What Are These Little White Bugs on My Dresser
Many white bugs escape your scrutiny because they're tiny and look like dust and lint on clothes, fabric, and skin.
Some dust-like white bugs are also little worms you find in your yard, bed, bathroom, and kitchen.
But ignoring them is a big mistake.
Many of these bugs are destructive pests. They can bite and become a full-blown infestation if you don't get rid of them.
This guide will reveal 20 tiny white bugs that look like dust and lint indoors and outdoors.
You'll learn to identify these bugs like an expert, their hiding spots, the damage they cause, and, most importantly, how to get rid of them.
Keep reading.
White Spider Mites – The Tiny White Mites That Look Like Dust
White spider mites are tiny white spider-like mites that infest plants and damp wooden surfaces.
These mites belong to the arachnid family. It's the same family where the spiders belong.
Hence, they share a feature of spiders, which is eight legs. And, under a magnifying glass or a microscope, they look like tiny spiders too.
Spider mites are primarily garden pests that attack plants during the spring months.
Their main targets are the undersides of the plants' leaves and the little branches.
They feed on the sap of the leaves and twigs. That leads to the weakening of the plants.
It also causes the leaves to turn yellowish and wither off.
White spider mites grow only up to 0.5 mm to 0.7 mm. So, they can be hard to spot when their numbers are low.
However, they multiply fast.
And when their numbers increase, white spider mites look like tiny transparent particles of dust crawling on the plants and moist wooden surfaces in your yard or garden.
They spin silken cobwebs on the plants' leaves and between branches. That's a clear sign of their presence.
White spider mites can also spread inside the home, especially when you introduce potted plants with spider mites inside your home.
Strangely, your home is an ideal breeding ground for spider mites. In room temperature, and with a little bit of humidity, they'll spread in your home.
These spider mites will multiply quickly and spread in your home.
Hence, you can notice white spider mites in places like your bed, carpets, curtains, rugs, sofas, and even inside dresser drawers.
White spider mites will look like tiny clear white spiders on your bed. At a casual glance, they look like small white baby spiders.
However, they're not.
The main difference between white spider mites and white baby spiders is that white spider mites have a shine on their body.
Spider mites are not only white. They can be red and greyish too.
Fortunately, you don't need to hire a pest controller for the job. Neither you need to use any chemical pesticides.
You can quickly get rid of them with natural home products.
The best way to get rid of white spider mites from plants is by spraying a mixture of white vinegar and soapy water on the plants' leaves.
Spray the mixture where you notice the silken cobwebs and on the undersides of the leaves.
The acidic nature of white vinegar is harmful to spider mites. It kills them and protects your plants from white spider mites.
Use a steam cleaner or vacuum cleaner to get rid of spider mites in your bed and in other soft furnishings.
Steam cleaning the soft furnishings in your home with a steam cleaner is an ideal option for removing white spider mites.
The heat from the steam cleaner is lethal for the spider mites. It kills the white spider mites belonging to all the life stages, including adults, larvae, eggs, and their pupae.
Mold Mites – The Tiny Clear White Dust-Like Bugs In Your Home
Mold mites, also know as grain mites, are small clear white bugs common in homes with a lot of dampness and moisture.
High humidity in homes attracts different types of bugs and insects. And it also attracts tiny white bugs like mold mites.
The dampness causes the formation of molds on hard surfaces, including floors, wooden furniture, and walls.
On the wooden furniture, these mold mites are also known as wood mites.
High moisture doesn't even spare books. Molds form in the books that also attract tiny blackish bugs known as booklice.
Mold mites feed on the molds that form on the surfaces.
Your kitchen and bathroom are the two areas where water usage is the highest.
Lack of proper cleaning in these places leads to the formation of molds. That attracts the mold mites to feed on the molds that form in kitchen and bathroom.
Mold mites are clear white, crème, or, depending on what type of mold they're eating, greyish tan bugs that can be hard to detect initially.
They soon become a nuisance if you don't remove the molds.
And when their numbers increase, mold mites can also spread to your stored food, especially stored grains.
Mold mites are common pests in food storage warehouses and big grocery stores. They infest the bags of grains.
Hence, mold mites are also known as grain mites.
When their numbers increase, these tiny whitish mites appear as little crawling white ants on the moldy surfaces.
