What are these creatures called!!!!

[traleegirl]

Hi my kitchen is infested with these tiny black creatures which bite! They are less than 1mm long and just thicker than a human hair. My neighbour also has them! Does anyone have any idea what they are called. Thanks Frances

[Dazzler]

Sound like fleas to me, do you have a cat or a dog, you don't have to. I would suggest contacting either your local authority or a pest control company from the yellow pages. Sadly it may be indicative of a further pest problem, Good luck

[New Forester]

Are you sure they bite? Fleas are usually a bit bigger, about 2 or 3 mm, and will come off cats and dogs (or cat prey). They are blackish and shiny, jump, and are hard to catch or crush. You don't usually see or feel them bite -- you just itch later. I wonder about booklice, or Psocids? These are about the size you say, and run about at the back of cupboards, eating spilt flour, mould, drips from ketchup bottles and so on. They do not bite and are harmless, though perhaps you need to clean more... Some do live in the spines of books. They are usually brownish, with classic insect 3-part bodies (head, thorax, abdomen), and longish feelers, but like fleas they have no wings. They crawl about slowly and are soft-bodied. Some species make a tiny tapping noise in the summer which can be very hard to trace. Outdoor kinds can be larger, with wings. Richard

[supermum1965]

It sounds like the same thing i used to get in my house. I used to live next to a feild that grew oilseed rape and we got lots of these creatures but i don't know what you call them,sorry. Try asking your pest control unit ?

[traleegirl]

Neither fleas or booklice. No pets and a very clean house!!!!! We are surrounded by fields and they tend to gather around the windows so i think supermum may be right.

[New Forester]

OK, OK, Frances, you clean the backs of the cupboards... What about thrips? (Thrips is singular -- plural is thripses I suppose.) Also known as thunderbugs. These do fit your description, being blackish, thin and about that length. They have wings, which may not be obvious, as they fold them along the body. They fly about in hot, humid weather, and tickle when they run about on your hot, sticky skin -- they don't actually bite, but the tickling seems worse. Some other thripses are crop pests, including ones which look like tiny white moths. Could they be aphids? Greenfly or blackfly -- roundish bodies, clumsy, spindly legs, wings sticking out above, from 1 to 3 mm. Very common in cornfields and gardens, where they suck plant juices. They don't bite humans though. And what about midges? Now they do bite! Very small (0.5 mm?), proportioned more like a tiny housefly. They tickle and bite, leaving a little mark like a lovebite, which itches. They like tender skin, such as forearms, necks and faces, especially around the eyes. If you squash them, more soon appear. They come out on warm, damp evenings, except in Scotland, where they hover like smoke over the ground and eat you alive all summer long. Not usually indoors though as it's too dry. Citrus oils seem to repel them -- rub your skin with orange peel.

[traleegirl]

Just looked up thrips and unfortunatly they look nothing like those. These look like black splinters completly straight with no wings. I am not sure if they bite or sting, it is quite painful whatever they do! It leaves no mark or redness. When they are on you they walk in a zig zag fashion. We have been advised by another neighbour that they live in wood and replacing the windows with PVC will get rid of them.

[New Forester]

Black splinters is exactly what the thunderbug kind of thrips looks like, & the action does sound right too. Each wing is just a strap with hairy edges, and they are held tightly against the body like a moth's, so you can't see them without a lens. This picture looks like a thunderbug, though it's magnified a lot so you can see the wings: sorghum.tamu.edu/insects/ insectphotos/thrips.gif This one shows the size, on someone's screen: personal.earlsoft.co.uk/ stuff/thrips.jpg All the other pics I could find are either other kinds, or magnified so much they look quite different, or shown dead with their wings spread. Richard

[traleegirl]

Thank you so much Richard that is exactly what they are. We are having the windows replaced (a bit drastic i know but these are becoming a problem. I found them on the seal of the fridge this morning) I hope that this will be an end of them. I will keep you updated. Frances

[New Forester]

Frances - They're a hot-weather thing, so don't worry, they'll go... Richard