Elimination of All Potential Hosts and Nesting Material May be Key

Solid advice from Bob the Bugman:

"The first (and most important) step in eliminating biting mites from your home is to eliminate all possible sources. If you know exactly which mite has infested your home, the task would be simple. Identifying the pest is the real trick. This arachnids (who are related to spiders more than than insects) are so small that either a hands lends or microscope must be used in identification. Even with proper viewing device, a professional or entomologist is usually required to make a correct identification.

"For the average person, identification of a particular mite is too difficult. Instead of squinting through a hands lens at a bug that is as small as a speck of dust or as large as a tiny tick, your time is better spent looking for possible sources of the infestation. In many cases this task is simple because certain animals have been seen in the area. Common sources of biting mites are birds, raccoons, rats, mice or other animals that nest in, below or very near the home. Other annoying mites have plants as natural hosts.

"Once an animal dies or leaves its nest, the mites left behind in the nesting material (or immediate area) will begin to move about as they search for another host. Many of the biting mites can live for a couple of weeks without a blood meal, which makes it easier for them to migrate to another warm blooded host. Ridding your home of rodent infestations and cleaning up or destroying all possible nesting materials will go a long way in reducing the mite populations. Inspect beneath eaves and other over hangs, window ledges, fireplaces, chimneys, attics and crawl spaces. You might be surprised to find evidence of birds, rodents or other wildlife."