Knowledgebase
Tiny brown bug #341718
Asked July 11, 2016, 12:24 PM EDT
Beaver County Pennsylvania
Expert Response
The insect in your photo is NOT a cockroach, nor is it a flour beetle, although it is a kind of beetle. Unfortunately your photos are a little too blurry and won't enlarge enough for me to make a positive identification of it. However, it doesn't really resemble any of the stored product beetles, wood-boring beetles, or others that you might find in a household that might be of concern. My guess is that this is likely something that is harmless that was attracted to a light at night or otherwise accidentally found its way into your home. However, if this is something that you are finding many of inside your home, if you can get me some sharper, close-up photographs, I might be able to have a better chance of identifying it for you. It would also help to know where you are seeing them inside the home. Otherwise, you might collect some and take them to your local extension office where they can possibly pass them on to a specialist at Penn State Univ. for identification.