However, mold mites can also look like tiny black specks if they've fed on the molds on damp walls.
And their color can also depend on the color of the molds they eat.
For example, if they've been feeding on the black molds formed on damp walls, then mold mites can look tiny gray bugs because the color of the molds will stick to their bodies.
Mold mites also invade moist electrical appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators as these appliances are moist from the inside.
The best way to get rid of mold mites is to remove the molds from hard surfaces with the help of a mold cleaner.
And secondly, which is most important, it's to fix water leakages in your kitchen, bathroom, basement, and near your home's foundation.
Leaky pipes in these areas increase the level of moisture in your home. That attracts mold mites and many other bugs, including invasive pests like ants and roaches.
If an excess of moisture has damaged the walls and the floor of your home, then it'll be best to repair them.
The cracks on the walls and the floors become the hiding and breeding place for many bugs.
Mold mites, like the white spider mites, don't bite humans and pets.
But mold mites have tiny hairy bristles on their bodies which can cause itching if they crawl on your skin.
Those hairy bristles can also cause allergic reactions in sensitive people.
Dust Mites – Tiny White Bugs That Cause Allergies
Dust mites, also known as house mites, feed on your dead and dry skin. And they're the most common tiny white bugs that look like dust in your home.
They spread faster in your homes than mold mites. It's because dust mites have a ready supply of food, which is your skin.
And dust mites are adaptable to spread in the human habitat by soaking in the moisture that from the damp surfaces.
That's why the dust mites problem in your home can aggravate if there's moisture problem in your home. Dust mites thrive in moist and dusty conditions.
When dust mites' numbers increase in your home, you'll start to notice them all over in your home, including in places like beds, mattress, sofa, carpet, rugs, and clothes.
They appear as a white dusty layer on these places.
An increase in their number make them spread everywhere inside your home including on your clothes. On your clothes dust mites look like lint trying to make their way to your skin to feed on the dead skin cells.
Dust mites in your home will crawl on your skin to feed on your dry skin and dead skin cells. That causes skin irritation.
Another tiny bug that can live on your clothes and bites are the body lice. But they're not white, they're brown.
Dust mites don't bite. Neither do they burrow in your skin. But when dust mites feed on your skin, it causes itchy red welts and rashes on the skin.
Why? It's because of the hairy bristles on their bodies that rub against your skin. And it'll feel like something is biting you.
But you wouldn't be able to see what's biting you. That's frustrating!
The peak season for dust mites are from the month of May to October. It's during these period many homes face dust mite invasion.
The dust mites die with the arrival of winter.
To eliminate dust mites thorough cleaning of your home is required. You'll need to vacuum clean the places where you've noticed dust mites.
Also, beds, bed linen, curtain, pillow covers, couch fabrics, drapes, carpets, and rugs can also have dust mites.
Vacuum clean the soft furnishings and wash the fabrics in hot water to remove dust mites from these things.
Do not forget to clean the floors and furniture as they contain dust mites and your and your pets' dead skin cells.
Dust mites also trigger allergic reactions. And to asthma patients they can be lethal.
Dust mites die off during the winter months. But if you don't clean your home then their carcasses and molted skin can get into your home's heating system.
The carcasses and the shed skin of dust mites are allergens.
They can spread into your home through your home's heating system and can cause allergies even during the winter months.
Woolly aphid is an outdoor tiny white bug that measures only one-fourth of an inch.
When they infest plants, they appear as tiny white bugs resembling cotton on plants.
Woolly aphids are most common in Florida, Texas, and Illinois. But you'd find them in gardens or yard which has Chinese Hackberry tree.
Woolly aphids produce honeydew and pale wax, which are the signs of woolly aphid infestation.
The honeydew causes molds on the Chinese Hackberry tree. That creates a sticky mess on the trees' leaves and branches.
Woolly aphids don't cause any permanent and lethal damage to the hackberry tree. So, you wouldn't need an insecticide treatment to get rid of them.
The best way to get rid of woolly aphid is to cut off the leaves and branches they've infested.
Woolly aphids are harmless to humans and pets.
Whiteflies – Tiny White Flying Bugs On Plants That Look Like Dust
Whiteflies are plant damaging moths that are active during the spring and summer months.
Whiteflies specifically target the vegetable and fruit plants. And they're one of the common plant damaging pests in greenhouses.
