What bug is this? (household bug)

[Yair]

I've been seeing these buggers around for years now, in Bangkok, Koh Samui, and in other Asian countries before. Sorry for the poor camera quality (the white powder is talcum by the way, and the 1 baht and 5 baht coins for scale), they are always about the same size; about 1mm wide and 3mm long. I see them usually in dusty corners and craveses.

 

- It's not bed bugs. Too small, too thin and uniform width, and grey--and of course, no nightly bites so far as I'm aware. 

They have two small antennae in the front, and looking from the side their upper section is curved slightly higher than their lower section.

 

For a while I thought they were springtails; but the shape isn't quite right, their legs don't bulge outward but are underneath them--and I've never seen any of them spring jump. 

 

Video: https://streamable.com/p88am

 

Even if you don't know what they are, I'd like to know if you've even seen these?

I've seen them very often, living in Bangkok the past few years. So you have not, that means I'm definitely carrying them with me in which case I want to make sure that I figure out what they are and remove them from all of my belongings.

 

And also importantly, I'm allergic to many kinds of bug bites and my health has been deteriorating quite drastically in the past few years. These bugs are unlikely to be the cause, but their sightings do coincide with my gradual health decline and I've been seeing doctors in the past few months to try and figure out what's going on--but as time goes on and nothing is found I keep coming back to suspecting these. Better safe than sorry I guess.

 

Thank you very much! Strange post, I know. But it's a big help. More than you think!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2019 by Yair

[gk10002000]

"bed bugs" or some type of lice come to mind.  Many people over time get quite affected by them

[sunnyboy2018]

Its a coin.

[Yair]

20 minutes ago, Yair said:

- It's not bed bugs. Too small, too thin and uniform width, and grey--and of course, no nightly bites so far as I'm aware. 

 

9 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

"bed bugs" or some type of lice come to mind.  Many people over time get quite affected by them

 

That's interesting, thank you for the prompt reply. But as far as I know they're not bed bugs, I've never seen them in the bed area, and I've checked my mattress rigorously. They are always in some dusty spot in a room corner I never use. And the shape/size is totally wrong. And they are not shaped like lice either, their bodies are thin and uniform. And can lice even survive without a host? I'll notice these in the same spots weeks apart...

 

But honestly I don't know, thank you for replying right away

 

2 minutes ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Its a coin.

lol

[Yair]

@gk10002000 you might be onto something. These might be booklice, thank you for the lead!!

[dotpoom]

Might be a positive thing if they are the cause of your health problem, then you will know how to put that situation to-rights. Hope it all goes good for you...God Bless.

[1FinickyOne]

11 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Its a coin.

you can bank on that...

[maprao]

Buy a steam cleaner. Steam clean everything in sight! Much better for you then poisons sprays etc

[phantomfiddler]

11 hours ago, Yair said:

@gk10002000 you might be onto something. These might be booklice, thank you for the lead!!

Aaargh ! it,s the dreaded bookworm ! ????

[tifino]

47 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

12 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Its a coin.

you can bank on that...

... on being  a very small money spider (must be after the Exchange Rate)

[owenm]

They aren't a termite? I always presumed that termites were always around timber, but we have then invading in corners with floor tiling and concrete walls.. My GF says they can invade most houses, even if predominantly concrete.

 

From cracks in the subfloor concrete slab, to gaps under tile grouting. They tend to leave a small mound of waste, similar in color to the localised area. Clean it up and 2-3 days later, its back again. We have also recently found termite infestation coming through areas of our wooden stairs and MDF skirting boards, plastic coated, hollowed out in the upstairs area.. Just a thought though, might be the same as us. 

 

On your health issue, what have been your symptoms and the doctor's tests carried out? 

[andygrr]

They look like Rice Weevils I have also found them in my muesli.

[Survivor9]

Maybe a rice bug. Hard to tell with the picture.

[DUNROAMIN]

Weevils, had my kitchen cupboards infested by them, got into everything that didn't have a sealed top. Had to empty all the cupboards and throw out contaminated food. Cleaned and sprayed before restocking. Everything now is in air tight containers, have not seen again. 

[IssanMichael]

3 hours ago, kenk24 said:

you can bank on that...

To coin a phrase!

[linno2]

[1FinickyOne]

12 hours ago, IssanMichael said:

To coin a phrase!

a white colored gold bug?

