Yes. Someone may try to tell you it's a "water bug" but they're just trying to gloss over having roaches.
Ask Lemmy
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com.
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
I have seen a waterbug in India once, it's got nothing to do with a roach. It's about 20cm wide, with pincers thick almost like my pinky finger. Absolutely stunning if you've never heard about them before
Water bugs are a roach but they aren’t by any means the worst to have.
Water bugs are a roach
They are absolutely not. Entirely different order of insects.
They are just as bad. Roaches are bad, it doesn't matter what kind.
There are varieties of roach that are harder to eliminate. Water bugs tend to be one of the easier varieties to control.
Is it native to the United States?
Yes. In the more humid climates.
Nifty find and thanks for posting such clear pictures! It's def a roach. I think that would be Ectobius pallidus (though it can be similar to other species) and here's some info about it you will enjoy:
https://blogs.cornell.edu/nysipm/2023/05/22/can-a-cockroach-be-cute-meet-the-tawny-field-cockroach/
That's a roach but keep in mind that there are hundreds of cockroach species in the world and most of them aren't pests. A roach you see in nature probably couldn't even survive in your house. When I lived in rural New Hampshire I frequently saw cockroaches in the forest but never indoors.
(If you're in an urban area, then chances are it's a pest.)
Definitely.
I've never seen one IRL and even I can tell that's a roach.
Not necessarily a pest kind, though, if it looks unusual. Maybe one test would be if it goes towards or away from light; seeking dark is the original adaptation that allowed them to hide in human environments.