Like the spider mites, the whiteflies will gather underneath the plant's leaves.
They're oblong shaped. On a closer look you'll also notice a separation line between the wings, which can even also make their back visible.
Like the wooly aphid, whiteflies also excrete honeydew on leaves and branches. The honeydew attracts ants to the plants.
And when they gather on the leave's undersides, they resemble dust.
Whiteflies in plants feed on the plant sap. Continuous feeding makes the leaves turn yellow and wither off.
Failing to get rid of whiteflies in your garden can cause serious damage to the plants.
And if you bring house plants with whiteflies in your home, they can also turn into nuisance bugs that resemble dust.
But beware! Whiteflies bite humans.
The worst part is that each whitefly will bite several times. The bite from whiteflies feels worse than the mosquito bites.
These flies can jump. Whiteflies can bite your face if they happen to land on it.
So, if you're working in your garden and there are whiteflies, they'll bite you randomly as long as they get exposed to exposed skin.
The bitten portion on the skin turns red, and itching persists for a day or two.
But whiteflies are not blood sucking insects. The bites they deliver on your are probing bites to figure out if you're a plant.
To get rid of whiteflies from your garden, first, identify the plants that whiteflies infest.
Then spray a mixture of water and soap on the plants that whiteflies infest.
Don't spray the mixture on the soil bed of the plants.
It'll be best not to use insecticide sprays on plants to get rid of whiteflies. It's because insecticide sprays will kill beneficial insects like dragonflies, spiders, and centipedes that eat whiteflies.
Mealybugs – Tiny White Bugs In The Form Of Clusters On Plants
Mealybugs are plant bugs that infest plants in the form of clusters.
So you'd see groups of these bugs on the leaves and fruits of plants.
They look like white cottony masses piled up one over the other on the plants.
Mealybugs can grow up to one-fifth of an inch, and they have an unusual waxy covering on their oval body.
The eggs mealy bugs hatch in June. Therefore, from the month of June, mealybugs are most active. Mealy bugs can also get onto indoor plants too.
If there are beneficial insects like centipedes and dragonflies in your garden, then they'll eat the mealybugs.
But, if mealybugs' population increase, then spraying soapy water on plants works well.
Chopping off the branches that have clusters of mealy bugs helps in checking their spread on other plants.
Also, mealybugs die on their own when the temperature rises during summers.
Cottony Cushion Scales – Tiny White Fuzzy Bugs On Citrus Trees And Plants
One common landscape bug that infests citrus plants is the cottony cushion scales bug.
These bugs are tiny, white, and fuzzy. And they infest the plants in chunks.
But cottony cushion scales are not white. It's the egg sacs that they carry on their back that are scaly and white.
Those egg sacs contain 500-800 red eggs that hatch during the summer.
The actual color of the cottony cushion scales is brown.
The egg sacs on their bodies increase their size. The resultant length of a white cottony cushion scales bug is half an inch.
The females, which infest citrus plants, reproduce asexually. The males are low in numbers, red, and rare to spot.
White cottony cushion scale bugs damage plants by sucking on the sap of the leaves, twigs, branches, and trunk.
Their infestation leads to the defoliation of the plants, withering off the leaves, and reduction in the vitality of plants.
Cottony cushion scales spread fast. The infestation can grip the entire citrus tree within a few weeks.
These tiny white fuzzy bugs excrete honeydew. That leads to the formation of blackish molds on the plants.
The honeydew also attracts ants and other bugs that can further damage the plants.
The cottony cushion scale bugs are active from late spring until mid-fall.
They rapidly produce baby-scale bugs during this period, leading to a severe infestation.
Experts don't recommend using insecticides to get rid of these bugs.
Introducing their natural enemies, like the vedalia beetle and parasitic flies like Cryptochetum iceryae, eliminates these bugs.
However, with the excessive use of insecticides and insect growth regulators, there is a massive reduction in the cottony cushion scales' natural predators.
On top of that, pesticides can't penetrate the tough scales that these bugs develop.
So, two reliable solutions are chopping off the branches and twigs where these bugs infest or scrubbing them off the trees and disposing of them.
True Cochineal bug – Tiny White Bugs On Succulents
Did you ever see tiny white bugs infesting cacti? Those are the true cochineal bugs.
