ID these tiny bugs?

Question

We have hundreds of dead, very tiny bugs on our kitchen window sill. They are there, dead, after the light that we keep on at night in a soft light, in the morning. I never see them flying around in the day. They are only there, dead, in the morning! They look like a couple of different kinds of mosquitoes, but are so very small. Photos are zoomed in to show detail of them. The window sill shown is to show how many there are, and how small. We live in Georgia, north of Atlanta. We have no idea how they are getting into the house! How to get rid of them?

Carole · Answer

Mozzies for sure. You must have them coming in attracted to light when you open doors or windows unless you have a gap somewhere where they get in. I am forever cleaning these critters out of our light fittings as we do have fly screens but they get in because we often leave the back door open for the dog to go in and out.

Kinsky · Answer

That looks like a mosquito to me. There are many formulas for keeping them off your skin.including planting rosemary and lemon grass around your house. They are also vectors for heart worm disease in your dogs. So you need to protect them too. If you have bats in your area a bat house is a good idea.They eat thousands of the bugs a night. Check locally to make sure your bats are rabies free. They don't all have it.

Carole · Answer

On the bottom left photo, it really looks like Tiger mosquito. Where I live (southern France, more precisely Camargue) we have marsh and swamps and they have arrived from Asia, probably with planes from Marseille Airport and have spread. See for instance these very accurate pics: http://www.coudouliere.fr/insectes/moustique-tigre.html BEWARE theTiger mosquito carries dengue fever and Chikungunya fever. Here in France after a couple of years of reppellents, pest control plans and measures to prevent larvaes from surviving, the Tiger mosquitoes are still around, but to a lesser extent -and best of all: they do not carry diseases anylonger. Pick some up and show them to a pest control center at your place (here in France we have an Internet resource to signal its presence). The mosquito evolves from larvae that came out of eggs lid almost around the house/in the neighbourhood. It does not fly in from kilometers (Ithought that in the beginning). That's why we are advised here to never ever any longer have water standing still (no ponds) and no saucers under pots (keeps moist, even without water, the larvae will survive) and turn over any flower pot or anything that may receive and keep rainwater (cover whatever you have if you use something to store rainwater). Don't worry too much, they are not that bad when it comes to living in places with good health care access; but if it's Tiger mosquitoe, you should be proactive (=remove any water container or source of moisture) and also spread the news/inform authorities that are responsible for vet issues/pest and disease control.

Shari · Answer

Believe me, I'm no entomology expert but I have my doubts about these being mosquitoes. Even though they sort of look like mosquitoes, the behavior you describe doesn't really sound like mosquitoes to me, at least not the mosquitoes we have here. Although mosquitoes are mostly active a dusk or in the evening, they can be around during daylight hours too, especially if the population is bad. If you have this many in the house, I don't think they would be only attracted to the light. Mosquitoes are looking for food--blood from an animal or human-- so I would think you would be getting eaten alive in your own home with this number. The sheer number of dead ones you see every morning, and the fact they are dead, is also puzzling to me. We live in a rural area on a horse farm. There are lots of woods around us, we have a pond on our property, water troughs in the pastures for the horses, water in each stall etc., so lots of places for them to breed and consequently, we are constantly battling the mosquito population and we've never had this many in the house at once, much less repeatedly. Yes, we've had random mosquitoes get in the house before and they can be around for days and days, usually buzzing your head or trying to bite you, until you are successful in swatting them. I've never seen a mass die-off like this with mosquitoes on a daily basis. And why are yours dying on their own? Heck, the mosquitoes we have are tough as nails. The insecticide my husband fogs with doesn't even seem to make a dent in them! 
 If it were me, I would scoop some of them into a plastic bag and take them either to an exterminating company or your county's agricultural extension (or mosquito control) office for identification.

Shari · Answer

Okay, I did some 'googling' and found some photos of mosquitoes found in GA. http://www.gamosquito.org/resources/pickey2.pdf With the fuzzy, feather-like antennae, the two in your second picture seem to be males and that could explain why they are drawn to the light and are not concerned with bothering you. It is just the females who need blood (to nourish their eggs). Assuming all of these are males, I still think it is super interesting that you have this many getting in the house somehow but no females biting! They certainly are aggravating and irritating bugs so I wish you lots of luck locating their source of entry and where they are breeding. Our county mosquito agent told us that eliminating standing water certainly helps considerably but doesn't completely solve the problem. Apparently even the stems and leaves of plants (like ferns) can hold enough moisture long enough for them to breed in.

