It’s my second night in my Village House apartment and since yesterday morning I’ve already noticed quite a few of these tiny bugs crawling around (photos below). Drain flies are fine enough (I’ve already killed a couple) because at least I know what they are and I can swat them since they’re sizeable. But these things that look like tiny dots that you make by tapping a pen on paper and they’re all over the bathroom. Oddly enough not on the floor (yet?).Walls, the bathroom door, the tub, the shower head, the faucets, the sink area. They crawl on the shower head and because they’re so small they go into the crevices. They don’t fly… Not sure if they will eventually if they grow big enough or what. I’ve cleaned the tub, ran the faucets quite a bit and poured cleaner and soaps down the drains. Still coming. I’m frustrated because I just moved out of my other apartment due to plumbing issues and here I am once again. Rural area so I’m sure bugs are normal and as it is the crickets be loud af outside atm but I don’t mind any of that. I’m just so frustrated.
Anyone have experience with this? I’ve reported the issue to the management company but more than anything I want to know: what are they and are they harmful? Can’t find anything in this forum thought maybe they might be flies but again, they don’t fly. My anxiety goes worst case scenario and I’m losing sleep. Please Help me
Never mind guess I can’t add a photo but hopefully someone knows what I’m talking about
5 comments
Could they be springtails? If the room wasn’t ventilated while it was unoccupied they could have come in for the dark/damp environment. I used to get them under my houseplant pots before I raised them to improve the airflow. You’re keeping the bathroom vent fan on 24/7, right?
Not sure what insects these might be, but I totally feel your panic. After living in the US where our landlord let a multi-species bug situation 2 floors below get out of control during COVID, I live in daily fear of another bathroom infestation!
Fingers crossed that the management company comes through, but here are some things you can do in the meanwhile.
First of all, don’t pour excess soap down the drain. Soap won’t kill insects or their eggs AND residual soap is an ideal food source for red bacteria (gross). Boil water and pour that down your drains. Do this every day for a week, and then once a week (if you’re an obsessive cleaner like me).
For the insects you can see, get an alcohol cleaner spray (you can get this everywhere), and spray them directly. If they are soft-bodied insects, they will die. You can spray the showerhead and faucet this way too. Bonus if the shower head is detachable: you can pour boiling water on the head and hopefully clean/kill anything inside.
Generally, stick to alcohol cleaners (kill bacteria/mold and soft insects) or plant-based soap cleaners (which leave less residue). You don’t need so much soap or harsh chemicals because the water in Japan is pretty soft (not full of minerals like where we lived in the east coast USA). Bonus here is that these cleaners are cheap!
Good luck.
Little brown-black ones? I think those are carpet beetles; I’ve seen seeing them around my place too, but not as many as you seem to have.
I can’t seem to find where they’re sneaking in from so I just grab the little jerks with a tissue and flush.
Just the other day we had a huge swarm(?) of baby spiders on one of our water hyacinths outside: they were so small we couldn’t see their legs without a magnifying glass. (The only reason we checked is it looked like the hyacinths had some sort of fungal growth.)
If you can stand to do so, try to scoop some up with a piece of white paper and examine them in good light. You may get a hint about what they are and if they’re something to worry about.
Way more bugs indoors this year due to a hotter than normal summer(and drier than normal for some regions ).
Follow the advice offered. Also drain cleaning tablets available online or in stores help.