Bathroom bugs thrive in damp environments and can be harmful.
These bathroom bugs with no wings can make your bathroom an epicenter of an infestation that can spread to your entire home.
In this guide, you’ll learn about these wingless bathroom bugs, where they come from, and how to eliminate them.
Keep reading to know it all.
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Drain Mites (Psocids or Booklice)
Drain mites, also known as booklice or psocids, are tiny, oval-shaped bugs that live in damp areas like bathrooms and basements.
They’re oval-shaped, soft-bodied, 1-2 mm in size, and can be gray, tan, brown, or white.
Drain mites enter your home through small cracks in the windows and walls.
The dry weather outdoors forces these insects to look for alternative damp areas, causing them to invade homes.
They feed on molds and fungi that form on bathroom walls, floors, and fixtures.
Though they don’t bite or spread diseases, they quickly multiply in warm, humid conditions.
These bugs can cause damage to stored grains and moldy books.
Red Flour Beetles
Red flour beetles are grain beetles that can spread from the kitchen to other areas of a home, including the bathroom.
Red flour beetles are 4 mm in size, with dark reddish brown long cylindrical flat bodies.
These pests can easily survive in the bathroom if there is food or organic waste.
They are efficient crawlers and can enter through thin gaps.
Red flour beetles hide in bathroom cupboards, drawers, underneath sinks, dark plumbing areas, and cracks and crevices on walls and floors.
Other beetles, such as carpet beetles and rice weevils, can enter bathrooms, but they have fully developed wings and can fly.
American Spider Beetles
The American spider beetle is a kitchen beetle that infests stored foods in the kitchen pantry.
They enter bathrooms in search of food sources and hiding places.
They are dark reddish-brown to black with bulbous bodies and no thorax, and their body size ranges from 1.6 to 3.2 mm.
Their body shape and six long legs make them appear like spiders.
Spider beetles spread to your bathroom when their population explodes in the kitchen.
They come out of the kitchen and scavenge your home, feeding on pet hair, human hair, and dead insects.
No wonder it’s only a matter of time before they end up in your bathroom.
They can hide in small spaces on the floor, walls, fixtures, and between fabric and towel rolls.
However, they do not cause any damage in your bathroom or bite unless pressed against the skin.
Springtails
Springtails are tiny jumping moisture-seeking bugs.
They are cigar-shaped, 2 mm in size, and come in various colors like black, brown, white, and metallic blue or green.
Springtails jump to escape predation. They’re harmless and don’t bite humans or pets.
Springtails enter bathrooms by jumping through the windows or crawling through the windowsill’s cracks.
Dry weather outdoors causes these bugs to move inside the homes and bathrooms for moisture.
Springtails feed on molds and fungi that grow on hard surfaces due to excessive dampness.
In the outdoors, springtails feed on decaying organic wastes and molds on wet soil beds.
Tiny Black Odorous House Ants
Odorous ants are common house ants that enter homes for food and to build colonies.
They are brownish-black and 3mm in size.
Odorous ants prefer kitchens because they can feed on food waste and protein-rich and sweet foods.
These ants spread to bathrooms and other areas of your home when the infestation spikes.
Their search for alternative nesting sites, dampness, and warmth make these ants start a new colony in the bathroom.
They don’t bite and produce a stench when you crush them.
Baby Cockroaches
Baby cockroaches in the bathroom come from eggs that adult sewer roaches lay in drains and other areas.
Sewer roaches, reddish-brown big American cockroaches, also known as water bugs or palmetto bugs, live in drains and sewer lines.
They lay eggs in these areas. When the eggs hatch, they produce dark brown baby roaches.
These oval-shaped baby roaches, which appear black, pop out of the drain holes.
They’re 6 mm in size and feed on all types of bathroom waste, including the gunk inside the drains.
These cockroaches can spread quickly.
Infestations usually start in the kitchen before spreading to other areas of the home.
But they can also originate in your bathroom.
