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"is this a rove beetle? i've never seen one at home before!" "i'm in haidian, and i found a rove beetle on the wall of my toilet!"

recently, many citizens have reported that they have spotted rove beetles and even been injured by them. in response, professionals remind us to be wary of the poisonous black and red rove beetles and never take photos of them if you see them.

"when i was washing my face at night, i suddenly found a black and red insect on the face towel. it looked like the rove beetle i had seen in the south before." a few days ago, ms. yang, who lives in daxing district, found a rove beetle in the toilet. "i heard that this kind of insect is called 'flying sulfuric acid'. fortunately, i found it in time and my face was not 'ruined'. this is the first time i have seen this kind of insect in beijing. how could it appear for no reason?" surprised, ms. yang quickly took a photo and sent it to the community owners group. many neighbors also reported that they had seen it in their homes.

the reporter searched for "beijing rove beetle" on social media and found that citizens in many districts including dongcheng, chaoyang, haidian, fengtai, tongzhou, and fangshan reported seeing this insect. many of them said it was the first time they had seen it in beijing, and some even reported being injured by rove beetles.

ms. wang, who lives in jinsong, chaoyang, felt a bug fall on her face before going to bed. she subconsciously slapped it and removed it with paper. "i saw a bug that looked like an ant, but i didn't pay much attention to it. my face started to turn red at noon the next day, and pustules appeared in the afternoon. i went to the hospital and the doctor said it was caused by the venom secreted by the rove beetle, which caused inflammation." ms. wu applied ointment for a week as instructed by the doctor, and gradually got better.

why are there more reports of rove beetles appearing in beijing this year? in this regard, wu qi, a lecturer in the museum of natural history, explained: "although rove beetles are generally more common in the south, they have always been found in beijing, but they were rare before. rove beetles generally like to live in humid environments, especially after rain in summer and autumn. the fact that there are more of them in beijing this year may be related to the heavy rainfall in beijing this year."

however, not all rove beetles are poisonous. "the most common poisonous rove beetles are the black and red ones. they are phototactic and can be attracted to lights at night. they usually don't bite people, but if you slap them and their body fluids come into contact with your skin, blisters will form and cause rove beetle dermatitis."

wu qi said, "so if you encounter this kind of insect, don't slap it. you can blow it away gently, or 'shovel' it off with paper and throw it outside. if you accidentally come into contact with the venom, you can first wash it with clean water or alkaline soapy water. in serious cases, you should seek medical attention in time." wu qi suggested.

source: beijing time