Stubborn Armenian Bathtub Bugs
For the last couple of months we've been finding these bizarre-looking inquisitive bugs in our bathtub and bathroom sink in the mornings. They have a prehistoric look to them, like the kind of insects you would find in the stone fossils they hand out to students to examine in eighth grade.
I would see one of these gliding about every so often, but never on a daily basis. Cockroaches were always greater in number, but strangely enough I haven't seen one on weeks. These guys are obviously drawn to the bathroom fixtures because of their attraction to humidity and they can't resist a hot morning shower apparently because at least one appears near the drain of the tub waiting for me.
They seem to be coming from the upper floors as I saw a few of them crawl in a chain on the bathroom ceiling last week, making their slow migration to the tub. On two occasions entire families were running around--microscopic babies, teenagers, even the grandparents. Some of them were hiding under the bathtub mat.
It's hard to get them moving under a steady jet from the shower hand nozzle. Once they suspect they're about to be washed away they use their ten legs as suction cups, deftly and defiantly adhering to the porcelain at any angle. Sometimes it takes a minute or two to set them on a new course of uncharted aquatic depths.
If anyone happens to know how these critters are called, please tell us in the comments section.
Comments
Linda
Thanks for the info.
Lepisma saccharina, frequently called silverfish, fishmoths, carpet sharks or paramites,
"Silverfish are a cosmopolitan species, found throughout North America, Europe, Australia, Japan, Asia and other parts of the Pacific.[8] They inhabit moist areas, requiring a relative humidity between 75% and 95%.[9] In urban areas, they can be found in basements, bathrooms, garages, closets and attics."
They are beneficial critters - eat soap scum and other residue. The natural version of Mr. Clean
Regards - Mkrtich
Then I just followed English Wiki page for it.
Anyway - to cut it short. They are living in wet conditions. So think about better ventilation and proper heating (if they are coming out of bathroom).
First of all when you find bugs(Woodlouse or Silverfish or other ) inside home, it means that place convenient and safe for living.
Second-keep place dry, as it possible in bathroom.
Also, I've learned that there are over 10,000 types of insects that exist within Armenia, quite a lot for a small territory.
From your photographs, I'd gather these are Waterlouse, too, as everyone else is mentioning. In Latin, Asellus Aquaticus. They are found throughout Europe (U.K, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Russia etc. & of course, as you have experienced, Armenia).
I wonder if the month or season has something to do with them seeking shelter now? In the U.S. spiders, silverfish, weavels, chiggers etc. make their way into peoples homes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysdera_crocata
Seen any?