True cochineal bugs are common in hot states of the US, where they infest succulents like cacti.
These bugs suck the sap off the cactus plants. It causes the plants to lose their vitality.
When the infestation is heavy, that leads to the death of succulents.
True cochineal bugs are soft-bodied, flat, oval, and white scaly insects. The females infest succulents in clusters, and they're tiny.
A fully matured actual cochineal bug grows only up to 0.2 inches in size. So, when their numbers are small, it's pretty hard to spot them.
They've got beak-like solid mouthparts or mandibles that penetrate the tender bodies of succulents to feed on their juices.
The best part is that getting rid of these bugs is easy. And you don't need any chemical pesticides to get rid of them.
Spray the affected area on the succulents with water from the hose under pressure. It gets rid of them.
If the infestation is heavy, spraying soapy water or a mixture of equal amounts of white vinegar and water on the infected areas will eliminate the actual cochineal bug.
Beech Scale Bugs – The Tiny White Bug On Beech Barks That Looks Like Lint
The tiny white beech scale bugs are among the most pests on beech trees in the US.
These bugs infest the smooth bark of beech trees. Beech scale bugs remain stationary on the trees' bark.
Beech scale bugs have long, needle-like, sucking mouth parts that penetrate the bark to suck the tree's nutrients.
At first look, you may confuse their lint-like appearance on the trees' bark with fungi.
They may look harmless, but as they keep feeding on the tree, they insert pathogens inside the tree.
That causes a fatal disease in the beech trees, known as the beech bark disease.
Signs of beech scale bugs' damage on trees include cracks on the bark's surface and the development of tiny white specks (adult beech scale bugs) on the bark.
Applying horticultural oils and insecticidal soaps to the beech barks is the most common solution to protect the trees.
But these insecticides can harm beneficial bugs and insects in the landscape.
White Springtails – Tiny White Bugs That Jump
Most species of springtails are grey, yellowish, brown, or blackish. But there are some species of springtails that are tiny and white.
These are known as white springtails. Also known as tank janitors, white springtails are common in the spring and summer.
White springtails are tiny bugs, slender-bodied, growing between 1/16th and 1/8th of an inch, and resemble fleas. These tiny white bugs flourish in hot and humid weather.
Springtails don't have wings. And they can't fly. But they're strong jumpers.
Like other springtails, white springtails will jump if you disturb them.
Organic debris and moist soil beds are ideal places to live and breed. They feed on decaying organic matter, fungi, molds, and plant roots.
White springtails are harmless to humans and pets. These tiny white bugs don't bite despite latching onto your clothes and skin.
White springtails are also moisture bugs.
So, when outdoor weather becomes excessively dry, they can enter your home looking for a damper place.
That makes them hide in your bathroom and kitchen.
Their presence both indoors and outdoors is a sign of excessive moisture. So, the best way to eliminate them is by controlling the dampness and refraining from overwatering your yard or garden.
Booklice – Tiny White Moisture Bugs That Look Like Dust
Booklice, also known as psocids mites, are translucent tiny white moisture bugs that feed on molds that form on hard surfaces because of excessive dampness.
However, booklice can also be grey and brown.
They're tiny bugs. Adult booklice are less than 0.02 inches or 0.5 mm in size.
There are more than 5000 species of booklice, and there are many of them have wings. However, the ones that enter homes don't have wings and can't fly.
Booklice resemble headlice. But booklice are harmless bugs. They don't bite us humans, and they don't spread any diseases either.
Booklice get inside homes to feed on the molds that form in books, cardboards, and furniture.
But booklice numbers in homes can skyrocket fast at high moisture levels. And soon, they become nuisance bugs visible everywhere inside the house.
They can also target your stored food in the kitchen.
Excessive numbers of booklice in the house can make them get onto your bed and in places like your closet and dresser drawers.
White booklice look like specks of white dust particles on the surface they're on.
Booklice are also known as book bugs because they eat bookbinding glue and the molds that form in old books.
Thorough cleaning of your home, reducing moisture levels by fixing leaky pipes, and removing molds are enough to get rid of booklice.
Body Lice – Tiny White Parasitic Bugs
Body lice are nasty white parasites on humans that feed on human blood. Body lice are extremely tiny, or microscopic bugs, and can be very difficult to spot.
