No doubt you’ve heard of bookworms, but booklice are perhaps even more common and every bit as destructive. They’re hard to spot and often mistaken for other household pests, but shouldn’t be underestimated.
Let’s look at ways to get rid of booklice infestations as well as ways to prevent them in future. Afterwards, we’ll get to know this pest better and discuss how to tell them apart from similar bugs.
Getting Rid of Booklice
Dealing with booklice is both easy and difficult at the same time, depending on the size of the infestation. Thankfully, by combining more than one of the following methods, you can greatly speed up the extermination process.
Use a Dehumidifier
Booklice need humidity to survive and will enjoy a population explosion if humidity levels reach 75 to 90 percent. They cannot survive more than a few weeks at levels below 50 percent.
More importantly, your home will suffer less risk of mold and mildew if you keep the humidity to around 30 percent, so let those dehumidifiers run!
Diatomaceous Earth (DE)
If you’ve visited RMC before, you’ll know that this is one of our favorite bug killers. Food-grade diatomaceous earth is made from the crushed microscopic fossils of diatoms. It’s safe around humans and pets and is like a fine powder. However, at the insect level, this powder becomes a minefield of broken glass.
Simply sprinkle some DE where booklice or other bugs are suspected and let it do the dirty work. You’ll need to reapply it every few days or if the location gets wet. Also DE doesn’t work instantly. Instead, it lacerates the waxy protective coating over a bug’s exoskeleton. Moisture escapes through these breaches, causing the bug to slowly die of dehydration.
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Check the Temperature
Booklice cannot survive extreme temperatures and thrive most in warm, humid environments. For infested linens, you can make use of the dryer on high heat settings to kill them.
Conversely, you can seal books or other small items in a freezer bag and stick them in the freezer for several days. A chest freezer will work quicker than a standard refrigerator freezer found in your kitchen as it can get to a much colder temperature.
Allowing a room to get very hot or cold will affect the booklice, although you will likely not be able to reach deadly temperatures. Still, this is a great way to slow reproduction while waiting for other remedies to take effect.
Finally, you can use a steam cleaner to kill any in your carpets or furniture. A commercial model works best, as they reach blistering temperatures. However, a non-commercial unit will still put out enough heat to do the deed if you work slowly.
Vacuum Them Up!
Even a regular vacuum cleaner can be a deadly weapon against household bugs, but you’ll need the right equipment. Due to their tiny size, booklice can potentially be expelled through a standard vacuum’s exhaust if the filtration isn’t adequate.
Always use a vacuum with a HEPA filter, as these are designed to trap particles as small as 0.3 microns and will effectively contain the booklice. The HEPA filter will also trap any mold spores or other contaminants that might be present.
Be warned, booklice won’t die from vacuuming alone (unless you’re using a wet vac to drown them in soapy water or attack with a steamer). Be sure to remove the bag and dispose of it securely or dump the canister in a sealable bag and immediately wash it out with soapy water. This will ensure you won’t have any escapees.
Last Resorts
When all else fails, you can use a targeted insecticide spray such as PT 221L or a good general bifenthrin-based insecticide such as Talak 7.9% that will work for almost any insect and last you a long time.
Don’t want to deal with it on your own? Hire a professional. A good exterminator may be more affordable than you think. They’ll ensure the infestation is gone and help ensure they don’t return.
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Preventing Booklice
Unlike most critters, booklice prefer to come in the front door. However, there are still plenty of ways to make your home inhospitable to any louse that creeps in.
Eliminate Any Mold or Mildew
These are primary food sources for booklice and thus contribute heavily to their population growth. They’re also terrible for your health and can attract a number of other nasty pests. Use bleach, vinegar, or other products to get in deep and destroy the mold that’s both visible and hidden.
Keep It Clean
Regular cleaning not only helps reduce the risk of pests, it gives you a chance to discover the signs of an infestation early on.
Use sealable plastic containers for storage instead of cardboard boxes. Not only will this help preserve food or your belongings longer, it can also provide a barrier against most pests. Also, as mentioned before, vacuuming is a great way to suck up the little buggers that sneak into your home.
