I saw a rather large and rather creepy-looking bug in my house today, and I'm wondering if anyone has any idea what it was. It was about half an inch to an inch long, had a body a bit like an ant (but a bit fatter), tripod-like legs, and little things that looked like pincers in the front. It was really dark reddish-brown. Even my dog was scared of it. Any ideas???

When I read "pincers", my first thought was an earwig, but their pincers are in the back.

Sounds like a soldier termite to me:

termites are reddish brown, but there's so many varieties. Google image soldier termite and look through the couple pages of pictures.

If it had wings it's just a scout
If it did not have wings this an "Oh Sheet" moment.

Either way, call an exterminator

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Peace Out, Philly!

Alesis;

What the heck are you up at 4:30 am for?
Can't sleep?
Not getting enough meat in your diet again?

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Peace Out, Philly!

Ew ew ew ew ew. And uh-oh. It didn't look exactly like any of the pictures I found of soldier termites, but it was pretty close. And it did not have wings. Uh-oh. And it disappeared into my wall.
I actually thought it looked most like an earwig, but there were definitely no pincers in the back.

Even if it was a termite, the cost of a termite treatment will be in the $700 to $1,000 range. And our termites here are slow enough that it takes a long time (years) for them to do significant damage to a house. (Not like down south where they are super aggressive.) Don't worry too much, but do get someone out to check and do get it treated now if they do find termites.

And don't use Terminex, they are extremely expensive and their warranty plan is a huge rip-off!

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-Jess.
jessmodica@gmail.com