this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2025
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cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/33436612

saw the same bug indoors, wondering how concerned to be. looks like it has all the same grossly visible body parts as a cockroach but it is a much lighter tan than i am used to.

curious

(originally posted in sopuli.xyz/c/whatisthisbug)

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[–] MyDarkestTimeline01@ani.social 20 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Yes. Someone may try to tell you it's a "water bug" but they're just trying to gloss over having roaches.

[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 1 points 1 day ago

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

[–] QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Water bugs are a roach but they aren’t by any means the worst to have.

[–] remon@ani.social 3 points 1 day ago

Water bugs are a roach

They are absolutely not. Entirely different order of insects.

[–] MyDarkestTimeline01@ani.social -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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.

[–] chocrates@piefed.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is it native to the United States?

Yes. In the more humid climates.

[–] aword@feddit.online 12 points 1 day ago

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://entomologytoday.org/2014/01/06/after-a-49-million-year-hiatus-a-cockroach-reappears-in-north-america/

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.)

[–] henfredemars 4 points 1 day ago

Definitely.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

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.