Tuesday, 31 December 2013

Domestic beasties

A while ago we occasionally started to find tiny round flattened 'bugs' on our bathroom floor.  At first I assumed they were dead dessicated ticks that had got caught in our clothing while out on the moor, but closer examination suggests they are mites.

They appear to be living in the cracks between the wooden flooring and the skirting boards and recently we've been finding some live specimens.  I had assumed that all mites were parasites of animals or plants, but these must be living on dust (which in a bathroom will be largely dead skin flakes).  What they do for moisture is anyone's guess.

I've emailed the photo to FERA (Defra's sceintific arm) to ask them for an identification, but if any of our members has seen these and knows what they are then do please let me know.  The size of individuals varies from 1.5 to 3mm across.

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2 comments:

  1. Stewart1 January 2014 at 08:08

    I've never seen any like that Richard. The only ones I have dealt with at work in a Housing context are bird mites that are much smaller, maybe 0.5 mm?

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    Replies
    1. Unknown3 January 2014 at 08:46

      No, definitely bigger than bird mites and they must be free-living rather than parasitic. But thanks for the response Stewart.

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