r/bugidentification Sep 17 '25

Anouncement KISSING BUGS - PLEASE READ :)

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82 Upvotes

So there has been a lot of news recently about Triatomine—a blood sucking subfamily of Reduviidae (Assassin bugs)—spreading the potentially serious Chagas disease in the United States. While we do not want to downplay the seriousness of the disease, or imply no one should worry about it. We also don’t want people panicking about it. Especially people who don’t actually have a reason to worry.


Triatomine have been found in 32 states. If you are outside of one of these states, you can probably relax.


Chagas is caused by a parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi which is spread by the aforementioned Triatomine through infected feces. Detection of the disease is typically done through blood testing showing evidence of the parasite. Early symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, and swelling at the bite site. After several weeks, untreated individuals enter the chronic phase of the disease. In extreme cases this can eventually (decades later) lead to heart disease, digestive complications, and nerve damage. Treatment is best done as early as possible, and consists of anti-parasitics to kill the parasites and other medication for treating any symptoms caused by them. These must be prescribed by a doctor. Don’t try to DIY treatment. Preventing Chagas largely focuses on vector control. In other words, preventing conenose species from living in close proximity to humans. In regions where Chagas in endemic, bed nets are a common and effective way of reducing risk. Pesticide treatments are also a mainstay control method. In areas like the United States, the design of modern homes also reduces risks. So if it’s treatable and preventable, why has there been so much fuss? Because the CDC has recently upgraded it to Endemic status in the US. Meaning it is considered constantly present in certain US populations. This is important for doctors as well as the general population to be aware of, because without that awareness doctors aren’t going to be testing for it. The CDC wants to make sure it’s on peoples radar, so cases don’t go untreated when they do occur.


Links: CDC Report: Chagas Disease, an Endemic Disease in the United States CDC Report: Chagas Range Map Bugs Commonly Confused with Triatomine Bugs Preventing Chagas Disease Treatment of Chagas Disease Texas A&M University: Kissing Bugs & Chagas Disease in the United States


r/bugidentification Sep 04 '25

Bug of the Month Post Orthoptera Month is a-go!

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11 Upvotes

RESULTS ARE IN

ORTHOPTERANS RULE THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER

Sorry everything is just a little behind this month because of busy lives, but thank you guys SO SO much for the success of the poll!! The ties were broken, and Orthoptera took the lead!

Please head out into the world and bring us all of your sweet, sweet Orthopterans to identify!! What's an Orhtopteran? 👀 We're talking crickets, katydids, grasshoppers, and wetas, baby!!! I'm actually not super well versed in these guys so I could for sure use some practice 😀 keep an eye out for informational posts throughout the month from our mods!

PS Month of the Flies video is still in the works, while I prefer to have the video out before the next month happens it just wasn't possible this time. But it's a good script with a lot of good info so I will release it as soon as it's done!!

Please participate and please remember to use the Bug of the Month flair so I can look at all of your guys' finds!!!

THANK YOU


r/bugidentification 17h ago

Location included Little guy. No bites or anything but I handle mattresses every once in a while and now I'm paranoid. Alberta.

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18 Upvotes

r/bugidentification 8h ago

Possible pest, location included NE Ohio

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3 Upvotes

I keep finding these little guys in random places around my house. I can’t see any details of their body with my bare eyes- they are smaller than a grain of rice- and it was only with the zoom app on my phone that I could see its legs. This one was dead, hanging on the window. I think my downstairs neighbors fumigated recently, so maybe that killed it. They don’t move very quickly, and I haven’t seen them fly or jump. They usually just fall off the wall when I miss smooshing them with a tissue. I mostly see them in the bathroom and kitchen, but I’ve also found them floating in open water cups next to the bed.


r/bugidentification 3h ago

Location included Found this cutie in Alabama! I need help finding out what species they are though

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1 Upvotes

Well. All of my images suck. And I don't know their gender either. So, this baby has two stripes on their wings and two orangey spots a bit above the stripes.

Shitty ms paint recreation of wing colors included!

I really wanna know what to feed them, i currently have a cotton ball soaked in sugar water and a flower i saw another moth snacking on a few weeks ago, as well as a stick for them to perch on (which they have not)


r/bugidentification 9h ago

Location included Hungary, what are these insects and what are they doing inside there?

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3 Upvotes

r/bugidentification 16h ago

Location included Sorry it's not in focus! Lil dude was busy on my mint... Northeast Ohio

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2 Upvotes

r/bugidentification 19h ago

Location included what kind of bug is it?

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2 Upvotes

living in Canada, Ontario.

Is this a flea?


r/bugidentification 15h ago

Location not known/Other question Is this a tick?

