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lewisericeric

By lewisericeric
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lewisericeric Rising Star

lewisericeric

Posted
Posted

Just visited a friend in her narrowboat and incredibly freaked out.

 

She was showing me how in her wardrobes or cupboards she has these tiny little beetles or mites crawling around....not many but only a few. They're probably no bigger than a mm and you wouldn't notice them unless you are really looking. They don't seem to be in clusters either, but lone wanderers!

 

She seems to have just accepted them(!) but now I'm looking in all my wardrobes to see if I have them as I'd freak out and have to leave the boat if i did ! ( hate stuff like that)

 

Anyone know what they can be? Larger ones are brown and smaller ones seem to be white and the small ones are prob no bigger than a grain of salt. They're on wooden Tetons on the floor near carpet and on wooden shelves inside clothes cupboards or wardrobes.

 

She's really clean so it's weird and how the hell can I make sure I don't get them? Anyone else had anything like that?

 

Take a look in your closets people and let your eyes rest on a certain area for a minute or two as sometimes you can't see them straight away!!

 

They only seem to be on batons or wood that's not varnished too??

Hmmm

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Woodstock Rising Star

Woodstock

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Could they be wood mites- I just googled how to get rid and found this:-

 

Inspect the area thoroughly and locate any mites. Wood mites are tiny white bugs, similar to fleas and other mites. They feed on decomposing wood, but they are not termites.

 

2

 

Purchase an anti-mite insecticide at your local gardening or home supply store. Prevent-A-Mite and Black-Knight are two brands suggested by Rcreptiles.com. These insecticides will get rid of other types of mites as well, including nasty reptile mites that suck the blood of snakes

 

A lot of weevils and beetles tend to be brown- so interesting to see these are white

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lewisericeric Rising Star

lewisericeric

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Not sure as they're not leaving any holes in any wood, not that I know of anyway. Strange thing is that the boat is quite new, All wood batons are only about 12 months old And like us, she was fitting out herself and got most timber batons from timber merchants etc

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DeanS Veteran II

DeanS

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Yup, I know what those are.....they're attracted by solar panels and windturbines...they live in lovely plants, normally found near the cratch.....they tend to be attracted by new portholes...and the colours green, red and cream.....they love boats with carpeting...and hop on and off little brown dogs....

 

do you have any of these?

 

 

ETA...if you have been in another boat recently which has these, they have DEFINATELY been carried into your boat..and are right this moment finding a nice warm place under your pillow.....;-)

Edited by DeanS
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Emerald Collaborator

Emerald

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seem to be white and the small ones are prob no bigger than a grain of salt.

 

They only seem to be on batons or wood that's not varnished too??

 

Hmmm

 

We noticed a week or two back some tiny white mites in a galley cupboard. Only a few where some wood dust had settled. There was some yellow like dust too. We have just got the boat back from our boat builder having had some warranty (wood) work done. We immediately cleaned out the cupboard and found a few more a week later. We cleaned the cupboard out again with a spray disinfectant and this week the cupboard was clear.

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Catrin Proficient

Catrin

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Sounds like book lice, they're pretty harmless. Sometimes they make a feint ticking sound, probably calling for a mate :wub:

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Hmmm, booklice don't just eat books. They will infest cereals such as porridge, etc. We had a problem with them in a food cupboard some years ago. They are very small, and had gone through the whole cupboard. I had to throw away things like the bamboo steamer and all the cereals, flours, etc. We were advised to use a permethrin spray, then I washed it out, and finally redecorated the cupboard.

 

In those days OH worked with a colleague whose husband worked in a department of veterinary entomology, so we got him to do the identification, and give us the necessary advice. You can look for images on google easily enough.

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lewisericeric Rising Star

lewisericeric

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Escape, did the boat builder say what they are? Sounds similar as they are in dusty places or places with a bit of sawdust on? How did they treat them?

 

Dean.... I will never ever forgive you for this!! You've put the fright of life into me now! Here stuff like that and will have to move off boat if I see them in mine. Have images already of the, crawling underneath my skin and in my nose and stuff. Won't sleep tonight !!

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Tiger 1057 Engager

Tiger 1057

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Sounds like house/dust mites. She needs to clean very thoroughly including clothes, bedding etc. Hoovering them up helps. You can get sprays and powder to deal with them. I understand that if you have asthma they can be bad news.

Look on the bright side, if they had been jumping you would be scratching like mad now lol

Edited by Tiger 1057
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