Insects in house.

4ensic15

What is this and how do I get rid of them from my house?
The attached image is magnified by 400x.

The photo isnt very clear. What size is it? If i divide the actual photo by 400 i get something almost micoscopic. Where do you find them? everywhere or near bed, pets etc.
Initially I thought it was a flea but they dont crawl and its legs are curved back.

Musefan

Looks a little like a bedbug. Do you find them near the bed (cracks in the mattress etc.) and are ye experiencing small bites in rows/clusters on you?

P. Breathnach

Google "carpet beetle", and see if that resembles your invader.

4ensic15

Thanks for the information. The insect can be found near wood, so it's not surprising to see them in the kitchen cupboards. It's about a third of the size of an ant, and it has two long tentacles in front. They come about twice a year.

Second Toughest in_the Freshers

Looks like a woodlouse, harmless

Bicycle

By any chance is it a flour mite?

Do they hide in cupboards, mainly food cupboards, and prefer dark to bright places?

Are they dark, about the side of a pin head or even smaller?

4ensic15

Thanks for the the suggestions but, it's definitely not a woodlouse and I don't think it is a flour mite as it is larger than a pinhead. It is brown in colour approx 2mm in length with long tentacles in front, and it does like to hang around in cereal boxes and opened biscuit packets etc.

P. Breathnach

Hours of happy reading: http://www.whatsthatbug.com/

4ensic15

Thanks for that. By the way they have all gone for now (crawling insect killer), but | will surely have discovered their ID before their return, hopefully!!

Attol

Could it be a house weevil?

We had an unfortunate incident with some recently. Thankfully they came in with some birdseed that was stored in a press with gardening supplies far away from our food which meant we didn't have to throw out everything. Apparently they can be transported into houses in things like seeds and grains. They hide inside the kernels and may lay dormant for quite a while.

If they are weevils try and track down the source and get rid of it immediately (check things like flour, seeds, grains etc.). You'll probably want to throw out anything else that hasn't been stored in metal or glass containers as well as they can easily eat their way through plastic packaging and paper bags. Scrub and hoover everything. We also used fly paper around the edges of the press to trap any escapees and used dried bay leaves and cloves to drive them out (apparently they don't like those scents).

Good luck!

TheChizler

4ensic15 wrote: »

Thanks for the the suggestions but, it's definitely not a woodlouse and I don't think it is a flour mite as it is larger than a pinhead. It is brown in colour approx 2mm in length with long tentacles in front, and it does like to hang around in cereal boxes and opened biscuit packets etc.

Thanks, now I'm itchy and reminded of a similar problem in our own apartment that I had put out of my mind. Cereal you say? :eek:

4ensic15

Many thanks for the advice and the link - it could well be a weevil of sorts. There are many types of species out there and, so next time they come I must get a good macro shot for their ID.