Located in East Texas

Hopefully they didn't mind me invading their private time too much

Starting from a few weeks ago, a small black ant will randomly zoom across my monitor screen. This usually happens about 3 or 4 times a day. They usually go from top to bottom and presumably hides behind the monitor once it reaches the bottom edge. But i cannot figure out why they are doing this...there is no food anywhere on or near the monitor, and i have cleaned my monitor and desk multiple times.

I know ants will go for places where they think theres food. But theres no food or stain or anything like that on my monitor, and again, ive cleaned it and the desk multiple times. Even if there was some kind of smell attracting them, it should be gone by now.

If i were to leave food out, obviously, ants will swarm it, i would be able to see a clear ant trail and i would clearly see "yup, theres food there attracting the ants". But i am not seeing any swarming or ant trail. Its just one random black ant that zooms across my monitor screen. I cant figure out what they are doing on the monitor or why they are there. And i cannot figure out where they are coming from because there is no ant trail, no big group of ants, etc.

Any suggestions on what i can do about this? Again, ive cleaned the monitor and desk multiple times and i cant tell where they are coming from. Ive tried ant bait in the past (the kind that is supposed to kill the nest) and it doesnt appear to work. They seem to ignore it entirely.

Note : The ant is not INSIDE the monitor, it just zooms across the screen but it is outside, i can grab a tissue to remove it.

Central Arkansas, USA

He was the chillest little dude, let me take this picture, and let me move him a bit so he wouldn’t get smashed by my trashcans.

I used to work in a Lady beetle lab almost 20 years ago. Clicked this article as it said asian lady beetles aren't lady bugs. I read this article and it really beetled me ( since I'm American I guess I should use beetle and not bugged), maybe things have changed? According to this lady American lady beetles are "lady bugs" and the invasive Asian lady beetles are "lady beetles". There are so many others things too. Let me know your thoughts/reactions. One of my favorites, ladybugs are round but lady beetles are oval, yet at the top of the article there is a picture of a invasive Lady beetle and a convergent. The convergent is much more oval then the Asian lady beetles lol. Unfortunately it would not let me add the screenshot.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2024/10/25/ladybugs-vs-asian-lady-beetle-how-to-get-rid-of-them-in-to/75825832007/

Good morning.

As you probably know, there are several families of beetles including weevils (in the broad sense of the term).

My question is the following: What differentiates the Dryophthoridae from these other families?

I have (I think) identified that the bugs we have been seeing are actually three-lined cockroaches and not german cockroaches, but am finding it difficult to find advice on how to get rid of them since they are so new to my area of California. Does anyone have any tips or guidance on where to look to learn? I'm waiting to hear back from the place our county's vector & pest control district refers such questions to, and am under contract with an exterminator who thought we were dealing with german cockroaches and now is not returning my calls since I sent them the new photos, but in the meantime I'd like to try and address the issue or at least mitigate things getting worse if I can.

So far, I've only figured this out: we have cracks in the seals of two exterior doors that were hung improperly, so I am taking measures to seal them - as both the location I found these dead bugs and the location I have seen most of the live ones are near these doors respectively.

I know we may need to have the licensed exterminator technician come anyway, but as I am a caregiver for a family member who is really sick (and thus both immunocompromised and also it's hard to get them away from the house for several hours) and the exterminator company is asking me to do a lot of prep work before the visit I wanted to ask if anyone had advice or info.

• Habitat: Under wooden armoire and stove in house in Northern California, both locations near doors with poor seals.
• Time of day: N/A, they are dead. I usually see the live ones that look like the first photo during the day before sunset.
• Geographical Area: State or county is fine. Northern California
• Behavior: These are dead but the ones we see live just try to get away from us. I see them the most in the white bins my kids' toys are kept in (probably because they're white bins).

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New photos: First photo, duster. In lower bottom right, there's a dead bug that looks just like the bugs I've been seeing periodically for a few months - only a little greyer. Less than half an inch. But you can see the distinctive three-lined pattern. (The rest of the duster is either egg casings or dead ants that a spider wrapped - I couldn't tell.)

Second photo is of a bug that looks a bit different but per looking at photos online may just be a more mature three-lined cockroach as it has the same stripe pattern. This dead bug was also from a duster but I put it under tape to save for the exterminator if they do come next week.

https://preview.redd.it/r81k34pge8yd1.jpg?width=2077&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dd32acf30d9ef7bc51443b5b1e556db61274301e

https://preview.redd.it/y410128te8yd1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6ec33b48a6429697f163d8a739fe05cbd76112d

https://preview.redd.it/4gb897bme8yd1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cbab963f4c3f61a64e2cf619059cc35d5dc7ae1d

Hello,I live in the UK and as of summer this year I noticed something strange.. the house flies don't make buzzing sounds at all like what I am used to hearing all my life growing up. So it is quite strange and weird because I just saw them flying without any buzzing sound what could possibly be the reason? why this year?

Thanks