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Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 3:13 pm
by vannin
My kitchen has been invaded by tiny 'things' in the past month, they don't appear to walk or fly. They don't appear in clusters, just singly, on the floor, occasionally on worktops or in the sink. Are they the eggs of 'something? Certainly not the eggs of catfleas as Trixie has been treated. I have no indoor plants.

I am constantly using spray disinfectant, Flash for cleaning, and boiling water with disinfectant in the sink. There is enough to think about with sterile wipes every day. It shows my sight is not deteriorating as much as I feared!

My handyman repainted the front woodwork of the house including window frames and porch door, in one of the Summer heatwaves, poor chap, and this was followed by a great multitude of thunderflies. They appeared overnight forming a black blanket over some of the porch windows. I got rid of them by spraying, thank goodness.

But these little specks are different and they came in cold weather whereas thunderflies are in warm/hot weather. Anyone had any similar experience?

Re: Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 4:07 pm
by Penny
Sorry, no idea. Jut hope they don't visit.me. cheers pemmy

Re: Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:25 pm
by laurie53
Droppings of something that crawls? Perhaps from the larval stage of something.

Something smaller than cockroaches but bigger than ants.

In bed areas I would suggest bed bogs, but not a kitchen.

Re: Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 10:29 pm
by vannin
Smaller than ants, than bed bugs (I think ) and smaller than mouse droppings. I vaguely wondered about woodlouse droppings after seeing a couple of woodlice on the outside of the back doorstep.

Re: Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 9:11 am
by laurie53
Woodlice droppings would have been my next suggestions.

Smaller than bed bug droppings means little more than dust - they are smaller than fly spots!

Re: Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:00 am
by vannin
Yes, they are barely a millimetre. If woodlice worm their way in from the back step at night, that could be it. I never leave the back door open, except in the height of Summer.
Must look up some info on them. I cannot use a repellant that might affect the cat. I am wondering if the eggs have been brought in on her paws. But the sink..........?

Re: Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 12:48 pm
by Monika
Some years ago, I was in my Conservatory when a woodlouse, on the floor, gave birth to live young.

I had no idea that they did this and I watched as the little "critter" gave birth to loads of tiny creamy-white miniatures of itself.

Fantastic!

Re: Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 2:01 pm
by vannin
These are black! But today I am happy to report, I have not seen one ! Hopefully, my ( non-poisonous) disinfecting the kitchen has worked.
The closest experience which stayed at the back of my memory, was when I saw my grandmother open a bag of flour and quickly get rid of it: flour mites similar in size but lighter coloured (grey?!)

Re: Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 9:42 pm
by laurie53
Sitting in the bathroom today I became aware of a Black blob moving slowly across the floor.

I assumed a big Bblack spider or a bumble bee, probably the latter as spiders have a fair ruin of speed and I had been attacked by a humble bee earlier in the day which had woken up early and was feeling a bit grumpy in the cold!

Acting on my usual principle that it hadn't done me any harm, I used my tooth mug and a piece of stiff card and put it out of the window!

I wonder what it was?

Re: Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 03, 2020 10:37 pm
by vannin
Some of the insect life we may never find the answers to! I must say, Before late March, I never scrutinised my surroundings so much in my attempted detection of tiny things - they were not even making movement but just appeared out of nowhere. I even wondered about the very small floater that remained in my right eye since March injection, whether that was the actual black spot I was seeing. But no, the floater moves around on walls and mid-air in tandem with me moving my head! A complete mystery but may be gone now. :magnify: :magnify:

Re: Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 6:55 am
by laurie53
Just found another one, crawling on the headboargvas I woke up(note the timer, 6.45)!

Definitely a humble this time, I was a lot closer!

A lucky escape.

Re: Specky things, smaller than thunderflies.

PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2020 1:08 pm
by vannin
Seven weeks later.
Spraying the kitchen was not enough, and I still saw a few isolated ones each day. I saw an item on Facebook for a plug-in repellant, and sent for it. Been plugged-in for a fortnight and has almost worked, but on some days I might see one.