Domestic Fauna: But what are they?
 

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.

On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 15:16:20 +0100, AlexW
wrote:

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?

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.




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..andy

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The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

Andy Hall wrote:
On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 15:16:20 +0100, AlexW
wrote:


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?


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?

On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 15:16:20 +0100, AlexW
wrote:

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.

Hi,

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':

http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/booklice.html


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?

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

Eradication info?

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.

On Tuesday, in article
"Newshound" wrote:

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.)

--
Brian {Hamilton Kelly}
"Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu
le loisir de la faire plus courte."
Blaise Pascal, /Lettres Provinciales/, 1657

Pete C wrote:
On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 15:16:20 +0100, AlexW
wrote:


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.


Hi,

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':

http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/booklice.html

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?


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


Eradication info?


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

cheers,
Pete.

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.

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

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



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

Alex

Newshound wrote:

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

They eat cotton, linen, and paper.

On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:04:23 +0100, AlexW
wrote:

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.

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:

http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/biodiversity/invertebratesprog/invertid/bug_details.asp?Bu_Id=82

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

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.

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

cheers,
Pete.

S Viemeister wrote:

They eat cotton, linen, and paper.

Could be Goats....

GymRatZ wrote:

S Viemeister wrote:

They eat cotton, linen, and paper.

Could be Goats....

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