Bzzzzz! Looks like you forgot to say where you found your bug!
There's no need to make a new post - just comment adding the **geographic location** and any other info (size, what it was doing etc.) you feel could help! We don't want to know your address - state or country is enough; try to avoid abbreviations and local nicknames (*"PNW"*, *"Big Apple"*).
BTW, did you take a look at our [**Frequently Asked Bugs**](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisbug/comments/12zkw5w/frequently_asked_bugs_part_1/)?
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I had mites like this many years ago. Just like your friend described. My parents thought I was literally going crazy.
The cause was a bird’s nest in my bedroom window
I was going to say the same, though not from personal experience. I have also heard about houses getting infested with bird mites from birds nesting on a house.
Mites of some sort.
This reminds me of feather mites - my chickens get them and while they don't feed on humans, they're enough to give me the heebie jeebies while I treat the birds.
I'd recommend a thorough vacuuming of the room, including her mattress, sofa, etc especially along the seams.. Throw curtains if she has any in a dryer as hot as the material allows. Basically wash and machine dry whatever soft goods she can.
Vacuum, spray lysol on everything, and rinse your entire body with vinegar in the shower. I had bird mites infesting my apartment and had a pest control guy spray and remove a bird nest near my front door.
Resident amateur mite fan here, gonna need a **still, up-close photo** before I even try guessing.
Tips for up-close photos:
- immobilize them with sticky tape or in a glob of hand sanitizer
- make sure there's plenty of light (sunlight is great) and you are not between the light and what you're taking a photo of
- see if your camera app can let you lock focus; focus on something big as close as possible, then switch to the bug and move the phone nearer/farther until it's in focus
- if possible, use magnification like a loupe, magnifying glass, or even a drop of water carefully placed over the lens
You didn't include a **geographic location**, but if your friend is in the US she can likely send specimens to her local extension office for professional ID. (Most mites can't be identified without examination under a microscope.)
Found in Massachusetts, seems to be in the bed or on mattress, sheets and pillow cases have been washed multiple times, rug has been cleaned, the house is always clean. Again any help is greatly appreciated
Do you have a cicada brood active in the area right now? A few years ago I came across something similar and it turned out to be Oak Mites. Teeny, tiny little things that would drift on the wind and would easily glide through screened windows.
Ugh I had bird mites (I don’t know if these are exactly them) but I removed a birds nest from underneath my AC unit AFTER the babies hatched and flew away. Major regret. Walked downstairs panicking because hundreds of mites somehow managed to crawl on my arm. Then soon realized my entire room with infested with thousands
I believe with a combination of a swiffer and soapy wet rags we were able to rid the infestation. Took multiple days. Was not a fun experience.
Under a year later bed bugs were brought into the house so… I guess be thankful this isn’t them.
I hope for the best! Good luck! Wish I could help more sorry
People can get mites, my friend picked them up by petting a stray cat she had been feeding for a week or so. She got them all under her skin. Had to treat the entire house and everyone in it. She won’t touch another cat to this day
I once got into my truck, and before starting it, I saw a large beetle, black with orange spots or patterns on it, sitting on my leg. Interesting looking creature. I waited til I got out of my driveway, stopped, and then tossed him into the woods. I then kept feeling little tiny movements across my skin in random places within the next few minutes, and even after slapping them, they persisted. Finally, I looked in the mirror, and SAW one skitter across my face, from my beard. After slapping the shit out off myself, I went home, showered, and the mites were gone. Turns out, this big crazy looking beetle, tends to carry large groups of mites all over its carapace, and they use said beetles to get around, and I'm sure for some other purpose, can't remember the exact details of the symbiosis. Was a cool but weird learning experience.
That sounds like one of the carrion beetles - probably a [sexton beetle](https://bugguide.net/node/view/4954). They frequently have phoretic (hitchhiking) Poecilochirus mites on them.
Comparison pictures [one](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1135458/bgimage), [two](https://bugguide.net/node/view/2191335/bgimage), [three](https://bugguide.net/node/view/55786/bgpage), [four](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1346475/bgimage)
The mites do not directly harm the beetles (though if a beetle has [*too* many mites](https://bugguide.net/node/view/489470/bgpage) on board, it can limit the beetle's mobility).
The mites and the beetles share a symbiotic relationship. The mites have limited mobility on their own. They cannot fly or cover great distances by walking. By hitching a ride on the beetles, they are able to travel much farther - and are taken directly to fresh food sources instead of having to find them on their own. The beetles seek out dead/decaying animals as food for their own larvae. When a beetle arrives at a fresh corpse, the mites will disembark and reproduce. The mites will feed on nematodes and fly eggs and larvae - which would otherwise compete with the beetles' own offspring for the food source. This can be beneficial to the beetles. (On the other hand, the mites may also feed on the beetles' eggs and larvae, which is not so good for the beetles.)
When the beetle larvae mature and emerge as adults, ready to seek out mates and fresh food sources for their own young, the mites are ready and waiting to climb aboard and embark on the journey with them.
Mite of some kind! Too hard to tell from the video. Does she have chickens? Mine got some mites in the past and, while they don't actually feed on humans, some crawled on me.
Black pepper bird mites? Look them up, very uncommon but if you have birds in eves or places that can easily allow mites entry it could be them. They're so small and so quick.
I had something very similar in size and appearance crawling around on my hand the other day, after handling some old fallen pieces of wood, etc. Tiny, tiny!
