How to Identify and Get Rid of Tiny Booklice in Your Home That Are Living and Feeding on Mold

If you live in the United States, there is some good news about booklice, in that there are only about a few hundred known species here. The rest of the world has about another 1,000 species. Usually, we share our home with these little flesh-colored creatures who feed on any mold they can find. They are tiny, but here's what to look for and where to look for it:

Here's what you'll need:

* Flashlight
* Magnifying Glass
* Maybe a fan or dehumidifer.

Booklice are itsy, bitsy little bugs - about 1/16 " long and they are not actually lice at all, so although they are harmless, they are still bugs. If you've got any dried out, or decaying plants, you might find these little critters enjoying a plant buffet, or they may even be lurking around your stored food. The head and abdomen appear large, and the midsection is more narrow. Huge, compound eyes protrude from the sides of the head. They also have thread-like antennae that sweep backward toward the abdomen. Not all booklice have wings, but some do (usually the booklice that stay outside), and when they do, there are four of them - two smaller front wings and two larger back wings. Most of the booklice you will be hunting down should be wingless.

Booklice like paper, so you might find them on bookbindings, photographs, or even your wallpaper. You can look for them to thrive in a dark basement or storeroom, if you have one, and if you have a second home that you close up for part of the year, they have probably set up residence there as well. If you live in an older, loosely-constructed home, there are probably a lot more booklice living there than people. You may need to invest in a good magnifying glass to see them, but they are there.

So, now that you know what they look like and where you might find them, here's a good way to get rid of them (although you will never completely get rid of them all, so just accept that fact): If you find booklice on objects that can be taken outdoors, then do just that, and clean them thoroughly, allowing them to dry in the sun. Because booklice are soft-bodied insects, they dry out quickly in the sun, so the sun will probably kill the ones you miss.

In places like a storeroom or closed house, open up the windows and let the room dry out. Turn off any humidifiers that might be on, and use a fan or dehumidifier if you have one. Booklice thrive when there's moisture, so get rid of it.

The most important thing to look for is the breeding area of the booklice, such as upholstered furniture, damp papers or books and old mattresses, just to name a few. If simple cleaning without the use of chemicals doesn't seem to be getting the job done, you might have to bring out the "big guns," by buying household insecticides containing pyrethrins, rotenone, allethrin, chlorpyrifos or propoxur labeled for crawling insects or booklice.

If you find that booklice have contaminated your food, you will first need to kill the critters by sticking the whole contaminated mess in your microwave, and nuke them for a few minutes. Then, throw the stuff away. You certainly don't want your family to eat insect-contaminated food.

* You will need a magnifying glass to be able to see them and know where to clean (they are almost microscopic).
* The eggs are laid singly or in clusters and are sometimes covered with a silken web.
* Booklice do not bite humans or animals.

* The dead bodies of booklice in house dust, is believed by some to trigger an asthma attack.