Working out what an insect is from what you can actually see: colour, location, movement and look-alikes.
Grey usually means damp or dust rather than an infestation. Silverfish, woodlice, springtails, psocids and carpet beetle larvae cover nearly every case.
Tiny Grey Bugs in the House: Identification Guide Read More »
Five things live on a dog and only one of them is a flea. Two of the five need a vet rather than a shop product, and this guide says which two.
Tiny Bugs on Your Dog That Are Not Fleas Read More »
Nocturnal narrows it to five, and what happens in the first second after you flick the light on separates them. Only one is a reason to act quickly.
Bugs That Only Come Out at Night: The Short List Read More »
Rule bed bugs in or out in ten minutes, then work through what a bedroom actually holds: wool, dust, damp plaster and a wardrobe nobody empties.
Tiny Bugs in the Bedroom That Are Not Bed Bugs Read More »
The damage names the culprit better than the insect does. Clothes moths, carpet beetles and silverfish each leave a different kind of hole in fabric.
Tiny Bugs in a Wardrobe: What Is Eating Your Clothes Read More »
Gloss narrows the list faster than colour does. Ground beetles, spider beetles, cuckoo wasps and flea beetles all shine for different reasons.
Shiny Metallic Bugs in the House: What They Are Read More »
Three tail filaments and a scaly sheen are the two checks. Firebrats, bristletails, earwig nymphs and small centipedes each fail one or the other.
Bugs That Look Like Silverfish: Telling Them Apart Read More »
Count the legs and look at the tail. Silverfish, earwigs, centipedes, rove beetles and millipedes are all long and thin for different reasons.
Long Thin Bugs in the House: Identification Guide Read More »
A hard shell with a straight seam down the back means beetle, which rules out the things people fear. Where you found it sorts the six families.
Hard-Shelled Bugs in the House: Which Beetle Is It? Read More »
The impostor people actually meet is a drain fly. Wing count and where it chooses to sit separate it from the two moths that matter, indoors and out.
Bugs That Look Like Moths: Drain Flies and Four Others Read More »