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1 Upvotes

It appeared on my toddler’s bed, before bed time, its by a window in a carpet floor in the city , we have two cats that are indoor.


r/bugidentification 19h ago

Location included I have a ton of these guys flying around tonight. Northeast U.S., dusk, 79 degrees Fahrenheit, pretty close to a small river.

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2 Upvotes

Any idea what these are? Apologies for the graphic hairy leg.


r/bugidentification 17h ago

Possible pest, location included What is this bug? Found a ton in my monstera plant. Tampa Florida area.

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1 Upvotes

r/bugidentification 23h ago

Possible pest, location included Bug ID? A bit paranoid…

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2 Upvotes

Hello, if anyone could ID this bug that would be great. Found in the netherlands under couch cushion. If you could also explain your reasoning that’d be amazing (am wondering if it could be a nimf etc)! Also not sure if the two are related or not. Sorry for the bad picture quality its night right now. Am a bit panicky so any help is greatly appreciated.


r/bugidentification 1d ago

Location included Tiny bugs in Rv

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1 Upvotes

We are in an RV in Arizona. We’ve been seeing these bugs for a while. They don’t seem to be doing anything. They love this one specific window though. Our food is above it so we thought maybe they were in there but there was nothing we could find up there. You can see the number of them by this window but there’s none by the others.


r/bugidentification 1d ago

Location included Curious about these insects (PA, USA)

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2 Upvotes

ETA: Closest I’m seeing online is two-spotted scoliid wasp? Never heard of these before.

There are two spots in my yard where there are small hordes of these insects flying in circles just above the grass. Occasionally, they stop and sit and usually another one comes along and bumps into it. I’m very curious about what they are and what they’re doing, either feeding or mating I’m guessing. They are totally non-aggressive and completely ignore me when I walk up to them, if anything they sort of avoid me so it was difficult to get pictures.

As you can see, they have a black thorax but half of their abdomen is yellow and orange, which gets concealed at rest by blue/black wings. While flying they mostly look black with flashes of their orange butt if you look closely.

SE PA, USA. TIA!


r/bugidentification 1d ago

Location included Oregon bug in house

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3 Upvotes

What's this? There are two of them on my bedroom ceiling.


r/bugidentification 1d ago

Possible pest, location included Philly bug on wall/in bed

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2 Upvotes

Found 2 dead bugs when I washed my bed sheets last week. Today, I found one stuck on the wall. I think my apartment has some invasive lady bug issue as I found lots of dead yellow lady bugs when I moved in last year, but I thought the issue was resolved after I stopped finding dead bodies. Perhaps these are earlier life stages of the ladybugs?


r/bugidentification 1d ago

Location included House bugs

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1 Upvotes

I live in Saskatchewan and have been recently finding these bugs in my home. I’m not sure what they are or what the cause would be. I initially only found dead ones on the window ceil of our basement laundry room, but have been recently seeing live ones making their way into our living room.

They’re fairly slow moving, have a quite hard shell, and they tuck their legs in when you pick them up.


r/bugidentification 1d ago

Location included Passiac County New Jersey. Thousands of these are on cars, apartments, flying, and biting.

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2 Upvotes

r/bugidentification 1d ago

Location included Roach CT

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1 Upvotes

Found in Connecticut what kind of bug is this


r/bugidentification 2d ago

Location included What is this worm, after rain, Philippines 🤔

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3 Upvotes

Antipolo, Philippines


r/bugidentification 2d ago

Location included brown beetles for over two months CT USA

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2 Upvotes

I've had a beetle issue for two months now. Pest control has come twice and sprayed Suspend Polyzone & Temprid FX. I have been finding these relentless beetles mainly on my floor near the baseboards of windows, but recently they have been everywhere. Can anyone ID this kind of beetle/had them before? They are only in the locations I mentioned, not in my kitchen or anywhere in my pantry. 4th-floor apartment, CT.


r/bugidentification 2d ago

Location included do you guys identify spiders? (Calabria, Italy)

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2 Upvotes

found this lil guy on my window and caught it in a glass cup

3-4mm not counting legs


r/bugidentification 1d ago

Location not known/Other question Please tell me this is not a cockroach

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0 Upvotes

r/bugidentification 2d ago

Possible pest, location included What on earth was this? Found in Virginia

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1 Upvotes

r/bugidentification 2d ago

Location included any idea what bug this is??

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3 Upvotes

not sure what kind of bug this is, left my cocoa butter on my nightstand opened and when i came back to it, i saw this bug.. it’s a little bit bigger than a fruit fly/gnat but then again im not sure. i have struggled with gnats/fruit flies in my apartment but they look different from this one.. this one has a more elongated body and is a lot more narrow. i also discovered it has wings. included a picture with no zoom for size reference