Tiny, black, jumping bugs

Hello! I’ve been researching forever and this is the first thing I have finally found that matches my bugs description! What are these things??!! Haha did you ever figure it out? I can’t find anything online! I literally just made an account with this site so I could reply to your comment! I’m desperate for help people think I’m crazy but they are big and bite very hard. I know your post was a while back but please if you can let me know how you got rid of them, hopefully you have by now. These bugs are a nightmare!

Everywhere I read it says they hate heat and dryness. So I got my hair dryer and for a while heated up the flooring, Windows, walls, curtains, went over everything in the room and inside of everything. They were gone for a while, but even with the sun out the room heated they're still around.

I have been trying to rid my bathroom of these tiny black bugs for 3 years. They arrive every spring and show up on walls and baseboards nightly through the summer. I believe they are Springtails. I was not sure how they were getting inside until recently.
I sprayed the air conditioning vent in the ceiling with interior ant and spider spray and the bugs have not returned in 2 weeks so far.

I had this infestation in my home maybe 2 1/2 years ago .I was going insane,due to the constant swipe of something hitting my legs . It didnt take long before they were biting !!! it felt like a lil needle poked you in the end of your toe or heel of the foot!!!i basically became an insecticide expert. I thought one or two treatment would do it ,but after a treatment of Estenvalerate and gentrol they were back in 10n hrs!!! so my buddy who work for Orkin told me a combination to use every 7 to 10 days always alternating so they will not become resistant. They finally left for almost 3 yrs ,BUT NOW THEY ARE BACK !! Exact same lil black,brown and white dot everywhere and the bites too . iOHHHHHH i did use something i think helped alot it was a mitacide and it was very expensive so bought like 4 oz < i heard they feed on bacteria and fungus so if anything is damp dry it !!! and use a diluted bleach spray on the damp area after u can get it dry > Goodluck everyone i know how i feels like your going insane , but push through and do under the house < put granular bifitheren , snd do the attic to ,if not spay then dust with diatomaceous earth and delta dust >>>Goodluck i hate bugs

my doctor doesnt see them nor does the vet any ideas

but if you take a picture and post it to ID Request, someone will ID your bugs for you

I usually find them around my window but I've been seeing them in other places in my room too and I have no idea what they are.. I have a picture but idk how to post it on here 😩

ID Request. Click on the "add image" link; fill out the submission form; and upload the image.

Welcome to BugGuide!

I live in Brooklyn NY in an apartment on the 2nd floor and I have these critters in my son's room and my hallway. The ones in my son room are on the windowsill and climb on the window and the ones in the hallway are around the light in the ceiling. I used raid on them and they multiplied (thousands of them) and stuck themselves on the light fixture and died. The ones in the bedroom last for about a day. They also come out at night and not that much in the day. I used caulk around the window because I thought they were coming from the wall but that has not helped. I contacted my landlord and he is supposed to send the exterminator to see what the problem is. I clean the window sill daily and then check in the morning and there is always a lot more. I looked at the picture of the ones on the wall and they are the exact same things. How did you finally get rid of them?

The one thing springtails are vulnerable to is dryness (that's why they don't come out much in the daytime). A simple blow-dryer might be much more effective than any chemical- at least it should drive them into hiding for a little while.

But they can be a sign of problems with water/moisture drainage. They also emerge in seasonal patterns, most commonly in spring. Any chemical would be pretty much useless to them. Wood, concrete and other material should be checked to see if there is a drainage issue or leak. They feed on algae that forms on the moist surfaces, so sometimes a solution of bleach can get rid of the algae and thus, the food source. The use of Raid or many other insecticide chemicals is often far more harmful than any bug you can find.

They are still here. I've stopped spraying them and have just left them alone. Not much I can do about the leak because I am renting, I can only tell my landlord. I used the bleach solution in all the drains, kitchen sink, bathroom sink and the battub sink and now I have a lot more. I closed the door to the infested room and only peek in during the day. Still freaked out.

Springtails


flea

I am freaking out here, did you find out what they are and how to get rid of them. My landlord is sending the exterminator but I'm trying to see if I can get rid of them before that. My son has abandoned his room for now and is sleeping in the living room. We are terrified.

Yes, they ended up being springtails. I had the bug guy come out several times to spray for them and it did nothing. I ended up (reading it somewhere) putting a little bit of dish soap in a spray bottle with some water and that killed them instantly.

