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Identifying Tiny Bugs?

So recently, I have been noticing that there are these really tiny black skinny bugs in my room. They seem to jump or fly but I only see them at night when I'm on my phone and most of the time they are attracted by my phone's brightness and land on it. I can't take a picture of them or describe them in depth because the minute I see them, I squish them. They don't seem to be biting me or causing any harm but I want to get rid of them ASAP. Someone please help or tell me what bug this could be.

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Silver Answer Medal for All Time! 320 Answers
June 24, 20210 found this helpful

I experience the same thing. Super annoying! These probably are gnats. My advice would be to ensure your window screens are tightly fit with no holes or tears, and that the soil in any houseplants is not infested (let the soil dry for a few days, and then dump the plant, soil and all, out on a newspaper or paper bags -- you'll gnats fly out if that's the source). Then to help control the situation you might try an easy gnat trap such as those described on this page: www.familyhandyman.com/.../

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Gold Feedback Medal for All Time! 949 Feedbacks
June 25, 20210 found this helpful

There are different kinds of gnats but it sounds like you may have the 'fungus gnat'.
If you have house plants this is probably where they are coming from. If you have plants, try to set all of them outside until you can eliminate the gnats already flying around.

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After you kill the inside gnats you can deal with your plants.
Let soil dry out (they need moisture to live) and usually they will go away (die) but you can take the plant out of the pot and check to make sure they are all gone.
In the future, let your plants dry out as much as possible before you add water. It does not usually hurt a plant to reach the point of starting to droop in need of water - just not for a long period of time.

For inside gnats a simple solution is to place a tall candle in a holder and place hold in a bowl of water. The gnats will be attracted to the light and be zapped or fall in the water. You can also add a little vinegar, sugar and dish soap to set traps.

If these are not your gnats then check out links to see how to deal with all gnats:
food52.com/.../26253-how-to-get-rid-of-gnats

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Gold Post Medal for All Time! 677 Posts
June 28, 20210 found this helpful

A picture is essential in identifying a bug. Please take one and resubmit the question.

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Silver Answer Medal for All Time! 440 Answers
June 29, 20210 found this helpful

I don't think you have gnats. Gnat adults are small flies, you can't call them bugs. They are about 1/8-1/4 inch long, so it's enough to see the difference between a fly or a bug. You also wrote that it seems to you they are jumping.

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I think you have Springtail.
I found a website where people describe a similar bug, it was identified as Springtail: bugguide.net/.../24149

Adult springtails typically measure 1/16 inch or less in length.
Springtails do not bite and their impact on homeowners is limited to being a nuisance.
Part of their abdomen forms a taillike appendage that scientists call the furcula. Most of the time, the furcula is locked under the springtail's body. When it is released, it causes the insect to jump. www.orkin.com/.../do-springtails-bite
Springtails do not have a typical respiratory system. They breathe through their outer shell. In order to do this, their outer shell is very soft and thin and because this their bodies dry out very easily. www.orkin.com/.../springtail-habitat This is why it is so difficult for you to take pictures of them. People write that when they tried to take a sample of this bug in a napkin to take a photo or show it to someone, the bugs disintegrated, and they end up looking like little specks of dust.

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Springtails also emerge in seasonal patterns, most commonly in spring. So, the one thing springtails are vulnerable to is dryness and that's why they don't come out much in the daytime.
Springtails eat mold, algae and fungi that they find in these areas.
To avoid dehydration, springtails live in areas where there is a lot of moisture and high humidity. Outdoors, springtails live in forests and in irrigated fields. They are found in almost every part of the earth, from the Himalayas to Antarctica, even at the beach. In urban areas, springtails thrive in areas where they can find moisture or dampness: in green spaces, nurseries, gardens, golf courses, malls, hotels, office buildings (where they can be imported with potted plants), under mulch, in flowerbeds, around ponds, in swimming pools, pool houses, under landscape timbers, in water meter boxes and even under dog houses.
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If their habitat starts to dry out, springtails begin to dehydrate and die. So when weather gets hot and dry, springtails often try to move indoors. They hop under doors, through screens or into crawlspaces. Once they get indoors, springtails move into areas where they find moisture. www.orkin.com/.../springtail-habitat

Springtails can be a sign of problems with water / moisture drainage or even rotting wood in your house. Good, stable wood in the structure will not hold moisture, but compromised wood may easily wick up water. Springtails don't damage anything, but they are likely feeding off of the decaying wood, as well as fungi and molds that are developing on and around it. You may also have moisture penetrating the foundation of your home. When you have an issue such as this, it is almost always sign that something is wrong with your home. Get a building or home inspector, possibly even someone in the foundation repair business, to look at the structure of your home. Until you rule out the possibility of issues within the structure of your home, no amount of pest control chemical will likely do any good. They will simply return. They are quick breeding, small and very durable, so it's pretty much like using a squirt gun on a forest fire.

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Any chemical would be pretty much useless to them. Sometimes a solution of bleach can get rid of the algae and thus, the food source. The use of Raid or many other insecticide chemicals is often far more harmful than any bug you can find. They also don't take back to the nest any chemical they've ingested.
A simple blow-dryer might be much more effective than any chemical- at least it should drive them into hiding for a little while.
Putting a little bit of dish soap in a spray bottle with some water and that killed them instantly.
bugguide.net/.../24149

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