Question

Unidentified specimens   Hi, I have been living in a house in N. England for several months now (from mid-november) and have just suddenly noticed the appearance of some unidentified mites. Having just returned from a hotel (the quality of which was somewhat quesionable to say the least!) and noticing them the following morning in my house, I assumed they may be bedbugs. Having examined them more closely I'm not so sure. There are two different looking types (but I'm not sure if they are different instars of the same species or two separate species).
The first is very small around 1/4mm, pale, and appears (on very close inspection) to have two "tail-like" hairs at the rear. I found these in the shower room adjacent to my bedroom. The shower room is fairly poorly ventilated and remains damp. Since first noticing them this morning, however, I have now found them all over the place (on clothing and shoes etc in the bedroom, as well as on lots of things in the spare bedroom on the floor below) and they appear to be active during the day.
The second is larger (approx. 1mm) and reddish brown. While inspecting all areas of the bedroom for what I thought may be bedbugs I discovered these in a small chest of drawers adjacent to the bed. There were several in each drawer and more on the undersides. I have not yet found these anywhere else.
I have a feeling that the smaller ones could be mould mites - the house has suffered from damp over the winter leaving it with a slight mould problem. The larger ones I felt could be book lice, but I'm really not sure. The past week has been particularly warm for the time of year (around 20 degrees C) which I guess could have stimulated an already present population of the smaller type.
I Have enclosed photo's - a fairly detailed one of the larger type, but it was difficult to get a focused one of the smaller type.
Can you identify them and suggest ways of reducing their numbers? I hope you can help as they do seem to be getting everywhere!
Many thanks, Paul

Answer
Paul,

I think you are correct on both ids. The smaller mites appears to be a typical mold (or mould) mite. See http://www.livingwithbugs.com/mold_mites.html for some general information about these mites. As you know these mites are associated with mold and about the only way to get rid of them is to reduce the mold growth by reducing moisture/humidity. The other looks like a psocid or booklouse. These insects also are associated with mold but can damage starchy materials like stored food and paper (hence the name booklouse). Again, reducing moisture/humidity is the best control, insecticides are not needed nor very effective in this case.

Jack DeAngelis