Full-grown adult body lice grow up to 3.6 mm (or 0.14 inches), which makes them hard to detect.
Not all body lice are white. There are body lice that are also brown.
Body lice are common in homes with extremely unhygienic living conditions. Body lice live in refugee camps, homeless shelter homes, and in unhygienic neighborhoods.
So, you can get body lice if you visit these types of places that are prone to have body lice infestation.
Another way of getting body lice is by using an infected person's clothes and belongings like a towel, bedsheets, and mattress.
Body lice bites can cause severe itching and diseases. They bite your neck, shoulder, armpits, waist, and groin area. Taking immediate medical care is critical if you've got body lice.
White Aphids – Tiny White Plant Bugs That Look Like Dust
Most aphids are green, black, yellow, brown, and gray. But certain aphids are white too.
White aphids are tiny white bugs that grow only up to 0.04″ -0.08″ (1-2mm) in size and are active during the summer months.
White aphids are pear-shaped bugs with a tapered body. These little white bugs are notorious for inserting their mouthparts into plants' leaves and sucking the sap.
White aphid infestation on plants leads to the discoloration of the leaves, the development of yellow spots on the leaves, and the plants become weak too.
Leaves grow pale, curl up, and wither off the plants.
White aphids look like small white rice grains or white dust specks on the leaves' undersides. They can also gather on the plants' branches.
A strong squirt of soapy water spray is enough to eliminate the white aphids from the plants.
You might need to use insecticide treatment if the infestation is severe. When the infestation spreads, white aphids can even attack house plants and plants in greenhouses.
Root Aphids – Plant Damaging Little White Bugs
Another little white bug that looks like dust and is more damaging than the white aphids is the root aphids.
Despite being aphids, root aphids have a different body shape than other aphids. Their body shape is like that of ticks, but they're white.
Root aphids attack the plant's roots. And they don't gather on the plant's leaves and stems. They remain in the soil.
That makes them difficult to spot until they're in large numbers.
Root aphids in plants make the plants weak from the bottom up. They insert their mouthparts into the plant's roots and feed on nutrients.
Insecticide dust removes the root aphids. However, that can negatively affect the helpful bugs in your yard or garden.
Expert gardeners believe that you'll need to uproot the entire plant that root aphids harmed. Getting rid of them can be tough when the infestation is heavy.
Soil Mites – Tiny White Microscopic Soil Bugs
Another tiny white bug in the soil is the soil mites. But unlike root aphids, soil mites are beneficial bugs for the plants.
Soil mites are microscopic white bugs that thrive in the soils of your potted plants and on the soil beds of your garden.
Soil mites decompose the organic material in the soil and release their nutrients. That makes the soil rich and helps the plants to absorb the nutrients in the soil.
Soil mites can't fly or jump. They remain underneath the soil's layer.
But at times, they can come up on the soil's surface. And when they do, soil mites appear as tiny white bugs that look like dust particles on the soil.
Soil mites come in different colors other than white. There are soil mites that are brown, black, yellow, and green.
The difference between soil mites and root aphids is that the root aphids are bigger and more harmful pests. Also, root aphids are easier to spot.
Do not try to use any methods that can harm the soil mites. They're good for your plants and garden.
White Maggots – Tiny White Worms In Home And Yard
The white maggots are tiny white larvae of flies that infest homes and gardens. So, most of the time, they're larvae of house flies, fruit flies, phorid flies, drain flies, and fungus gnats.
These tiny white worms are mostly in your home's outdoor areas, like your yard or garden.
Maggots can also be present in the decaying trash in your garden and kitchen garbage bins.
On poking, some maggots will roll up to protect themselves. At that time maggots look like white or creamy and shiny specks of dust.
But they're a bad sign despite being harmless. The presence of maggots on your property clearly shows flies are breeding in your home and yard.
Maggots come in different sizes depending on the species of flies.
The best way to get rid of maggots is to dispose of the garbage they're on, maintain cleanliness, and spray a mixture of bleach and water on them.
If there are maggots on the soil beds and compost piles, then refrain from using bleach. It can harm the soil.
Instead, use a mixture of white vinegar and water. Soapy water spray also gets rid of maggots on the soil.
Baby Bed Bugs – Tiny White Dust-Like Bugs In Bed That Bite
Baby bed bugs are tiny white translucent babies of bed bugs. And the most common place you find them is in your bed.
