bug

so, we've had an interesting evening. and no, it had nothing to do with ashley judd's new movie, also called Bug.

young beatrix was tired and decided to retire just before 10:30pm. she went into the bedroom and promptly called me in, saying, "there's another one of those bugs on my pillow!"

uh oh.

several nights ago, trix was lying down to sleep when she noticed a teeny, tiny insect on her pillow. (for those of you who know of my bedbug phobia, fear not: the insect was definitely not one of those nefarious nightcrawlers.) we looked at it, determined that it was probably some kind of young fruit fly or the like, killed it and she went to bed.

and then she found another one, in the exact same spot, tonight. not good. we killed tonight's "guest" and decided to do a thorough bed check. off came the sheets and guess what? two more live insects in the bed, plus one dead one between the sheets and the mattress. aw, f-word.

but, again, i must reiterate: NOT bedbugs. i have researched those little bastards and could spot one on sight. they're more tick-like. this was more...ant-like? these insects were very, very small and slender. dark in colour. six legs. antennae. and did i mention tiny?

our minds started racing (OMG, is it a louse? a termite? something that's going to have babies to send home with us????) and young beatrix was suddenly and not surprisingly no longer the least bit sleepy. i opened my laptop and began surfing for answers. i theorized that perhaps these insects were coming from the closet next to trixie's bed -- a closet which houses at least a half-dozen dirty old pillows, three or four ratty blankets, assorted bedspreads and a locked cabinet containing the unit owner's own linens. trix removed the gym bag we'd stored in there...the one containing all our "stuff to go home for mom" purchases. i said we should check the bag and all the bags within that bag to see if any bugs had fallen/crawled/been birthed therein.

we found two more -- one dead one in a bag containing four 1/2 pound bags of ground coffee, and one live one crawling within the gym bag. then she went back into the bedroom and saw one crawling up the wall next to the closet door.

[i apologize for the heebie jeebies you may currently be experiencing, but please know that we, too, have enjoyed them for the past two hours.]

anyway, very long and skeevy and frustrating story short: after much online researching and thanks to the most excellent website what's that bug?, i discovered that our miniscule little pests are saw-toothed grain beetles. they infest pantry-type food (which can include coffee) and can live off of dustbunnies, hair and all kinds of non-pantry items once they venture out from whatever bag of flour or rice or coffee beans or whatEVER to forage.

this is what they look like (keep in mind that they are, according to the sites i checked, about 1/8" long, so this is super-magnified):

so, i've saved three specimens to show to the building management tomorrow. yesterday, trixie said she saw a workman with fumigation equipment going into the unit across the hall from us, and we're now wondering if perhaps some of these little guys scurried over to escape certain death...or have been making their way through the building's ventilation system into our unit and who knows how many others. either way, i'll be heading down to the front desk in the morning to say, "hi. there are bugs in our bedroom and they're not bedbugs so calm down." (the main office closes daily at 5pm, otherwise i would have been down there tonight.)

in the meantime, we've bagged the coffee (trixie still doesn't think that's the source of the bugs) and put it in the freezer. we've emptied the gym bag completely and turned my big knapsack (which was, thankfully, bug-free) inside out. they'll be washed in the washing machine tomorrow, just in case. we've moved our suitcases away from the closets and trixie has gone to bed...but doesn't think she'll actually be able to sleep. saw-toothed grain beetles are harmless to humans and animals -- they don't bite or spread disease or burrow into your skin to lay eggs. they just take up residence in your cereal or raisins and float in your milk when you unknowingly pour yourself a bowl for breakfast. (and the multiply. so, you know, it's good to get rid of them.)

but finding one staring lovingly back at you from across your own pillow, and knowing there may be more lurking in the shadows, is nonetheless...freaky.