Got home late from Boston Show last night and Heather is pretty upset at the huge 'bug' stuck floundering on its back.
I did not get too close and even hubbie was apprehensive about picking it up so in the end he 'crunched' it with his foot. It was almost 2 inches long with a shell like a beetle but was a yellowish/gold in colour. the way its wings met almost looked like a sting where they pointed. It was a very large, armoured bug and I have never seen anythging like it. Does anyone knbow wot it could have been. It was really horrible!!!!!
sue

Could be a type of cockroach? mega yeucccchhhhh

i thought they were black or brown. I just tried to find a website with pics of them but can only find american or german but it did look similar. are cockroaches that big and worse still, could there be more hidden away???????help!!!!!

Sounds like a cockroach to me too.

I have heard that the last thing you should do is to stamp on them because when they burst their eggs are really sticky and can adhere to the shoe so you take them home for your own personal infestation.
Lara x

ahh yuk! now im itching

These are beetles - I am not sure whether they are a type of stag beetle as they have almost "fluffy" horns. They seem to be incredibly clumsy and persistent in trying to get though windows, lights etc then bounce back and land on their backs where they then struggle to regain their feet and do it all over again. We have quite a few around here at the moment and they are around when I take the dogs out at night - I seem to spend half the time turning them over again. Their feet seem to grab you but I think this is just because they have an almost clawed foot for climbing

I think you will find that cockroaches are black

Christine

Hope you're right Christine.
The only stag or rhino beetles round here are black too. German cockroaches are golden.
Lara x

Star - the insect you've described sounds exactly like the Golden Armoured Gunner Roach. It's very rare in the UK but it's a notifiable insect - you have to ring up DEFRA to arrange for a trained professional to capture or terminate it and cleanse your property. Although it's only a small insect it's immensely powerful and using its pincer-like fore-prong can lift weights of up to 150lbs. The larger more mature males have been known to prey on small animals or people wearing too much perfume. It has a strange mating ritual which involves waiting around on the ground for someone to crush it, in order to release its eggs into the environment (usually around 3000 at a time). These then attach themselves to nearby animals/people, and hatch out three weeks later.

Just kidding! :D

:D :D

I know what you mean and we have them flying around the outside of our house in the evenings especially when the outside lights are on. Our dogs love to try and catch them, and when they do succeed, the bugs fall to the ground on to their backs with their little feet sticking up and they are stuck until somebody helps them back again!! They are very sticky and will stick to the noses of the dogs, the pup thinks they are great fun to try and catch, and a couple of days ago she atually ate one and is none the worse for it!!!!!

I don't know what they are called though!

I'm glad to know someone else who has these annoying bugs flying around. We didn't have them last year at all. My Yorkie loves them!! She will play with them until she kills them and then you hear her crunching!! Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!! Makes you want to be ill! Didn't have any tonight flying about, so no midnight snack for Precious!! :D Shirl

certainly sounds like the same thing. Wonder what its called tho!

Hiya Star,
did your "bug" look anything like this??

http://www.uksafari.com/cockchafer.htm

Leesa.

Mine do!

Christine

Hi Sue

I think the common name for the beetle looking creature is A MAY BUG...........they frighten my kids to death, we've had experiences with cockroaches in Ibiza, they are very similar to those!

Cheers Leesa. thats exactly what it was. Thank God it was not a cockroach after all.
:)
Sue

Hiya Sue,
My Hubby must take the credit :rolleyes:
He is a pest control technician.
Glad to be of some help :)
leesa.

We've got these cockchafer things in our garden. Seen two in the last two days. I was convinced that they were cockroaches, they are gross, just read about them and it says:

"If you pick one up it will make a squeaking sound by rubbing a row of pegs on its hind legs against its middle legs".

I think I can live without the squeaking thank you.