Very Tiny 6 leg bugs in bathroom or sink .. Please help :)

My girlfriend and I live in Scottsdale, Arizona and recently moved into a older apartment complex built around the 70s. I don't think the pipes and design are very up to date, but the units are quite clean (or I'm led to believe this since ours is quite clean). Recently we discovered these small bugs keep roaming around our bathrooms. I keep seeing 1 -3 a week (crawling in the tub or on my bathroom floor), she however sees maybe 5-6 a week in her bathroom. The landlord claims that they spray the premise, so I am guessing these insects are coming from the pipes ( they must like humid areas).

I attempted searching these small bugs online but the answers couldn't quite satisfy the issue. I found this site and it appears to hold a knowledgeable cast of users. I thank you in advance, and I hope you can help me solve this.

About the pictured insect:

I believe it has 6 legs
2 antennas on the front
the pictured insect seems to be a baby, the ones we usually see are about twice the size.
It's extremely tiny (measures about the, "L-I-B" in Liberty on the dime in length) and has a verrrry flat body.
While it is visible, the colors seem to be almost a brown shaded shell, with light brown horizontal lines on it's darker bottom end.
it has shiny shell (it doesn't look like a roach - nor is it sized like a roach, despite how I portrayed it in the pictures).

I will try and upload pictures this week with a nicer camera (sorry for the grainy shots).

This message was edited Jul 14, 2012 2:09 AM

This message was edited Jul 14, 2012 2:17 AM

Just reading through this website I wonder if it is a, "Psocids,barklice or booklice"

If so, how do I get rid of them? Are they harmful? Do they carry anything?

This message was edited Jul 14, 2012 2:38 AM

^^ Re-edit: Further research is indicating it may not be a Pscocid .. the measurements don't seem to be close, to what we are getting. Also, the body seems a bit different, while they do share similarities. Another similarity is they both can move quickly, although the insect I took pictures of was quiet photogenic and didn't move very much until I deliberately moved the tissue he was stationed on.

I know my new apartment has had some water- pipe issues lately, I wonder if perhaps there is a mold or fungi which these insects are living on. What would be a good solution to a drain related issue? I was thinking about pouring vinegar down the drain in an effort to withhold the growth.

This message was edited Jul 14, 2012 2:54 AM

Looks like a very young cockroach nymph.

You know I think you may be right.. Last night I found a huge adult cockroach in my tub. What should I do to get rid of them? My current solution is plugging all the drains (kitchen, tubs, sinks, closed toilets).

See http://ag.arizona.edu/urbanipm/buglist/cockroaches.pdf for some suggestions.

I agree with cockroach nymph. good luck! They may be coming from neighboring units in the building. One dirty place can make it rough for the rest of the clean ones.

Flapdoodle, thank you for the link. Sallyg thank you for the confirmation and assuring message.

In the link I noticed it stated keep flowing water (which also correlates with my own research online). Recently this apartment has been turning the water off and on, they were working on a pipe leak. The current status of the leak is they patched it I believe, but the area where they were working they left completely open! They simply covered the dug out pipes (about 5-6 ft down) with a slab of plywood and you can see the pipes in plain view! I am starting to hypothesis, that perhaps the roaches infiltrated the now open pipes and without running water on, they were able to inhabit a proper section. As I recall, we only began to see the nymph roaches shortly after they started work on the pipes. The weather has also been slowly transitioning into the monsoon season (very rainy) and I'm guessing this is drawing the roaches as-well. I have also learned that cockroaches enjoy pine straw and wood chips, which this apartment complex just so happens have an abundance of.

This all relates to the mentioning of, "Fix outdoor water leaks (leaky faucets, irrigation, etc.);" from Flagdoodle's link. I strongly feel this is due to my apartment complexes negligence in fixing the broken pipe.

I read that I can try using boric acid around cupboard areas, and add a fine mesh wire screen into the drains - ideally, I want the issue resolved at the source. Am I right to contact the landlord and management team about this? What are some viable options they have to alleviate this?

This message was edited Jul 16, 2012 1:11 AM

Cockroach control in an apartment complex requires the cooperation of all residents and should be coordinated by the apartment management.

I strongly agree with Flapdoodle.
The pipe repair has possibly disturbed a bunch of them , causing them to roam, or provided a great habitat and now they are looking to expand.

I'd definitely tell management and expect followup before it can get any worse. They may ask all residents to make apartments available for a total spray job the same day of all units.

I don't think it can hurt to start now with boric acid .