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I am currently staying with my family in Shanghai, China and they have this bug problem in one of the rooms. It is some type of small brown bug with no visible legs and they are concentrated near the edges / cracks in the room. This bug infestation only occurred after someone moved in downstairs.

After an extensive google search, I cannot find anything similar to these bugs and I cannot find a solution to get rid of them either. Bug spray was killing them at first, but then just stopped working.

It's weird because the bugs are contained to one room. The Chinese Pest control came, but they didn't solve anything either. What are these bugs and what's the best way to eliminate these bugs?

pic1 pic2

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    Are they red, orange or yellow, with black spots?
    – bib
    Oct 15, 2013 at 1:34
  • They are pretty much all around brown. No spots. The pictures are included in the post. Not sure if they are good enough quality though.
    – krikara
    Oct 15, 2013 at 1:36
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    I think you'd need to use a camera with a close-up lens or macro lens to get a good enough photo to identify them. Oct 15, 2013 at 10:04
  • Hope you leave them there.
    – user101687
    Jun 25, 2019 at 22:55

2 Answers 2

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It's hard to tell from the photo, but to me they look like either Coccinellidae ("Ladybird" or, "ladybug"), or Harmonia axyridis. Ladybugs are considered to be lucky, and killing them brings sadness and misfortune. So squashing them may or may not be a good plan, depending on how superstitious you are.

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Prevention

The best way to prevent them from entering the home, is to seal all openings. I've heard rumor of pheromone based traps, but was unable to find one online.

Removal

To remove the bugs, you can simply sweep them away with a broom or soft bristle brush. You can also vacuum them up. Though it is suggested that pantyhose be attached to the vacuum hose using a rubber band, as to collect the bugs in the pantyhose rather than the vacuum canister.

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  • I'm almost positive they aren't ladybugs, at least none like the ones shown because there are literally no legs visible. The bugs just look like a small brown bubble (on all sides). As for removal, vacuum doesn't do the trick. My relatives even went as far as using a bug bomb and these bugs are still coming out of the cracks.
    – krikara
    Oct 15, 2013 at 11:35
  • My guess was that it could be some sort of mite.
    – krikara
    Oct 15, 2013 at 11:36
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They look like drugstore beetles. You need to locate their food source, which is also their home. In my case it was a box of fish food inside a cupboard. Remove the food source and spray the stray beetles with Raid or equivalent flying insect killer. Also spray around the food source.

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