Tiny White Bugs on the Wall? They Eat Mold.
Tiny white bugs crawling on your wall or books? They are Booklice. They indicate a mold problem. Learn why lowering humidity kills them instantly.
You look closely at your wall or an old book. You see a speck of dust moving. It's tiny, white or grey, and crawling fast.
These are Booklice (Psocids).
They Don't Bite
The name is misleading. They aren't lice. They don't live on people. They don't suck blood.
Why You Have Them
Booklice eat microscopic mold.
If you see them, your house is too humid. * New Construction: We see them on fresh plaster walls that haven't fully dried out yet. * Old Books: They eat the starch glue in the binding only if it's damp and moldy. * Bathrooms: They graze on the mildew on the grout.
The "No-Chemical" Kill
You don't need a pesticide. You need a dehumidifier.
If you lower the humidity in the room below 45%, the mold stops growing, and the soft-bodied booklice dehydrate and die instantly.
I tell clients: "Don't pay me to spray. Buy a dehumidifier. It fixes the root cause."