Skip to main navigation Skip to site navigation Skip to content

Home and Garden IPM from Cooperative Extension

Photo Gallery: Household Pests and Critters

: American Cockroach (female) (Periplaneta americana)

: American Cockroach (female)

: Bed Bugs (Cimex lectularius) (various instar stages; two smaller nymphs [top of photo] and two adults [lower right])

: Bed Bugs (left: male; right: female) (4/26/2023)

: Bed Bug (adult female)

: Blow Fly (genus Calliphora)

: Blow Fly

: A species of booklouse called the Larger Pale Booklouse (Trogium pulsatorium)

: Larger Pale Booklouse (Trogium pulsatorium), resting at the edge of a glass petri dish (closer view of the same specimen is shown in the adjacent image)

: Brown-banded Cockroaches (Supella longipalpa) (female: left; male: right)

: Camel Cricket (Family Rhaphidophoridae)

: Carpenter Ant (Winged Queen)

: Carpenter Ant (Winged Queen)

: A male Carpenter Ant

: Carpenter Ants (workers) (one of the workers is feeding on a drop of honey)

: Black Carpet Beetles (Attagenus unicolor) (three adults and two larvae)

: Cellar Spider (Pholcus phalangioides) (female guarding her egg sac)

: Cluster Fly (Pollenia rudis)

: Drain Fly / Bathroom Moth Fly (Clogmia albipunctata) (found around sewage or other wet areas)

: Drugstore Beetle (Stegobium paniceum) (Alton, Maine; 8/2/2021)

: Drugstore Beetles (Stegobium paniceum) taken from a kitchen counter (with a penny for size comparison) (Alton, Maine; 8/2/2021)

: Drugstore Beetles (Stegobium paniceum) (Alton, Maine; 8/2/2021)

: Earwigs (Forficula auricularia) (European Earwigs)

: Eastern Boxelder Bug (Boisea trivittata) (adult stage) (Hallowell, ME; 4/19/2021)

: Eastern Boxelder Bug (Boisea trivittata) (adult stage) (Hallowell, ME; 4/19/2021)

: Eastern Parson Spider (Herpyllus ecclesiasticus)

: Banded Fishing Spider (Dolomedes vittatus) (Etna, ME; 6/15/2010)

: Dark Fishing Spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus) (Etna, ME; 6/23/2022)

: Fleas (Cat Flea shown here; Ctenocephalides felis)

: Flour beetles (pair of Broadhorned Flour beetles shown here; Gnatocerus cornutus)

: Four-lined Silverfish (Ctenolepisma lineatum)

: Fruit Fly / Lesser Fruit Fly (Drosophila melanogaster) (close-up view)

: Dark-winged Fungus Gnats (Family Sciaridae) captured on a yellow sticky card placed in the pot of a houseplant (they are drawn to light and also to the color of yellow)

: Closeup view of a fungus gnat (this particular specimen belongs to the genus called Trichonta) (Cape Elizabeth, ME; 11/27/2021)

: German cockroach (female) (Blattella germanica)

: Grain beetle example (adult and larva/grub) (shown here is a Sawtoothed Grain Beetle (Oryzaephilus surinamensis)

: House Fly (Musca domestica)

: Pantry Moths / Flour Moths (Plodia interpunctella) (with larvae and the webbing that the larvae spin, shown with one of their more unusual food sources: rodenticide pellets)

: A mature Pantry Moth / Flour Moth larva (Plodia interpunctella) with some of its silk webbing that they spin (you can see the webbing between the larva and the coin)

: Pantry Moth / Flour Moth (Plodia interpunctella)

: Pantry Moth / Flour Moth (Plodia interpunctella)

: Jumping Spider

: Larder Beetle larva

: Larder Beetle (Dermestes lardarius)

: Larder Beetle (Dermestes lardarius)

: Lesser Grain Borers (Rhyzopertha dominica)

: Meal Moth (Pyralis farinalis) (Etna,ME; 5/3/2021)

: Meal Moth (Pyralis farinalis) (resting on a bathroom wall with its abdomen curved up and out for more effective pheromone dispersal; central Maine; 5/10/2021)

: Meal Moth (Pyralis farinalis) (central Maine; 5/11/2021)

: Mealworms (larvae and adults) (Found commonly in areas with dry pet food) (Tenebrio molitor, the Yellow Mealworm, is the most common and widely encountered mealworm species in New England and throughout the world.)

