Send us a photograph first. It is free, and often it is the whole job.
About half of what people send us can be identified from the picture, and a good share of those need nothing done at all. We would rather tell you that by email than charge you to hear it in person.
That is with us.
We reply to identification requests within one working day, usually the same afternoon. If it turns out to be something urgent we will call rather than email. This is a demonstration site, so nothing was actually sent.
Three things that make the answer better.
- Scale
Put a coin next to it
Size rules more species in and out than any other single character, and a photograph on its own has no size in it.
- Light
Flash on, light from the side
A silhouette cannot be identified. Neither can a blur — brace the phone on something.
- Angle
One from above, one from the side
The waist, the antennae and the shell profile are the diagnostic characters and no single angle shows all three.
- Where
2408 Coolidge Hwy
Berkley, MI 48072
Directions →Office Mon–Fri 8–5, Sat 9–1. Outside those hours leave a message — for anything short of a sting emergency, the morning is soon enough and we will say so honestly.
- Where we go
Berkley, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Oak Park, Birmingham and the surrounding communities
Just outside that, call anyway. We will either come or give you the name of somebody closer who we would use on our own house.