Struggling to id this insect in my kitchen

[ramrod]

Hi there, I’ve recently found these in number in one of my kitchen cupboards and i have failed miserably to identify it.

Can anyone help me?

They are very small as you can see from the shot with the pen. Excuse my poor photography but I had to point the camera through backwards binoculars to get these snaps.

hope you can help and many thanks for looks!

[col188]

I hesitate to say, but could it be a type of Psocids
PS Possibly Liposcelis terricolis
Col

[Jason Green]

Hi Ramrod, and welcome to WAB!

Your tiny insect is an Indoor Barklouse - as said by Col188, above. We have several different species of these in the UK, and they're found in every house country-wide I should think. There is a related family of these called Barkflies that usually live on trees under leaves, on bark, etc. outside.

How did you get the photograph? Looks like a nice bit of ingenuity!

Take care,

Jason

[squishy]

taken through a low power microscope?

it always intrigues me to look at tiny creatures like this under microscopes. its amazing to see the complexity of creatures that just look like a dot with the naked eye

[charlieb]

Originally Posted by ramrod

through backwards binoculars

[Jason Green]

Well Charlie, not everyone have macro lenses! I, um... did a similar thing myself around January this year. Works out well in an emergency!

[charlieb]

The sarcasm and confusion was due to squishys and your apparent inability to read the OP post

[Jason Green]

Ah, sorry Charlie

I slipped into my old habit - ID-mode (Do you think the blue man must end up getting dizzy, keep looking up like that? He must have been sick of the Hunting thread... )

You know, you see the word 'ID' in a post-title, jump on it at around about 100mph, see the picture and overlook the writing, probably identify it wrongly then write something. Consequently I missed the photograph's equipment mentioned

EDIT: Um... this is in-jest by the way, I think I have a higher strike-rate of correct IDs!

[ramrod]

thanks for getting back guys. i did indeed use my binoculars backwards. Not the best but effective.

i'll look up more info on these little fellas as i don't mind sharing my home with the odd little bug but there are too many and there finding there way into my food so it's eviction time.

i've just had new kitchen units put in so maybe the wood was invested.

thanks again.

[Jason Green]

They'll be back! As far as I know, they aren't linked to disease and are present in every home UK-wide.