---

DESCRIPTION

---

Booklice do not bite or cause disease organisms, and seldom if ever do any damage. They can become annoying or serve as a harmless contaminant of food products.
Identification: These are small (10 mm), stocky, winged or wingless insects. The clypeus is expanded which gives the face a bulging appearance. Wing venation is reduced with few crossveins and the antennae are long and slender. Like some members of the Phthiraptera and unlike other hemipteroids, Psocoptera have chewing mouthparts. Tarsi are 2-3 segmented. These tiny insects can become abundant inside homes, especially in warm, damp places around books, certain kinds of upholstered furniture, or stored food products. They are about the size of a pinhead, soft-bodied, light or dark in color, and usually wingless. Booklice (psocids) run along surfaces in a jerky manner, which may help further in identifying them. Booklice occur most commonly out-of-doors on the bark of trees, foliage, and on or beneath rocks. Outdoor-dwelling psocids often have wings.

---