Expert: Tracy - 7/1/2009

Question
I have all kinds of lil white mites under all funiture. U can't see them unless ur looking for them and there speadin worse and worse I had an exterminator come and look and he said they were spidermites but I am not having any luck getting rid of them and I have a 16 month old in the house so I can not use a chemical please help me out I'm losing my mind trying to kill them off

Answer
Hello Joe,
    The exterminator that came out to your house has to be mistaken. Spider mites would not be under furniture, the only place they would be found is on a plant. They suck the sap from plant leaves and stems and would not be found living on non-plant material or on dead plant material such as wood. Also spider mites are very tiny and usually cannot be seen with the naked eye. You would need a strong magnifying glass to really see them. Sometimes large adults can be seen with a regular magnifying glass or just barely seen with the naked eye, especially if they move.

Do you have any houseplants? You can look to see if you have any spider mites on your plants. If I happen to be mistaken and the mites under the furniture are really spider mites, then they have to eat and since they eat plant sap there should be spider mites on the plants.
The most visible sign of a spider mite presence is webbing on the undersides of leaves and between stems. Webbing is usually seen mostly with high populations of spider mites.  
Although spider mites are very hard to see with the naked eye, their eggs can usually be seen grouped together on the undersides of leaves. Looking at the underside of a leaf at an angle can sometimes help the egg groups be seen more easily.

Spider mites are very difficult to get rid of. Often they are resistant to chemical pesticides.
The best way to kill spider mites is with soapy water.
Since the insects under your furniture are not likely spider mites, I do not know how much this will help. You can maybe try washing the floors and all surfaces where they are found with hot soapy water about every 5 days until they are completely gone. Another thing you can try is to spray the areas with a diluted rubbing alcohol mixture after washing with the soapy water. Start with a 75% alcohol and 25% water mixture.

To rid the plants of spider mites the first step is to spray the leaves, especially the undersides, with a strong spray of water. This will wash off as many of the mites (mostly the adult mites) as possible.
Put several drops of dishwashing liquid (I usually use Dawn) in a spray bottle and fill the spray bottle with lukewarm water. Be sure to cover all leaf surfaces completely.
Repeat treatment every 5-7 days until there is no sign of spider mite presence.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions or need additional information please don't hesitate to ask.
          Thanks
              Tracy