While plugging in my laptop to the outlet behind the couch, a small, dark little speck caught my eye on Sunday afternoon.  The light was just right and my vantage point perfect to notice the about 2mm thingy that, upon first glance, I thought was just one of those tiny little, fast moving spider fellas.  But when I got the tissue to squash it, two long arms extended and sent me into full-on panic mode. 

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that I tend to overreact to things…but this was crazy lookin’.  It was like a spider but it had scorpion arms.  I didn’t know if it was a tick or a louse or some exotic thing that had hitched a ride on my produce and was now primed to attach itself to my 11 month old daughter as host and slowly devour her – yeah that’s the kind of stuff that goes through my mind.  So, I grabbed a Tupperware and sealed it in there and then began a Google search. 

Turns out it kind of is a spider – same arachnid class – and it’s actually quite common and quite beneficial.  They eat beetle and fly larvae and ants and mites, and you probably have them in your home too.  They’re simply so small that they are rarely ever noticed.  Meet my new pseudoscorpion pal:

I feel like I need to put a stick and a leaf in there with him, you know, to mimic his natural environment.  And though I’m not concerned at all about my family’s well being with these guys crawling around, I am starting to doubt the effectiveness of my storage container.   This thing has been sealed up since Sunday and the pseudoscorpion is still goin’ strong.   Not exactly air tight.