What the fuck is this thing?

[kitchen_kink]

So one day recently I was sitting at my computer when some HUGE flying insect buzzed with a helicopterish sound from out my skylight and then promptly disappeared. I found it, later, crawling lazily along one of my wires. It's not actually that huge; it's about an inch long, and not very fast. Nor have I ever since seen it fly. I had no IDEA what it was, and up until then, had never seen one before.

Today, while putting plastic on my bedroom windows, I found another one. And I caught heem.

Note: I couldn't get a very good picture. He's kinda brown-speckled, and his back legs are like a cricket's or grasshopper's, kinda. But he hasn't made any chirping noises, and he's smaller than a cricket. I think.



Confused, am I.



[Poll #921955]

EDITED TO ADD: It's a Western Conifer Seed Bug! Thanks, frobz and all. I have taken him from his Gorgonzola container with the holes poked in the top and placed him outside near a pine tree. Hopefully he will bury himself; more likely he will die, or find his way back into the house, so I can put him outside again. :)

Comments

[minerva42]

I used to see a lot of these in Hudson MA - they seemed to like the house.
picture link.

Although it looks like what I've been calling stink bugs all my life are actually squash bugs. *unsure*

[the-xtina.livejournal.com]

Although the lurkers in email do support hawver's comment.

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

Thats a Western Conifer Seed Bug. They've recently moved into this region; previously they only had made it as far northeast as PA. They're pretty much completely harmless. Their diet consists of just conifer seeds. Come fall, they either bury themselves of try to find other warm places to winter over, such as office buildings.

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

Here is a better picture and some info.

[eclecticavatar.livejournal.com]

It's a "true bug!" totally harmless and vegetarian. Here's an example of one of his kin.

http://www.insects.org/entophiles/hemiptera/hemi_007.html

[dietrich.livejournal.com]

That's the one!

[dietrich.livejournal.com]

Looks like it's a Western Conifer Seed Bug, though the squash bug looks closer than the stink bug to what I've got here.

[wurmwyd.livejournal.com]

Hi there!

Ya KNOW? Here am I, Master Reference Librarian bravely staffing the reference desk, reviewing online databases, and assisting library patrons. All-in-all, a very busy day here at the university library.

Why is it that every time I have a crazy busy day at the reference desk, someone on my friends list posts a question that I could conceivably answer with my badass expert-level reference skillz, if I had any time at all to check LJ. Then I could look like a huge informational retrieval stud, and get the respect and admiration of my peers ... but no.

When it's a slow day, I check LJ 478,000 times, and hear: [crickets]^*. When I don't check LJ for days, hundreds of LJ friends desperately need my help! What's UP with that??



*But not, fortunately, Western Conifer Seed Bugs ...