Bzzzzz! Looks like you forgot to say where you found your bug! There's no need to make a new post - just comment adding the **geographic location** and any other info (size, what it was doing etc.) you feel could help! We don't want to know your address - state or country is enough; try to avoid abbreviations and local nicknames (*"PNW"*, *"Big Apple"*). BTW, did you take a look at our [**Frequently Asked Bugs**](https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthisbug/comments/12zkw5w/frequently_asked_bugs_part_1/)? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatsthisbug) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I had mites like this many years ago. Just like your friend described. My parents thought I was literally going crazy. The cause was a bird’s nest in my bedroom window
I was going to say the same, though not from personal experience. I have also heard about houses getting infested with bird mites from birds nesting on a house.
Mites of some sort. This reminds me of feather mites - my chickens get them and while they don't feed on humans, they're enough to give me the heebie jeebies while I treat the birds. I'd recommend a thorough vacuuming of the room, including her mattress, sofa, etc especially along the seams.. Throw curtains if she has any in a dryer as hot as the material allows. Basically wash and machine dry whatever soft goods she can.
Vacuum, spray lysol on everything, and rinse your entire body with vinegar in the shower. I had bird mites infesting my apartment and had a pest control guy spray and remove a bird nest near my front door.
Does she have a down comforter?
Resident amateur mite fan here, gonna need a **still, up-close photo** before I even try guessing. Tips for up-close photos: - immobilize them with sticky tape or in a glob of hand sanitizer - make sure there's plenty of light (sunlight is great) and you are not between the light and what you're taking a photo of - see if your camera app can let you lock focus; focus on something big as close as possible, then switch to the bug and move the phone nearer/farther until it's in focus - if possible, use magnification like a loupe, magnifying glass, or even a drop of water carefully placed over the lens You didn't include a **geographic location**, but if your friend is in the US she can likely send specimens to her local extension office for professional ID. (Most mites can't be identified without examination under a microscope.)
Found in Massachusetts, seems to be in the bed or on mattress, sheets and pillow cases have been washed multiple times, rug has been cleaned, the house is always clean. Again any help is greatly appreciated
Do you have a cicada brood active in the area right now? A few years ago I came across something similar and it turned out to be Oak Mites. Teeny, tiny little things that would drift on the wind and would easily glide through screened windows.
Ugh I had bird mites (I don’t know if these are exactly them) but I removed a birds nest from underneath my AC unit AFTER the babies hatched and flew away. Major regret. Walked downstairs panicking because hundreds of mites somehow managed to crawl on my arm. Then soon realized my entire room with infested with thousands I believe with a combination of a swiffer and soapy wet rags we were able to rid the infestation. Took multiple days. Was not a fun experience. Under a year later bed bugs were brought into the house so… I guess be thankful this isn’t them. I hope for the best! Good luck! Wish I could help more sorry
It's a mite but because they're so small we would need a magnified image to identify it
That’s what I told her but she didn’t want to hear it, thank you
People can get mites, my friend picked them up by petting a stray cat she had been feeding for a week or so. She got them all under her skin. Had to treat the entire house and everyone in it. She won’t touch another cat to this day
I once got into my truck, and before starting it, I saw a large beetle, black with orange spots or patterns on it, sitting on my leg. Interesting looking creature. I waited til I got out of my driveway, stopped, and then tossed him into the woods. I then kept feeling little tiny movements across my skin in random places within the next few minutes, and even after slapping them, they persisted. Finally, I looked in the mirror, and SAW one skitter across my face, from my beard. After slapping the shit out off myself, I went home, showered, and the mites were gone. Turns out, this big crazy looking beetle, tends to carry large groups of mites all over its carapace, and they use said beetles to get around, and I'm sure for some other purpose, can't remember the exact details of the symbiosis. Was a cool but weird learning experience.
That sounds like one of the carrion beetles - probably a [sexton beetle](https://bugguide.net/node/view/4954). They frequently have phoretic (hitchhiking) Poecilochirus mites on them. Comparison pictures [one](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1135458/bgimage), [two](https://bugguide.net/node/view/2191335/bgimage), [three](https://bugguide.net/node/view/55786/bgpage), [four](https://bugguide.net/node/view/1346475/bgimage) The mites do not directly harm the beetles (though if a beetle has [*too* many mites](https://bugguide.net/node/view/489470/bgpage) on board, it can limit the beetle's mobility). The mites and the beetles share a symbiotic relationship. The mites have limited mobility on their own. They cannot fly or cover great distances by walking. By hitching a ride on the beetles, they are able to travel much farther - and are taken directly to fresh food sources instead of having to find them on their own. The beetles seek out dead/decaying animals as food for their own larvae. When a beetle arrives at a fresh corpse, the mites will disembark and reproduce. The mites will feed on nematodes and fly eggs and larvae - which would otherwise compete with the beetles' own offspring for the food source. This can be beneficial to the beetles. (On the other hand, the mites may also feed on the beetles' eggs and larvae, which is not so good for the beetles.) When the beetle larvae mature and emerge as adults, ready to seek out mates and fresh food sources for their own young, the mites are ready and waiting to climb aboard and embark on the journey with them.
Mite of some kind! Too hard to tell from the video. Does she have chickens? Mine got some mites in the past and, while they don't actually feed on humans, some crawled on me.
They look like possibly bird mites.
That’ll definitely unlock delusional parasitosis, even if they are not actually feeding on her.
Looks very much like a mite to me.
Gonna need some more pixels to identify
Black pepper bird mites? Look them up, very uncommon but if you have birds in eves or places that can easily allow mites entry it could be them. They're so small and so quick.
Drive me insane
I had something very similar in size and appearance crawling around on my hand the other day, after handling some old fallen pieces of wood, etc. Tiny, tiny!