Can any one identify this insect?

[e-paw]

While I was In the back yard the other day covering up the A.C. compressor when I found this bug. It was just standing on the foundation wall, watching me do some yard work when I noticed it. I have never come across one like it before and was wondering if any one else knows what it is.    

[eightyeightfan1]

A rhino bug?
Thats what it looks like. But I didn't think they were up in this neck of the woods.

Edit:
Never mind...I just googled Rhino beetle. It ain't one

[e-paw]

nice try 88. I moved here in 05 and never came across anything like it before. Just hope it's not a man eater

[Squidbait]

What you have there is a "true bug", a member of the Hemiptera order. Your picture's a little fuzzy, so identifying the finer points is a little tough. It could be a Wheel bug, which is a predatory bug, or a Conifer seed bug which sucks sap, or maybe an Assasin bug which as the name suggests, feeds on other insects.

It's tough to tell from your picture, but if it's got a raised ridge along the middle bit (thorax), it's most likely a wheel bug. As the weather starts to get cold, many insects start looking for warmer places to roost, and so we start to see them in and around our homes. I was working on a job site last week where any surface that was getting warmed by the sun was totally covered with ladybugs.

[TrainNut]

Thanks squid. The mention of lady bugs brought back some memories. Many years ago, my dad and I were cutting the Alfalfa in one of the fields when the mower bar cut through a lady bug nest. Within minutes, we were covered with thousands of lady bugs.

[e-paw]

thanks squid. It does have a raised ridge on it's back , almost like a circular saw blade.

[Brakie]

Must be another import bug..Never seen anything like that jasper.

[poliss]

It probably fell out of your computer. Vista is well known for being full of bugs. :-)

[tomustang]

Yup, wheel bugs. see a lot of them here, even have one captured in a container out front

[MountainMan]

Try here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=wheel+bug&go=&form=QBIR&qs=n#focal=08e5b32b3a71302993f10a5855655007&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.idlab.ento.vt.edu%2FIDLab%2Fid%2Fwheelbug.jpg">http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=whe ... eelbug.jpg</a><!-- m -->

[e-paw]

Your right Tom. It's a wheel bug. From what I read they are very beneficial, They eat lots of pests. It almost looks like a machine from outer space.

[Brakie]

It almost looks like a machine from outer space.

Martian perhaps? hock: