Bug in interceptor: ID please? « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums » Detection / Identification of bed bugs

Bug in interceptor: ID please?

(10 posts)

Tags:

peppy

member
Joined: Jul '10
Posts: 181
offline

Posted 1 year ago
Sat Jun 18 2011 1:31:33
#

Login to Send PM

I found this bug in my interceptor and was hoping someone might be able to ID it for me. I looked at it under a 15x magnifying glass and couldn't get close enough to really ID. However, my next magnification is 60x, and that didn't seem clear enough for me to figure it out. Thanks for any help!

http://s1035.photobucket.com/albums/a431/peppy815/?action=view&current=DSC07541.jpg
spideyjg

oldtimer
Joined: Jul '08
Posts: 3,201
offline

Posted 1 year ago
Sat Jun 18 2011 2:43:46
#

Login to Send PM

Looks somewhat like a mite.

Angles are odd for a good view to me.

Jim
jrbtnyc

Member
Joined: Sep '10
Posts: 1,001
offline

Posted 1 year ago
Sat Jun 18 2011 8:36:48
#

Login to Send PM

Can you provide another photo of the critter on a smooth white background.

Can you see the legs well enough to count them. If there are eight it's not an insect and could be a spider, mite, or tick.

You don't want it to be a tick because they do carry diseases, such as the deer tick carries Lyme disease.

For the moment, the easiest might be to lick at the critter yourself and then look up photos of "tick" and "deer tick" on the internet and see if there seems to be any similarity, and if so, keep investigating.

Probably what you found in your interceptor isn't actually a deer tick because I think they're a darker color than that, plus it's my understanding they're outdoor arthropods. Unless possibly he finished feeding on you, then upon seeking to make his exit, ended up in the interceptor? But your hard-to-distinguish photo does not appear to be of something that is engorged.
bed-bugscouk

oldtimer
Joined: Apr '07
Posts: 6,748
offline

Posted 1 year ago
Sat Jun 18 2011 8:46:26
#

Login to Send PM

Hi,

It looks more like a tick than anything else. I would suggest you ask the local vet to id it for you. If they are not 100% ask an entomologist.

Although they can carry diseases such as lymes not all of them do. Check for bite marks and keep an eye on them for the classic "bulls eye target" sign.

Hope that helps.

David Cain
Bed Bugs Limited
peppy

member
Joined: Jul '10
Posts: 181
offline

Posted 1 year ago
Sat Jun 18 2011 10:00:09
#

Login to Send PM

Unfortunately my boyfriend just left the house with our camera, so I can't take a new photo of the bug, but I do have another I took yesterday. I don't know if this helps at all:
http://s1035.photobucket.com/albums/a431/peppy815/?action=view&current=DSC07543.jpg

I don't have any dogs, and haven't spent any time out in the woods lately, so I'm hoping it isn't a tick. I do have two cats, but they are indoor only. I will give them some flea and tick meds right now.
EffeCi

oldtimer
Joined: Feb '09
Posts: 1,874
offline

Posted 1 year ago
Sat Jun 18 2011 15:13:07
#

Login to Send PM

Not pretty sure, but I agree with David...
peppy

member
Joined: Jul '10
Posts: 181
offline

Posted 1 year ago
Sat Jun 18 2011 16:16:23
#

Login to Send PM

I took two more photos of the bug, hoping they might help. Unfortunately, the bug then slipped off of the tissue and I can't find it (it was dead). This, of course, has sent me into a mild panic, as I'm now unsure if it could be a bedbug, or if it was "just" a tick. Does anyone feel comfortable ruling out bedbugs?

Here are the two additional photos:
http://s1035.photobucket.com/albums/a431/peppy815/?action=view&current=DSC07580.jpg
http://s1035.photobucket.com/albums/a431/peppy815/?action=view&current=DSC07579.jpg

Since I have the original files I am able to zoom in quite a bit. When I do, I count three legs on one side, and it's unclear if there are three or four legs on the other side (the legs kind of curl, so it's unclear if there is a fourth leg, or if it is one of the other legs, curved around, if that makes sense).

If any expert is willing to have me e-mail the photos to them for a closer examination, I would be more than happy to do so. I had planned to take the bug to an entomologist on Monday, but obviously that is no longer an option.
bed-bugscouk

oldtimer
Joined: Apr '07
Posts: 6,748
offline

Posted 1 year ago
Sat Jun 18 2011 16:22:32
#

Login to Send PM

Hi,

It's 100% not bedbug.

I will look at the new pics when I am on a PC but taking the sample to a vet was for rapid ID not to suggest you treat your pets.

If you have lost it not a lot can be done but please take next sample to an entomologist or vet for the fastest ID.

David
spideyjg

oldtimer
Joined: Jul '08
Posts: 3,201
offline

Posted 1 year ago
Sat Jun 18 2011 16:23:51
#

Login to Send PM

It isn't a BB for sure.

Jim
peppy

member
Joined: Jul '10
Posts: 181
offline

Posted 1 year ago
Sat Jun 18 2011 16:24:21
#

Login to Send PM

Thank you. I feel horrible about losing the sample. I knew the vet would be closed this weekend, so since I had to wait until Monday I figured I would just spend a little more time examining it.