such a novelty. Hence, they’re not exactly a major infestation.

Third, it’s not likely that these originated from anything unfamiliar to you. If you have silverfish, then these are probably silverfish. Little bitty silverfish are floppy and have little things poking out. Little bitty roaches are not-so-floppy and run away fast, so these are probably not roachlets.
I’d much rather have silverfish than roaches.

Fourth, if these were in the sink, they got into the sink from somewhere around the sink. They did not get into the sink from, say, walking in the front door or after living for a month in your freezer. They probably didn’t get in there from dangling down from the ceiling. (Really, all this is very logical.)

I say this because you found a bunch of them in the sink. (I know, you think I’m obsessed with sinks, but bear me out.) If these guys came from ANYWHERE other than the sink, they wouldn’t have been able to get there in a big group. It’s hard to get even Boy Scouts to stay in one group . . . you can imagine how difficult it must be for baby bugs.

No, those bugs hatched very near where you found them in the sink.

There is NO REASON TO PANIC! These aren’t the Pod People. They’re just little innocent bugs.

Hence, all you have to do is . . . clean around the sink. Any crevices? They’re likely places. Another very likely place is that space behind the sink where the vent/overflow hole goes. That’s a nice, moist area just perfect for silverfish eggs and baby silverfish. Might want to pour some hot water in there.

Drag everything out of that bathroom and clean. Judiciously spritz some of that nice household 6-month bug stuff behind the cabinets. Seal up any crevices with caulk. Keep the ferrets out for a while.

Also consider sprinkling diatomaceous earth around the corners of the rooms. It’s harmless to you and your ferrets–it’s actually edible–but will do a number on the bugs–all bugs.

Now, stop worrying! These are just harmless little guys, and you probably got all of them already. Your ferrets have probably been enjoying the extra treats, anyway.

9

Phew. :boggle:

10

See your house as a mini-ecosystem in which all the creepy-crawlies can happily get on with their lives and keep each other in check. Don’t kill spiders, which will happily hunt and hoover up the silverfish and much else besides. Only draw the line at health hazards such as houseflies and cockroaches.

11

I thought she was talking about these Pod People

12

Ok, having slept (and thus “rebooted”):

First, thanks, and thanks for putting up with my semipsychotic ventings yesterday. Not much turns me stomach like bugs.

There have been no more in evidence, so most likely they were some kind of thing that lived in the sink itself or in the drain.

djm, I once had something like that happen with spiders (fortunately, spiders don’t freak me out. I don’t know why–to me, spiders aren’t “bugs.” go figure)

I was innocently typing away on my filthy old Micro$oft keyboard (keyboards accumulate crud like nothing else, and almost no one ever takes the time to replace one until it absolutely dies)…and I noticed something moving under the keys.

Curious, and actually thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me, I pried up a couple of keytops.

Spiders. Hundreds of little bitty tiny spiders, all running up and down between the keys of my keyboard. :astonished:

Well, I got rid of them and cleaned the keyboard completely…disassembled it and thoroughly cleaned it.

This was all during a work day when I was working from home, so I had called and told one of my coworkers (who’s also a wonderful friend) what was going on.

The next day I was scheduled to work in the office. When I got there, I found he had taken an old IBM model M keyboard–one of the originals–out of his parts collection, cleaned it up, and put a PS/2 cable on in. He gave it to me.

Folks, if you are a serious typist, it just doesn’t get any better than the old model M keyboards–best dang keyboard ever made. Buckling spring, tactile feedback…these things were so good they have been the gold standard that every keyboard has been compared to since (and all have fallen short of the mark!). Wikipedia actually has an extensive article on the old model M’s : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_M_Keyboard .

Anyway, my thanks to all who responded. If the critters do show back up, I’ll endeavor to try to get some kind of a photo and post it for ID purposes.

–James

13

Dang. I could have done without that spider story!!! Talk about the willies! I have to admit it was a good one though. :laughing:

14

Sorry, Lamby, but this is untrue. You seem to have completely forgotten about divine intervention, or the limitless possibilities of spontaneous recombination of DNA from other dimensions. Due to their shape, sinks are marvelous conduits and gathering points of cosmic debris in all forms. It wouldn’t surprise me to find a few missing socks in there from time to time. If only people would look more often, like peeplj did, you never know what the universe is going to include in the kitchen sink.

djm

15

Do you have Woodlice in the States?

or Earwigs?

16

Those bugs are called Blister Milliroaches. Introduced accidentally in a shipping containerload of sunglasses heading to WallMart. Their preferred habitat is inside moldy instrument cases. Highly fecund, aggressive and poisonous!

17

flanum, I think you pegged it!

They looked very much like the pic of woodlice you provided.

Thanks!

–James

18

Woodlice are roly polys. Which you didn’t think these were.

Baby silverfish look a lot like that. Only squishy.

19

Woodlice are completely harmless. Most agreeable minibeasts in fact, if ever I saw any.

20

Oh. My bad.

No, these weren’t roly-polys–unless maybe some kind of larval form?

The only roly-polys I’ve seen around here are much bigger than these guys were, also much wider, and will curl into a ball if provoked or futzed with.

I used to play with them when I was a kid. (I guess every kid does.)

These buggers were tiny.

If a put two periods back to back like this .. the result is about the length of one of these bugs (going by memory).

I guess it really doesn’t matter, though–whatever they were, they seem to be gone.

–James

P.S. Yeah, I think baby silverfish is still a very likely answer. I’m assuming they hatch from eggs? Maybe there were eggs laid under the sink rim or in the emergency drain, and they all hatched out at roughly the same time?