Domestic Fauna: But what are they?

Jun 22, 2005 11 Replies

I have:


1) Little mite type things on a couple of window ledges, they are kind of like a wood louse shape, 1-2mm long, say .5mm wide, two longish antennea type things and at least fine 6 legs. Brownish in colour.

They don't look like any furniture beetle / woodworm I have seen. They don't crunch when crushed but splat and occasionally jump out of the way of an impending finger nail.



They are more prevalent outside the windows and appear to be getting in through slightly imperfect seals (even on a 2 yr old DG soft wood window).



There are no flight holes etc (even in an unfinished ply sill) and they don't appear to be venturing far from the window.



Seen them off and on for a while but lots more over the last few weeks.


2)

Found several "worm like things", black say 2mm wide by upto 20mm long at the edge of my carpet, in close proximity to an external door. By the time I find them they appear to have died and dried up. They have sharper "ends" than an earth worm. Not found any since say April.



For 2) The room in question is partially tanked with delta membrane and has land drain below DPC, EPS insulation and concrete floor.



Any ideas what they are? Eradication info?



TIA,



Alex.


Obviously they are pubic lice. You can get stuff from the chemist to eradicate them.

If it isn't that, then they are fleas and you can get the same stuff from the vet, except that it costs more.

Thanks Andy.

I must remember not to shave in front of the windows anymore ... here's me checking out all the insect/crustacea id sites and its just so simple.

Hmm stuff like Lyclear etc (scabies/crab lice) was quite pricey last time I checked ... I haven't got a vet do I need one?

Had these at home when I was a kid, used to call them 'chipboard mites' ;) However they're not mite sized and seem to like other furniture too.

Still, looking around it seems that they might be 'book lice':

Maybe they're baby earthworms or some other sort of worm.

I'd just leave them to it if they're harmless, they'll probably die back naturally.

cheers, Pete.

Silverfish are another similar; segmented, about 8 mm long and 1 mm wide, plus two antennae. Silver coloured. Not terribly harmful I believe.

In days of yore, they used to eat all the wallpaper-paste. (I don't know whether this made said wallpaper fall off the wall; modern [i.e. post-1960] pastes incorporate fungi- and insecti- cides that prevent this nowadays.)

Thanks Pete ... I had a gander at a few such sites and discounted book lice on the grounds of size (mine are bigger at upto 3mm long). They do look like em though, so maybe they are a relative. Seem to only come out in numbers in the evening too ... weird.

re: worms ... could be infant earthy's, though I'm not sure, they are very persistent ones though to get through the wall/floor and tanking etc.

Alex

Ch

Thanks, they are similar but only about 1/3rd the size.

Alex

They eat cotton, linen, and paper.

When a kid I had cupboard with a fishtank on and they loved that. They also made a ticking noise at night which would resonate through the cupboard:

I then had to hit the cupboad to shut them up, and startled the poor fish!

If it's chemical tanking maybe the chemicals are making them come out.

cheers, Pete.

Nah - goats are MUCH bigger, and have only 4 legs........

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