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I saw a bug swimming through my carpet, and promptly squished it. I had never seen this kind of bug before, and wanted to find out what it is, so that I can assess it's danger to my house and family, and know how to responsibly take care of it. However, my dog gobbled it up before I could take a photograph, so all I have to go by is a mental image:

  • 1.5-2.5 inches long (3-6cm)
  • 2-3 segmented body, with a smaller head, and over 3/4 of it's length was the back segment
  • Mandibles/Pincers at one end of the body (I can't remember which)
  • I think it only had 6 or so legs.
  • The dog made a disgruntled face when she ate it, so I think it could have tasted badly, or bit/stung her tongue as she ate it.
  • I believe it was two colors, with a pale colored section and a reddish-brown section, although I can't remember their locations.

I live in the Northwestern US, and have three trees on my lot: two maples and a boxelder. The house was built in 1954 and has a crawlspace foundation.

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    $\begingroup$ Did it look like this? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_coach_horse_beetle $\endgroup$
    – arboviral
    Commented Sep 12, 2017 at 8:36
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    $\begingroup$ Or possibly en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earwig? $\endgroup$
    – arboviral
    Commented Sep 12, 2017 at 8:37
  • $\begingroup$ @arboviral it looked more like an earwig, I'm familiar with those, but it was at least twice as long as any I've seen, and the coloring was different. $\endgroup$
    – THiebert
    Commented Sep 12, 2017 at 8:41
  • $\begingroup$ Okay; I can't think of anything obvious but if you can add details of the colouring that might help others. $\endgroup$
    – arboviral
    Commented Sep 12, 2017 at 8:45
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    $\begingroup$ this i going to be very hard without pictures! some beetle larvae have "pincers" in front, maybe check out some carabid larvae? $\endgroup$
    – picapica
    Commented Sep 12, 2017 at 19:14

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