Mold Mites
Mold mites are microscopic wingless bugs in homes with severe moisture problems.
Wet and humid surfaces develop molds. And like the psocids, mold mites feed on the molds that form on them.
They’re undetectable with the naked eye.
However, when their numbers increase, they appear as a layer of dust.
Mold mites will form on any surface where molds develop. And if your bathroom floor and walls have molds, there will be mold mites.
Molds mites are microscopic. And they can be challenging to spot with the naked eye when their numbers are low.
When their numbers increase, they appear as gray or white dusty layers on the surface.
Their colors vary depending on the colors of the mold they eat.
These mites can infest stored grains. When they do, they’re called grain mites.
Too many of them in the kitchen make them spill over to kitchen counters and shelves, appearing as a dusty layer.
Drain Worms
Drain worms are tiny gray worms that appear on shower grout and bathroom fixtures with drains, such as sinks and bathtubs.
These worms are the drain fly larvae.
Adult drain flies in the house will lay their eggs in the choked drains.
The drain fly larvae that hatch out of the eggs feed on the gunk and slime, blocking the drains.
Sometimes, they come out of the drain holes, looking for food.
Drain fly larvae are 6.35 mm in size.
They are legless worms with visible blackheads.
They mature into adult drain flies within 12-24 days, depending on the temperature and humidity.
Clover Mites
Clover mites are small, dark red bugs that sneak inside homes during spring and fall if they’re present in your over-fertilized and over-watered grass lawns.
These mites appear black and resemble tiny spiders, but they’re not.
Clover mites randomly enter any area of your home, including your bathroom.
Thin crevices on windows, walls, and door gaps are the easy entry points for these mites.
Although they don’t bite or spread diseases, they can be a nuisance when they enter homes in large numbers.
Clover mites hide in gaps and cracks on bathroom floors and walls, but they don’t breed indoors and die due to starvation.
Crushing them can leave behind hard-to-remove red stains.
Silverfish In Bathroom
Silverfish are tiny, scaly gray bugs with long, tapered bodies that grow between 13 and 25 mm.
Bathrooms are one of their favorite places in the home to hide.
Why?
The presence of moisture and food sources attract silverfish to bathrooms.
The cracks in the bathroom floor and walls and the tight spaces under sinks and bathtubs provide hiding places.
They enter homes during hot and dry weather when they run out of damp areas to hide.
They feed on molds, fungi, dead larvae, and insects in the bathrooms.
Silverfish don’t bite. But they can breed inside the house, causing an infestation.
Silverfish harm books, fabrics, and stored foods as they form a significant part of their food sources.
Pseudoscorpions
Pseudoscorpions are arachnids that look like true scorpions without the tail and stinger. But they’re harmless.
They’re 6-7mm in size, with two pincers that they use to capture their prey. They’re black, but their colors can vary.
Pseudoscorpions primarily live outdoors. But they occasionally enter bathrooms searching for moisture, warmth, or prey.
Though they have venom glands in their pincers, they are not dangerous to humans.
They seek out dark spaces in bathrooms and other areas with fewer human footfalls.
These are solitary creatures, and they don’t breed indoors. It means that they can’t cause an infestation.
Common House Spiders
House spiders are small to medium-sized, and their body size can appear more prominent due to their long, slender legs.
Common house spiders can be black, brown, or tan with patterns or markings.
They typically build their webs in quiet, out-of-the-way areas such as at the bathroom ceiling.
Spiders can enter bathrooms through small gaps in walls, windows, or vents.
They usually enter in search of food and shelter.
Bathrooms provide the moisture and hiding spots that spiders need to survive.
Plus, the existing insects and flies in the bathroom provide them with a ready buffet that they can’t miss.
How To Get Rid Of Bathroom Bugs With No Wings
On top of using elimination methods, such as sprays, insect killers, and traps, you’ll also need to use prevention methods.
Here’s a 7-step guide to get rid of these wingless bathroom insects.
