Mite experts needed!

[duckman1990]

Hello I would really appreciate people's help. I have tiny little brownish insects in my duck house. I have two pekin ducks and since they are white you would think it would be easy to find them and I can't find a SINGLE one on my ducks. I'm seeing them everywhere other than on my ducks... And I don't know if that's because they have a pool during the day or not. i first saw a few of these little bugs in the duck house on the wall then all over the pine shavings in their house then all over the ladder into their house..... THEN all over the latch that opens up into the pen attached to their house. Now... I have another issue... When I used to clean out the old pine shavings I piled them up in the corner of my yard in the woods about 10 feet away from my ducks house and I noticed they are all over in that too. Are these some kind of bug that eats pine or are these some kind of mite? I do not think they are clover mites because they don't streak red when I smash them... And I don't know if they are northern mites because I don't see them on my ducks. What do I do!!?? Please help

 

[Amiga]

I have noticed skeighty-eight zillion little bugs outside. I took my magnifying glass, and they are really cool looking!!!! I have not yet identified them, but I have been watching them and they seem to be eating the algae on my deck!

Mites often hide and come out when the ducks are in for the night, from what I have read.

Let me see if I can poke around and find out what these little things are - and if I can find some photo's.

 

[duckman1990]

They have antennas from what I can tell they are so small I need to get a magnifying glass as well... I'm in east TN by the way... So far I have not been able to identify them either...

 

[Amiga]

I think I found them!

Now, I want you to slow down, read carefully. They are called bark lice. They are not like the nasty lice we worry about, they eat algae and fungi off of trees and shrubs (and in our cases, lumber and straw). The ones we are seeing are the nymphs - immature phase - of them.

Here - see if this is what you are seeing, because they look just about exactly like what we have by the jillions.

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2013/07/page/15/

 

[duckman1990]

I wish those were it but the ones I got are teeny tiny like a pencil point... They have a round body I think those bark lice had ant bodies almost...I'll try to get another look again tomorrow but they look light brown with no stripes... I have no idea what they are but I have a feeling I'm gonna have to get rid of that pile of pine shavings as fast as I can... Thank you for looking into it!

 

[Amiga]

The nymphs have much rounder bodies and no stripes, and are about the size of a pencil point.

 

[duckman1990]

I'm pretty sure they are some kind of mite I just think the ducks are waging them off.. I think it wired they are in the pine shavings pike though too