u/MagnetHype

So, I'm trying to a get a better handle on differentiating beetles from other species of insects. My previous understanding was that only beetles have true elytra, but some members of Hemiptera have pseudo-elytra. My previous understanding was that no cockroaches have elytra.

But, I found this Observation of supposedly Prosoplecta semperi. Which does seem to have at the very least elytra like wings.

So, my questions are:

Is that actually a species of cockroach, or is the identification in the observation wrong?
Are those actually Elytra like coverings over the wings, or is it something like Batesian mimicry?
Are there more species of cockroach that feature this? And if so are any of them endemic to North America?

Thanks in advance!

So, I've been thinking about doing this thing every monday where we talk about misconceptions surrounding bed bugs (there are so many). We talk about what they are capable of, we talk about what they aren't capable of, and we talk about how to control them.

Before I invest heavily in that though, I wanted to give this short litmus test where we look at this one video, and address all the claims they got wrong.

Claim #1: Bed bugs originated from bat bugs when we lived in caves.

We know this isn't true. We know this because we have DNA evidence that shows that bed bugs actually originated during the time of the dinosaurs. They obviously weren't feeding on us at this time, but bed bugs actually predate bat bugs by a long, long time.

Claim #2: The best way to eliminate bed bugs is heat

This is actually kind of true in theory, but in practice it breaks down very quickly. Think about it. If you were in a room, and that room suddenly started becoming warmer and warmer, wouldn't you just simply move to a different room? Well in this case, that's exactly what the bugs will do. In the pest control industry this is known as a scattering (the bugs move from the location where they're expected to be due to outside pressure), and is the one thing you want to avoid causing.

Now heat treatment can be very effective if the temperature rises fast enough, but in practice it usually doesn't, and this control method suffers from the "you miss one bug" issue. If a single gravid female bed bug survives, then you haven't eliminated your problem, you've just reset it.

Thermal control isn't inherently bad, but it does have a lot of problems that chemical control doesn't. If you hire a pest control company that is going to use thermal control, then at least understand that chemical control is still necessary

Claim #3: We changed our beds because of them

This is actually true. Beds today don't have the elaborate curtains surrounding them because of bed bugs. However, I don't feel like people really burned their houses down by igniting their beds as often as this video seems to suggest. So please don't set your bed frame on fire.

Claim #4: If your house gets too warm/cold bed bugs will "hibernate"

This is 100% false. For so many reasons. Bed bugs cannot enter diapause. They just simply are not a species that can do that. What they can do is enter a stage of quiescence (they slow down, and eat less), but this a very different than an insect that enters diapause.

Claim #5: putting your bedding in trash bags doesn't work/Bed bugs can survive for a year without eating

Okay this is the big one that most people get wrong. Bed bugs can survive for a very long time under lab conditions, which is where the one year mark comes from. However, your house is not a laboratory. They can actually only survive for a few months in your house without a blood meal. Putting your belongings in trash bags isn't meant to kill them, it's meant to deny the refuge so that they are forced over the chemical controls that pest control has deployed.

Claim #6: Bed bugs were almost wiped out and returned because DDT was banned

Nope. DDT is a pyrethroid, and it's well known that many insect pests today are pyrethroid resistant. A pyrethroid is just a synthetic version of a pyrethrin, which is simply a chemical released by a specific kind of flower. Bed bugs were never really close to being extinct, and they made a come back due to international air travel.

Okay, I would love to continue this but I'm only half way through the video and so far they've gotten mostly everything wrong. Let me know if this type of post is something you want more of, or not.

Holy crap. Look what it can do now that they added the new dynamic UI

If you pet the pug, and then don't pay, could you technically be charged with theft of services?

On today's episode of "Why isn't this warned?"

Nothing beats the feeling of watching your dupes poop flow through the pipes for the very first time

My first (ish) colony. ~200 cycles in. Finally running out of large algae supplies and switching to electrolyzer. Any advice?

A question about Prosoplecta semperi. Do some species of cockroach have elytra?