Kim Banta · Answer

Thank you so much Shari, Lee, DF Vin, Kinsky, and Carole! This was my first time asking a question and you all had such helpful info to share with me! I do appreciate your answers.
I want you all to know that these are very very small, much smaller than the 'real' mosquitoes we have here in Georgia! I do agree with you all that they are mosquitoes, but they have never been anywhere in the house where they have ever bothered us, or attacked. We have never even seen one alive! They are only dead in the morning, all around our little light. Believe me, when a 'real' mosquito happens to get into the house, we can hear it buzzing us, and they DO bite!
I have to say that we have recently had the entire yard, bushes, all around the house, fogged with an eco-friendly mosquito treatment. It is safe for kids and pets, honeybees and butterflies! We used to have to have some form of bug spray ready to use by every door, before going outside. The mosquitoes are all around out there, and we live in the woods, close to the lake. I was VERY skeptical that this would work. In 25 days, we never saw, heard or felt ONE mosquito when going outside! Not one! Even at dusk we can walk outside and not get attacked. We have always been very careful about standing water, and take great pains to keep all of our bushes trimmed and small, since this is another place mosquitoes love to live. We have just had our second treatment and even after raining for two days after the treatment, we have no mosquitoes.
Maybe these baby mosquitoes are coming in to get away from the outside treatment? We do leave the doors open some mornings while it is still cool out. They may come in during this time and hide until that light comes on?
I thank all of you for all of your very great information. The website you sent was so informative and interesting, Shari!

Carole · Answer

Hi Kim, happy to know it was useful, I just wanted to add: the Tiger mosquito acts differently from 'standard' mosquitoes. It makes no mosquito sound at all (= you do not hear it flying around), and it is active in daytime, unlike its counterpart, meaning it bites all day round but not around morning/evening hours nor at night. Also the bite itches more and seems to me 'youngsters' start biting early, because I got bites from very tiny individuals, that I never would have been able to identify, flying soundless and kind of looking very tiny, it's only from the info the authorities give us about their behaviour and from the allergic reaction I knew I had a mosquito bite (I'm allergic). However I did catch one the other day who was much much bigger, its characteristic being the stripes on the body (reminding of a wasp but such a small body). And again don't worry too much but do check whether you might have gotten these guys in your area your alert will help people with babies/allergies, have a nice day, Carole

Carole · Answer

... so I tried and figured out GA near to your location must be Georgia, and I googled up resources for you, the best to my eyes is from your state goverment, it does mention the Tiger mosquito being in your area: https://dhs.georgia.gov/mosquito-season-here and gives really good advice, actually the same advice we get here and you'll se how the article compares Tiger mosquito to other mosquito species and underlines how Tiger mosquito stays and does not fly over 500 yards from someones house, meaning (my comment and addition) it's important to get together among neighbours and spread the words. Theres' always someone with a pond, water reservoirs, saucers under flower pots etc... I also found this about the spread in the US: http://www.mosquitoreviews.com/asian-tiger-mosquito-invasive.html and in an article in Dawson News,http://www.dawsonnews.com/archives/4166/it seems it's been around since 2010, however beware the article does not clearly explain that the Tiger mosquito bites during daytime, while the article is really turning on people's fears about illnesses (compare a handful of cases to road casualties or street violence) and again, here in France, within a few years the so much feared when it arrived Tiger-mosquito was transformed into totally disease-free, the problem in emerging countries being they do not have the means we have to implement control plans (I worked in wome of the worst malaria places in Africa, that's why the mosquito theme keeps being interesting to me), so please do not get disturbed by the 'infectious threat to us' themes that are just used to sell something to us...have a nice day, Carole

Michelle Leslie · Answer

Hi Kim, if you ever run into a problem identifying a bug, you can try this little app - https://www.insectidentification.org/bugfinder-start.php

ID these tiny bugs?

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