Baby bed bugs can be hard to spot, especially when they don't have bloodmeals.
Juvenile bed bugs are 0.08-0.09 inches in size. And their presence in your bed is a clear indication of a bed bug infestation in your home.
They look like miniature adult bed bugs, but they're white. And they look like small white dust particles.
Baby bed bugs' first job after hatching out of the eggs is to look for a host for bloodmeals. Baby bed bugs desperately need bloodmeals as it's essential for them to progress through the lifecycle stages.
Therefore, baby bed bugs bite. And their bites are itchy and cause red welts on the skin.
Steam cleaning your bed is the best way to get rid of baby bed bugs. However, it's best to hire a pest controller to eliminate a bed bug infestation in your home.
Cat Flea Larvae – Little White Worm In Bed
Fleas in bed is a big problem in homes with pets. Flea eggs and even adult fleas drop off the pet's body and fall on furnishings like beds, couches, carpets, and pet beds.
The flea eggs are sticky, and they get stuck in places like bed frames and bedsheets.
Newly hatched flea larvae are whitish and look like tiny white worms on the bed. They grow up to 2-5 mm in size.
Over time, they turn darker and bigger as they progress through their lifecycle.
Like the maggots, the flea larvae can also appear as a tiny crawling worm resembling specks of dust.
Flea larvae can't bite humans or pets. But their presence in your home is a bad sign of flea infestation in your home.
Termite Larvae – Small White Baby Termites That Look Like Rice
Termite larvae are translucent, tiny, and shiny white baby termites with the body shape of adult termites.
Termite larvae grow up to 1/10th of an inch in size and resemble white rice grains more than dust or lint.
It's quite hard to spot the termite larvae because they remain deep inside the wood in their colonies.
The worker termites feed them, so they've got no reason to venture out of their colonies looking for food.
But it's a bad sign if you're noticing termite larvae on your yard's soil bed or your home's floor or wooden structures.
Termite larvae sightings signify that termites have chewed the wood from the inside, and now they've come up on the surface.
Do not try to dwell on the DIY ways of removing termites if you see termite larvae. Their sightings mean that termites have inflicted heavy damage.
You need to hire a pest controller to treat your home and property to eliminate termites.
Plaster Bagworm – White Bug On Walls That Looks Like Dust Chunk
Have you ever noticed a tiny white bug crawling on the walls and ceiling? It looks like a cocoon-like bag with an insect inside it.
That's a plaster bagworm which is also known as household casebearers.
In Florida, these plaster bagworms are also known as dust worms, which look like tiny white crawling worms with a dusty case.
The case is oval-shaped, and it's the larval stage of the cloth moths.
The plaster bagworm feeds on spider webs, dead insects, and even human and pet hair. These tiny white bugs climb on walls and ceilings because they look for spider webs to eat.
Plaster bagworms are half an inch in size and thrive in hot and humid weather.
But these bugs are harmless, and they don't bite and don't carry any diseases either. But their presence indicates that there's a moth problem in your home.
Scooping them off the wall with a vacuum cleaner is the only thing you need to do to get rid of plaster bagworms.
But you might need to take steps to ensure that cloth moths don't enter your home.
Summary
Here's the list of twenty tiny white bugs that trick you into thinking they're specks of dust, lint, or chunks of cotton.
- White spider mites
- Mold mites
- Dust mites
- Woolly aphids
- Whiteflies
- Mealybugs
- Cottony cushion scales
- True cochineal bug
- Beech scale Bugs
- White springtails
- Booklice
- Body lice
- White aphids
- Root aphids
- Soil mites
- Maggots
- Baby bed bugs
- Flea larvae
- Termite larvae
- Plaster bagworm
This guide revealed the sources of these bugs, how to identify them, and the correct ways to get rid of them.
Some of these bugs bite and can cause serious infestations in homes if you ignore them. It'll be best to hire a pest controller, especially for bed bugs and termites, to get rid of them.
We are Mark and Jim. We dabbled with bugs and pests for most of our lives. And we provide information and hacks that work in making your home pest free.
Source: https://howtomurderpests.com/tiny-white-bugs-that-look-like-dust/
0 Response to "What Are These Little White Bugs on My Dresser"
Post a Comment