: Millipede

: Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis)

: Group of Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles (adults move indoors in search of warm places to spend the winter)

: Pavement Ants (Tetramorium immigrans)

: Powderpost Beetle (three different families contain species that can be collectively referred to as powderpost beetles: Lyctidae, Anobiidae, and Bostrichidae)

: Silverfish (Family Lepismatidae)

: Sowbug (very similar to a pillbug) (Sowbugs and pillbugs are crustaceans, not insects!)

: Tanbark Borer / Violet Tanbark Beetle (Phymatodes testaceus) (Cape Elizabeth, ME; 5/4/2023) (Photo courtesy of MB)

: Termites (very rare in Maine)

: Termite (soldier)

: Termites (workers)

: Termites (winged reproductives)

: Termite reproductives who have lost their wings; they break off their wings a short time after swarming and mating.

: Ticks (ticks are often found indoors after hitching a ride on a person or a family pet)

: Twospotted Spider Mites (Tetranychus urticae)

: Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) next to a U.S. penny for scale purposes (specimen from Orono, ME; 5/3/2023)

: Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) (magnified view; playing dead as they are apt to do)

: Western Conifer Seed Bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis)

: Whiteflies (adults with wings, immatures, and black/dead ones due to parasitism)

: Winter Firefly (Ellychnia corrusca) (5/3/2011; Etna, ME)

: Winter Firefly (Ellychnia corrusca) (5/3/2011; Etna, ME)

: Example of a wood roach (Dusky Cockroach, Ectobius lapponicus) (male) (Stetson, Maine; 7/13/2015)

: Example of a wood roach (Tawny Cockroach, Ectobius pallidus) (male) (Acadia National Park, Maine; 10/11/2009)

Additional Photos and Information:

American Cockroach
Ants
Bed Bugs
Blow Flies and Flesh Flies
Booklice
Boxelder Bugs (BugGuide.net) See also: Boxelder Bugs (Univ. of Minnesota Extension) (they come inside accidentally or in search of a warm location in which to spend the winter)
Brown-banded Cockroach
Camel Crickets
Carpenter Ants
Carpet Beetles
Cellar Spiders
Cluster Flies
Cockroaches
Drain Flies
Drugstore Beetles (Penn State) | See also Drugstore Beetle (BugGuide.net)
Earwigs
Eastern Boxelder Bugs (BugGuide.net) See also: Boxelder Bugs (Univ. of Minnesota Extension) (they come inside accidentally or in search of a warm location in which to spend the winter)
Eastern Parson Spider (Penn State)
Firebrats (and Silverfish)
Fishing Spiders
Fleas
Flour Beetles
Four-lined Silverfish
Fruit Flies
Fungus Gnats
German Cockroach
Grain Beetles
House Flies
Indian Meal Moth
Jumping Spiders (University of Arizona)
Larder Beetles
Lesser Grain Borers
Meal Moth (BugGuide.net)
Mealworms
Millipedes
Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles (ladybugs are beneficial but they can be a household nuisance as well)
Pantry Moth
Parson Spider (Penn State)
Pavement Ants
Powderpost Beetles
Silverfish (and Firebrats)
Sowbugs (Univ. of Maryland / UMD Cooperative Extension)
Spiders
Tanbark Borer / Violet Tanbark Beetle (often encountered when they emerge indoors from oak firewood) (BugGuide.net)
Termites (NC State Extension) — Rare in Maine; mostly occur only in pocket areas in some southern and coastal locations.
Ticks (likely carried in from outdoors on a person or a family pet)
Two-Spotted Spider Mites
Varied Carpet Beetles
Western Conifer Seed Bugs
Whiteflies (University of Missouri)
Winter Fireflies
Wood Roaches (outdoor roaches that sometimes find their way indoors accidentally; nuisance pest only)

Top