Socorro woman battles severe Red Beetle infestation, pleads for city action

A Socorro woman said she's dealt with a Red Beetle infestation for roughly seven weeks and wants the city to do more.

"At first it kind of started off slowly," said the unnamed resident. "Then I noticed, more aggressively, they started coming in and then I didn't know where they were coming from until I started seeing them crawling up on the ceiling from the lights. I could see them moving in the lights. And then the vents, the AC vents, I'm seeing them."

The resident said her quality of life has plummeted since the beetles began infesting her home.

You just feel a little paranoid, because they're everywhere. You feel them , they're just crawling all over in the kids beds, in my bed, on the couch.

She said she's been forced to live much of the day with the lights off to avoid drawing the beetles in and has even resorted to covering light fixtures with plastic bags to get some relief.

"Prior to that, they were falling in the bed with me. And yeah, you're uncomfortable. You're not sleeping. I would wake up like almost every hour, trying to flick them off the bed, shake the blanket, check my pillow, shake out my hair."

The resident said she's reached out to Socorro authorities, who only offered tips to keep the beetles at bay.

"I've called they just say, 'oh, well, they're harmless. And, you know, you could just spray ortho and, you know, like, make sure that you don't have any exposed food'."

The City of Socorro acknowledged the Red Beetle problem on social media in August — advising residents to spray pesticides and keep exterior lights off to avoid drawing in the pests.

The resident we spoke with says without help, she's left hoping for a change in seasons to drive them away.

"We're in El Paso. A good freeze is not going to come until maybe January, February. I would not want to continue living like that, till that, till the weather changes."

Socorro officials have not responded to requests for comment.