[brianthainess]

21 hours ago, DUNROAMIN said:

Weevils, had my kitchen cupboards infested by them, got into everything that didn't have a sealed top. Had to empty all the cupboards and throw out contaminated food. Cleaned and sprayed before restocking. Everything now is in air tight containers, have not seen again. 

Yes the little barstewards got into my flour and rice.

[xylophone]

21 hours ago, DUNROAMIN said:

Weevils, had my kitchen cupboards infested by them, got into everything that didn't have a sealed top. Had to empty all the cupboards and throw out contaminated food. Cleaned and sprayed before restocking. Everything now is in air tight containers, have not seen again. 

Yep......found them in my cupboard items and have even found them in pkts of pasta from the supermarket!

 

And they are not choosy.........found them in poppadom packs and even in my dried chilies!

[DUNROAMIN]

7 minutes ago, xylophone said:

Yep......found them in my cupboard items and have even found them in pkts of pasta from the supermarket!

 

And they are not choosy.........found them in poppadom packs and even in my dried chilies!

Yeah, I think my infestation came from a supermarket item, but did not notice until I opened the packet about a month later.

[Yair]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions, this is a really great community and I hope this post helps someone in the future. Thank you for all the good suggestions regarding termites and rice bugs @andygrr @Survivor9 @DUNROAMIN @brianthainess @xylophone

 

I've got an update, I caught one of them in a container and sent it to be identified by microscope. The field biologists seem pretty sure it is indeed springtails, and the match does look exact--though I've never seen them jump ( 

@gk10002000  I really thought you were on to something with the booklice, I've even seen them in books. Oh well.). See for yourself, the picture on the left is from the microscope, and from the right is a sample photo:

 

 

And thank you for the good health wishes, as well as the acceptable (possibly above-average) coin puns. @dotpoom yes, definitely an easy solve such as this would've been a blessing. @owenm severe fatigue and brain fog on a daily basis for nearly 2 years now, with reoccurent fatigue episodes dating back a few years further. I've done extensive immune, ID, hormone, gastro testing, and though some things came up (hypothyroid, severe obstructive sleep apnea, chronic epstein-barr virus infection, chronic rhinitis, IBS & acid reflux, etc.) all have been dealt with one by one and the symptoms still persist. I'm still continuing to get checked out, and I'm certainly open to suggestions. Thank you for asking.

[Shuguk]

Maybe a long shot but try for anemia. Simple blood test. I’ve been put on a course of iron tablets which will hopefully help my bad sleeping pattern and fatigue. Early signs are good.

[brianthainess]

9 hours ago, Yair said:

Thank you everyone for the suggestions, this is a really great community and I hope this post helps someone in the future. Thank you for all the good suggestions regarding termites and rice bugs @andygrr @Survivor9 @DUNROAMIN @brianthainess @xylophone

 

I've got an update, I caught one of them in a container and sent it to be identified by microscope. The field biologists seem pretty sure it is indeed springtails, and the match does look exact--though I've never seen them jump ( 

@gk10002000  I really thought you were on to something with the booklice, I've even seen them in books. Oh well.). See for yourself, the picture on the left is from the microscope, and from the right is a sample photo:

 

 

And thank you for the good health wishes, as well as the acceptable (possibly above-average) coin puns. @dotpoom yes, definitely an easy solve such as this would've been a blessing. @owenm severe fatigue and brain fog on a daily basis for nearly 2 years now, with reoccurent fatigue episodes dating back a few years further. I've done extensive immune, ID, hormone, gastro testing, and though some things came up (hypothyroid, severe obstructive sleep apnea, chronic epstein-barr virus infection, chronic rhinitis, IBS & acid reflux, etc.) all have been dealt with one by one and the symptoms still persist. I'm still continuing to get checked out, and I'm certainly open to suggestions. Thank you for asking.

Just a thought, heavy metal contamination in rain water and aluminium pots n pans was the cause of an X of mine getting sick, the doc kept saying it was all in her mind........good luck.

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Just a thought, heavy metal contamination in rain water and aluminium pots n pans was the cause of an X of mine getting sick, the doc kept saying it was all in her mind........good luck.

forgot to add : then birds began to fall out of the sky and i am not joking !

[Yair]

Hi @Shuguk and @brianthainess. Thank you very much for the suggestions, I really appreciate it. It's not anemia, I actually had high iron and ferritin for a while which have since normalized (we were thinking iron overload at the time). As to heavy metal contamination, that's interesting, but I don't do any cooking myself and I only drink water from the reverse osmosis machines. Is there some test worth getting?

Edited November 5, 2019 by Yair