Declutter Your Bathroom
Clutter provides bugs with tight gaps where they can hide.
Dispose of old boxes and products you don’t use anymore to reduce clutter in your bathroom.
Also, don’t let dirty fabric piles accumulate in the bathroom.
Clean Your Bathroom
Use soapy water to give your bathroom an excellent cleaning.
Remove the molds on the bathroom floor, walls, storage, and fixtures with a mold cleaner.
When the bathroom dries up, use your vacuum cleaner to give your bathroom a thorough cleaning.
Regularly dispose of bathroom waste. Do not let waste accumulate in the trash cans.
Mold and waste are food sources for many of these bathroom bugs. So, it’s vital to remove them.
Use Insect-Killer Spray
Use a spray like Raid to kill the bathroom bugs.
Spray it on the nooks, corners, underneath sinks, and in tight areas below the bathtub.
While spraying, remove all the cosmetics, toothpaste tubes, brushes, and other items you use.
Sprays contain harmful chemicals, and you don’t want the spray to make contact with them.
You can also use natural insect killers like diatomaceous earth to scatter in the bathroom.
But diatomaceous earth is not an instant bug-killer. You’ll need to wait for a couple of hours to let it do its work.
After a few hours, use your vacuum cleaner to remove the DE and the bugs it killed.
Fix Leaky Pipes in the Bathroom
Water leaks in the bathroom lead to dampness that attracts bugs.
Fix any plumbing issues, like leaking pipes and faucets.
Also, ensure that your bathroom’s drainage system is working fine.
Clean the drains if slime and gunk are blocking them.
Seal Gaps And Cracks
The crevices on the bathroom floor and walls are hiding places for these wingless bathroom bugs.
Also, the tight gaps underneath the bathtub, sinks, and behind the cabinets can be a home to many insects.
The gaps in the windows and vents are the entry points these bugs exploit to enter bathrooms.
Use a silicone-based sealant to caulk these gaps.
If excessive moisture has damaged the bathroom floor and walls, repair them.
A damaged bathroom wall or floor is an excellent hiding area for insects, especially ants and roaches.
Use Natural Repellents
Repellents like peppermint oil spray, white vinegar, bay leaves, and cinnamon sticks keep bugs away.
Bugs hate their smell.
Use peppermint spray in tight spaces and windows to keep away bugs.
You can also use white vinegar mixed with water as a spray.
Install Meshed Screens On Bathroom Windows
Bugs and flies are active during the spring and summer months.
And they enter bathrooms through the bathroom windows.
Install meshed screens on the bathroom windows and vents to keep these bathroom flies and bugs away.
Monitor Your Bathroom
Some bugs, especially cockroaches and ants, can be hard to eliminate.
So, keep a close eye on your bathroom for any bug signs.
Use bug killers or spray on finding any, and dispose of the dead bugs.
Follow a regular bathroom cleaning schedule and use repellents so that bugs don’t invade your bathroom again.
You could hire a professional pest controller if bugs are coming back despite your best efforts.
Recap of Tiny Black Bugs, With No Wings, In The Bathroom
The most common crawlies that takeover your bathroom are-
- Drain mites
- Red flour beetles
- American spider beetles
- Springtails
- Odorous ants
- Baby cockroaches
- Mold mites
- Drain worms
- Clover mites
- Silverfish
- Pseudoscorpions
- Common house spider
Eliminating these bugs is only half the job.
You’ll need to eradicate the factors, such as moisture and bathroom waste, that draw these bugs to your bathroom.
You’d also need to close their entry points to prevent them from invading your bathroom.
So, what do you think? Are there any other wingless bathroom bugs that you’ve noticed?
Please mention in the comments section below and let me know.
Dr. Thomas Orbert is a PhD in Entomology with extensive research experience in ectoparasites and microbials. He has also worked in the spaces of ecology conservation and has multiple years of experience in field research and scientific publishing.