Real-Life Communication
You are an entomologist working with your city's parks and recreation
department. Your job ranges from developing mosquito control programs to answering
the public's questions about insects.
It's Tuesday afternoon when you
take a call from a woman, Mrs. Jones. She is concerned about finding two "beetle-like
bugs" in her kitchen cupboard. Mrs. Jones wants to know what type of insects
these are and why they have taken up residence in her kitchen. She says she
has never seen anything like them before and she's worried that they will
multiply inside her kitchen cupboard.
After chatting with Mrs. Jones
about the beetle-like insects, you explain to her that it's best if you actually
saw one of the insects, just to ensure you can identify it correctly. She
says this could be a problem because she has already disposed of them by sweeping
them outside.
She'd like to know a bit more about them, just in case
they reappear. Are they harmless? How did they get inside the cupboard? And
how does she get rid of them if they show up again?
You explain to
Mrs. Jones that although you generally don't like to make identifications
without seeing the insect first, you'll try to help her. If she can describe
a few things about the insect, you might be able to identify it over the phone.
Receiving
calls from people concerned about insects is common, says entomologist Todd
Reichardt. Quite often he has helped alleviate some anxiety by identifying
a bug for someone, either over the phone or in person.
"Someone will
call and describe an insect as a small black beetle, but that description
only narrows it down to about 50,000 [species] or so," he says.
He
says the best way to identify an insect is to see the real thing. However,
if he receives enough information about the insect, he may be able to identify
it without seeing it first, often easing the minds of those concerned.
The
following is how Mrs. Jones described the beetles she found in her kitchen
cupboard (before she swept them outside):
- The insects were brown in color
- Neither were very big, probably about one inch in length
- They were both found in a kitchen cupboard, at floor level, with the door
closed
- The cupboard contained no food, only an opened bag of dog food
- The cupboard is located right next to a heat vent in the kitchen, which
tends to make the cupboard warm and dry
After listening to Mrs. Jones's description, you refer to some of
your reference material on beetles. You think the beetles she described are
either foreign grain beetles or saw-toothed grain beetles, both of which are
common household pests.
After checking your material on beetles, you
come up with two descriptions. They are as follows:
Foreign Grain
Beetle
- Small
- Reddish brown in color
- Common household pests
- They feed on mold and fungi, not on grain
- They often infest damp areas
- They are attracted to light and are often found around windows and doors
Saw-Toothed Grain Beetle:
- Slender and flat shaped
- Brown in color
- Small, about one inch long
- Has six saw-like "teeth" on each side of its thorax
- Will attack almost any dry food, such as cereal, flour, macaroni and dry
pet food
- May wander away from infested material and be found in other parts of
the house
How would you identify this particular beetle?