What is it?

up for anything

I'm not sure if this is the right forum but I thought people interested in Zoology might have an idea.

A friend has a giant bug in her bathroom and she's really freaked. It's there since last night. She thought it was a child's toy but it moved and she locked the door from the outside.

It's about the size of a tv remote control, like a magnified bug but it's body is dark grey and long and fat like a small bird with a shell and with 8-10 well formed legs coming out of it on each side. It looks like it has wings but it's upside down but still waving it's legs around. Hard shell like a giant beetle.

Are there cockroaches that big?

Sid_Justice

you must have really small remote controls where you're from. pics or didn't happen to be honest. for identification the nature and birdwatching forum will probably be better suited as some really good guys hang out over there


assuming this is genuine the only thing that matches the description (which is probably not accurate) is a giant centipede.

steddyeddy

It could be a cockchaffer (which sounds like it was discovered by roy chubby brown).

up for anything

It is real. I'm just relaying info. She won't even look at pictures. Anything buggy frightens the hell out of her. She swears it's the size of a remote control so allowing for some exaggeration it must be six inches long. She's house sitting for her brother and thought it was one of his kids' toys.

slimjimmc

See anything similar here?

Sid_Justice

go in and get a photo ya good thing

up for anything

It's NOT me. Really, it's a friend. On the centipede front she had this to say.

it's defo not a centipede
too few legs and they're evenly spread out
like 2 at the end
2 in the middle
2 near the top etc
I saw that much
this is so well formed, it looked like a rubber toy

I can't move her on the photo front. I'm not sure that I blame her though. I posted in the Nature forum on your advice.

FTGFOP

Googled "largest insect in Ireland" and got a Boards.ie thread (of course).

Thread.

Anyway could it be a Woodwasp?

Sid_Justice

up for anything wrote: »

It's NOT me. Really, it's a friend. On the centipede front she had this to say.



I can't move her on the photo front. I'm not sure that I blame her though. I posted in the Nature forum on your advice.

you said in the first post it has 8-10 legs. insects have 6 legs. spiders have 8 legs. centipedes have more than 8 legs. Crustaceans like lobsters have 10 legs i think. you're asking people to identify something that sounds like it's made up.

there are some large moths, perhaps humming bird moth, but they don't have a hard carapace like a beetle. she thinks it has wings, maybe it is one of the cockchaffers . it would be awesome if some Norwegian lobster climbed out of her toilet. i think multiplosting is frowned up on this site. you need to drive up and take a photo and share it with us.

up for anything

slimjimmc wrote: »

See anything similar here?

looking at those, I suspect more it's a giant beetle
it looks like one of those upside down
but it has managed to move
from one spot to the other
is that possible on its back?

I'm coaxing her into looking at woodwasps.

ETA: Definitely not a woodwasp.

Also now her heart has stopped pounding she's reduced the size to about 3" which is still pretty big for an Irish insect.


EATA: I think I've pushed her over the edge into taking a photo. Fingers crossed.

Sid_Justice

this has gone from being a giant octopus to a large beetle, je suis disappointed.

up for anything

Not half as disappointed as I am. She's embarrassed now.

Sorry if the photo is oversized, unlike the beetle, but I haven't a clue how to downsize it.

Sid_Justice

i am speechless.

up for anything

Sid_Justice wrote: »

i am speechless.

Sorry, next time I see her I'm going to flatten her.


I didn't mean to multi-post. I just wanted to allay her fears and put her out of her misery as quickly as possible.

Samich

What is it?

Sid_Justice

if you tilt your head to the side it looks like a lynx with funny whiskers

up for anything

I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. She went up threw a towel over it and beat it to death with a boot only to find out it was a fecking toy after all. I'm sorry. I'll just slink away quietly to the prison forum now.

FTGFOP

I see a spider and a blue thing that looks like it's painted on to the bath.

edit:ffs

Adam Khor

Is this some kind of joke?

Sid_Justice

this thing still bothers me, the photo looks weirdly familiar. Like it looks to me like a siloutte of a upside down bumble bee. but then the original poster has said it's not actually an insect.

raveni

Going through the thread hoping there would be pics; on the one hand- terrified of the monster I was going to see and learn inhabitated the same country as me, on the other- anxious to be prepared for such a heart-stopping encounter. Scrolling down the picture with baited breath, had this: :eek: expression at the ready, and what do I get? A toy.
I can sleep soundly tonight:D Not what you intended but thanks for the laugh:pac: