Insect Identification

[Lonnie]

Hi all, I caught this thing crawling accross our carpet, I trapped it, and put it outdoors, but i'never seen one before, quite likely its quite common, but if possible, i'd like it identified please.

Pure black, about an 1 to 1to1/2 inches long, four main legs and what looked like two legs small close to its head, and also, what looked like a pair of pincers at its tail end. Thanks.

[joe-90]

It sounds to me like a 'rove beetle' of which there are about 200 types. Did the insect appear to rear up its back end like a scorpion when you touched it? The most common type is often known as the 'Devil's coach horse' beetle.

[joe-90]

Was it this one?

http://encyclopedia.tfd.com/Devil's+coach+hors e+beetle

[Lonnie]

Thats it joe, thanks, now i've got to find out why it was in the house, and hope it hasn't laid any eggs.

[Jules001]

I think you should be fairly safe about it not laying eggs unless of course you happen to have any of these in your house:)

"Females lay their eggs from 2-3 weeks after first mating. They are large (4 mm) and white with a darker band and laid singly in damp conditions under moss, stones, cow pats or leaf litter, typically in the Autumn."

[Lonnie]

Thanks for that info jules.