I've gotten them every year since I originally posted but nowhere near as bad as that first year. I've been using the soap and water trick and it's been working great.

i have them also I noticed them 6 years ago. i pulled up all my carpet and put in hardwood flooring. we have two throw carpets. still dealing with them. i spray, bomb the house inside and out. monthly. i clean the house everyweek. it is my profession. so i am good at cleaning good. i can't get rid of them either. please if you have found a way let me know. i want to put the house on the market and leave. it is a nice house though. you are right no spray works they just don't respond to it. the other day i saw them on my curtains. after a nice relaxing day on the beach with the family i come home to this. once i think they are gone they come back.
help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for answering but they are not springtails. My pest control guy was just here confirming that they are not. However, he doesn't know what they are! He took a few with him so the service manager can take a look at them.

mind if I ask which company you're using?

I am the entomologist for a small company in Michigan, and we have had about 40 calls on springtails so far this year. The spray we normally use barely touches them. Last year we got 2 calls about spring tails.

Based on your location and your description of the problem (especially with the bag of soil and seeing them in the tub, sinks, etc.) I would have to say that they most likely ARE springtails, and if you can get a pic or a sample, I'd be most happy to take a look for you. However, Ohio isn't in our service area :)

They like humidity, so do what you can to reduce that, but they don't seem to be following the rules this year.

I'm using Orkin.
My bug guy came out on Thursday, looked at them and told me they were not springtails but he didn't know what they were so he took a sample back to the office with him.
I did my own research in the internet thinking they were in fact springtails (they had all the characteristics but did not look like any of the many pictures I looked at) and still didn't know for sure.
I had a rival pest control service come out on Thursday evening to take a look at them. This guy assured me that they were in fact springtails! I called my current pest control service and told them what 'I' thought. They called me back the next morning confirming the fact (they had an 'expert' look at them).
Someone from Orkin was supposed to come out Saturday. I sat home all day waiting--even called a few times---and no one ever showed up. Of course they aren't open today (Sunday) so I have to wait until morning to get a hold of someone. Needless to say I'm a little irked.

It's gotten so bad that we find them in our cups and I have had to pick a few off of my daughter. I'm just about ready to pack up and go stay at my moms for a bit. I have tried being as calm as possible but my irrational fear of bugs is taking over and I'm scared of my own house!

What I was told though, is that they don't respond to the normal pest control sprays. They also don't take back to the nest any poisen they've ingested so it's pretty much an 'every bug for himself' type of thing once the chemicals are sprayed. They told me they were going to do a 'crack and crevice' treatment but it would take anywhere from 4-6 weeks for the problem to totally go away. I'm just hoping that the initial treatment will reduce the amount of bugs that I see. It seems they are nocturnal so in the evening it's unreal the amount of bugs hanging out on my baseboards, climbing my walls and walking on my ceilings. I try not to look but my fear gets the better of me.
Also, the Orkin service manager said in his 12 years with Orkin he's seen one or two cases of springtails--total. The last few months he said he's been getting 20-30 cases a week!

I would like to thank everyone for their help!

A couple of questions though please Elisa.
1. Why are they so abundant in my home?
2. Why are they not 'following the rules this year'?
3. Why am I finding them more around my inside walls rather than my windows/doorways? I was under the assumption that they are coming from the outside.
4. Is it possible that they are living in my walls?

Thanks you for any help you can offer. :)

Here are some photos taken in my dining room. This is just a very small area but my entire house looks like this at night. The links may need to be copy and pasted.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v720/short2cake/5858df27.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v720/short2cake/2005_0714Image0013.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v720/short2cake/2005_0714Image00023.jpg

Particularly wooden structures. Springtails can be a sign that you have issues of wet, damp or even rotting wood. Good, stable wood in the structure will not hold moisture, but compromised wood may easily wick up water. Springtails don't damage anything, but they are likely feeding off of the decaying wood, as well as fungi and molds that are developing on and around it. You may also have moisture penetrating the foundation of your home. When you have an issue such as this, it is almost always sign that something is wrong with your home. I really do suggest getting a building or home inspector, possibly even someone in the foundation repair business, to look at the structure of your home.

Until you rule out the possibility of issues within the structure of your home, no amount of pest control chemical will likely do any good. They will simply return. They are quick breeding, small and very durable, so it's pretty much like using a squirt gun on a forest fire.

Hello,

I have the same bugs shown in your picture. Mine however are just begining to arrive in my house, so I am hoping to stop them early. I am also hoping that because it is now 2011, and your bug issue is from 2005 - you may have great advice for me. Did you find out what these bugs are called? Do they do damage to the house? How can we get rid of them?

I hope you were able to solve your bug problem after your last comment.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks!

Oh, I see above that you confirm they are springtails. It sounds like, from what I am reading, that the environment outside the house is the culprit. If you can find the nest or source outside, you can cut down on them. We have pine mulch around our house which we are thinking may be the source.

There is another possibility, and that is the genus Haltica in Miridae. We have images of at least one species here in BugGuide. Someone else e-mailed images of 'their' critters, and that is what they turned out to be.