Drink spills or food crumbs are a great way to attract booklice into your living room or bedroom. By cleaning these as they happen, there’s far less chance of forgetting or leaving residue behind that might draw booklice or other bugs.
Regulate Your Environment
Keep room temperatures at 72 degrees or cooler and humidity levels close to 25 or 30 percent. Not only are these conditions healthier, but they’re also inhospitable to booklice.
Getting to Know Booklice
Booklice is the common nickname for several species of insects belonging to the Order Psocodea. They’re also known as psocids, barklice, or paperlice, although they’re not actually related to lice. In fact, mistaken identity is a common problem with this critter, so being able to properly identify it is an absolute must if you want to prevent a major infestation.
Identifying Booklice
A booklouse is a soft-bodied insect about 1/32 to 1/16 inches long with a wide head, narrower thorax, and large abdomen. Some species have nonfunctional wings while others are wingless and often confused with bed bugs.
They range in coloration from gray or light brown to pale white. Their mouthparts are designed to scrape mold from surfaces. In all, there are around 30 species of psocids commonly referred to as booklice.
Lifecycle
One of the biggest problems with booklice is their rapid reproduction rate. While some species can reproduce through parthenogenesis (where eggs develop without fertilization), most reproduce sexually.
A single female can produce 60 to 100 eggs, which take two to four weeks to hatch into nymphs. Depending on environmental conditions, the nymphs will go through several stages into adulthood in about two months.
With an adult lifespan of six months, it’s not unusual for eight generations to be born within a single year if conditions are right.
Diet
Despite their reputation for chewing up books, these critters actually feed primarily on mold and fungi. However, they will also scavenge insect carcasses, grains, pollen, or starches. This includes the glue in cardboard, books, and wallpaper.
Habitat
Booklice tend to gravitate towards any place that is warm and damp, since this is a prime breeding ground for mold. However, this also means they’ll invade human structures where basements, bathrooms, kitchens, laundry areas, and libraries are all popular breeding spots.
They’ll also sometimes congregate in bedrooms or living rooms if there are frequent drink spills and food debris left about.
Causes of a Booklice Infestation
Due to their tiny size, booklice can sneak into your home without the need for entry points like most bugs. They’re commonly brought in via old books, furniture, or on clothing. Once in your home, the louse will quickly get cozy and begin reproducing once she’s an adult.
Are Booklice Dangerous?
Booklice are generally harmless to humans and pets. For some sensitive individuals, these critters can trigger an allergic reaction and may contaminate food products. Their mouthparts aren’t designed for biting and they’re not known to be carriers of parasites or disease.
That said, booklice can contaminate food products, especially members of the genus Liposcelis.
What Happens to Booklice in Winter?
These critters can’t survive freezing temperatures. However, once they’re in your home where it’s warm, they can not only survive the winter, but will continue breeding. This is especially true if you keep the heat high and aren’t monitoring humidity levels.
Booklice vs Bed Bugs
These two species look nearly identical at first glance when comparing bed bug nymphs. However, a booklouse is narrower and has long antennae. Additionally, booklice won’t bite and are more common in rooms with higher humidity while bed bugs prefer to be close to where humans sleep or relax.
Booklice vs Flour Beetles
Even though flour beetles are larger and reddish brown, it’s not uncommon to confuse them with booklice. The main reason for this is how the name “booklouse” suggests these bugs only infest books. However, a booklouse will be attracted by the cardboard and glue in food packaging, as well as moisture that may accumulate.
Booklice vs Head Lice
Booklice look a lot like headlice, but they’re not related. They are a lighter shade of gray. They may have wings, but they do not fly. Meanwhile, head lice bite people and animals.
Another way to tell the difference is by where you find them—you will find head lice on people living near hair follicles, while booklice will be near books, pantries, and moldy areas.
Morgan is a certified entomologist and pest control consultant and a member of the National Pest Management Association.
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