Aussie woman's horror as hundreds of white bugs take over bathroom

A "weird" and unsettling discovery in a woman's bathroom had many people scratching their heads (and their bodies) after a video showing hundreds of tiny white bugs was shared online.

Desperate for answers, the concerned mum took to Facebook with the hope of identifying the little critters that had taken over her bathroom vanity in their hundreds. She noticed they'd moved in sometime last week.

"Please help," the woman began in her social media post. "I've noticed this on my bathroom vanity. I thought it was dust or something so cleaned a part of it and it reappeared.

"I looked closely and they're MOVING!!! size of a grain of salt," she added before asking how to clean it.

'Annoying' tiny bugs keep reappearing

The video shows masses of minuscule dots moving swiftly across the surface leading many to believe they're mould mites — tiny mites that feed on mould. The anonymous poster said she "wiped them all off" and "cleaned out the entire vanity" yet they continue to reappear.

"This is the first time I ever noticed them. I did have a small handheld vacuum in my vanity for the bathroom which was COVERED inside and out with these things I've thrown away as well," she posted in the comments.

"They're so annoying. I am thinking they may be hiding in the metal hinges. I may have to pull them apart and clean them in boiling hot water," she added, revealing the vanity is right beside the bathtub.

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Expert identifies bugs as booklice

The post left some "feeling itchy all over" while others admitted, "I've never seen anything like this". But it's a pretty common occurrence Warren Bailey from ABC Pest Control in Sydney told Yahoo News Australia — although not a pleasant one.

"They're booklice," Warren confirmed to Yahoo News, which are similar to mould mites in that they feed on microscopic mould and mildew in warm and damp environments.

Typically, booklice love to feed on books, or any paper, Warren explained — a behaviour that gave them their name. But if there's mould in the bathroom, or anywhere in the home, it's a surefire way to attract these little critters in large numbers.

While not harmful to humans, they're "bloody annoying" to get rid of Warren said — as this frustrated woman has learned. The trick would be to remove the mould which would in turn remove the bugs which are often no bigger than six millimetres.

In the meantime, a professional pest controller would be able to blast the critters and remove the mould they're feeding on.

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