Question

Insect view 1  

Insect view 2   Dear Mr. DeAngelis,

I live in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA and have recently found a few white/gray-colored insects, about 2 centimeters in size. The attached photos show one of the two I squashed today (sorry about the poor quality, it's the best my camera could focus!), which had almost see-through white coloring. I found one the other day, however, that was more gray/tan colored. Both seem to have slight stripes going across them. They have very small legs and antennae. I have recently moved into a new dormitory room and have found them randomly scurrying across the carpet. Due to the coloring of my carpet, it's quite difficult to see them and I have only noticed these few when I was close to and looking at the carpet, so I'm worried that there are a lot more that I just can't see! Thank you for your help!

Answer
Amy,

I can't see enough detail to be certain of an id but let me ask a couple of questions: Are you sure about the size, 2cm is close to an inch (2.54cm) but in the photo they appear to be much smaller than an inch? What do you mean by "scurrying", are they moving fast? If you can get a better photo I'd be glad to take another look but at this point I'm guessing these are immature cockroaches, or nymphs (see photo http://www.livingwithbugs.com/cockroach_identification.html near center of page). Post a follow up if you have additional info.

Jack DeAngelis