Your pictures a little blurry, how long is it?

Possibly this?

https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2011/07/09/female-broad-necked-root-borer-8/

is the house in MA also?? a scale would sure help ;..

my dogs used to bring bugs in the house in long fur ...

ken

See if Broad Necked Root Borer fits.

tj

Ahem,

Which was my link posted above?

Or aren't posts showing up right away again. :-?

It is definitely one of the prionid beetles.

The Broad-necked Borer would fit, but the image is too blurry to tell if the thorax is "toothy" enough.

Many of the prionid beetles eat foliage and their larvae eat roots.

You used both "a" and "they" in your description. This would be considered a pest if there are more than one spotted on plants, rather than a single that may have been attracted to lights.

The Jordan comment "looks like a beetle" was helpful in that the OP referred to "bug" 5 times and to a very dissimilar beetle once. "Bug" includes many non-beetle insects.

On the other hand, there are long-time hobbyists such as myself that would recognize a prionid beetle picture at a glance even if blurry.

Sorry, for the photo, my son took it on his phone and I'm amazed he had the presence of mind to take one. He saw the cat chasing something and then heard the bug flying, which creeped him out to have it in the house. He's not a gardener at all.

I'm sure that 'beetle' was inadequate. My reason for asking is more about whether they bite and how they might be getting in the house and how to encourage them to stay outside. No one has noticed them outdoors and there is only lawn and a few shrubs and perennials outside, but mostly large pine trees and no one gardening. They just moved in 4 months ago and are just trying to get the house straightened out before turning to the yard. [g]

Then this was a singleton that was attracted to house lighting after dark. These large beetles make a distinct buzz when flying, apparently no one heard it fly in an open window or door. It is unlikely to happen regularly. These beetles do not "bite" people, but their pincers could pinch painfully. They can be easily handled by grasping behind the thorax and then flung out a distance from the house.

Thank you very much for that information, I will pass it along and I'm sure it will be helpful.