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I found a few of these walking in the middle of the night (about 3 AM) on a wall in my room near the floor. They are at most a few millimetres long (no more than 2 I would say). I am living in Poland, in a block of flats.

EDIT: Since I first wrote, I have seen few more - very small - less then 1 millimetre long. They seemed to be coming from behind the baseboard. This time I've seen them during daytime.

enter image description here

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    $\begingroup$ Looks kind of like a termite. It's generally helpful to include an approximate location in species ID questions to help us narrow down the possible species. $\endgroup$
    – user137
    May 12, 2016 at 2:17
  • $\begingroup$ This would be helped with some better quality images - currently its hard to distinguish key features $\endgroup$
    – rg255
    May 12, 2016 at 11:35
  • $\begingroup$ @rg255 they are very small so I doubt I can get a better picture with my compact photo camera $\endgroup$
    – man
    May 12, 2016 at 16:22

2 Answers 2

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I think @fileunderwater is definitely right, these are psocids (of the family Psocoptera, AKA booklice).

Specifically, the body shape looks very similar to that of Dorypteryx domestica or some closely related species.

enter image description here

See here for an additional photo.

According to this site, the species is present in many countries including Poland.

The source cited at this site (Kučerová 1998) mentions that this species can be brachypterous (i.e., having very reduced wings. I can't tell from the quality of the photo whether your specimens has tiny wings or not. Your top picture looks like it might.

Citations:

Kučerová, Z. (1998). Wing polymorphism in Dorypteryx domestica (Smithers) (Psocoptera: syllipsocidae). Insect Systematics & Evolution, 29(4): 451-57.

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It could be booklice (Psocoptera), but the picture is a bit unclear. Booklice are harmless, but could indicate moist conditions and/or mold in the building (see first link for more on their biology). Termites are generally at least twice as large as booklice (>4mm), and the size you indice rather points to booklice.

Here is an example of what booklice look like:

enter image description here

(picture from Penn State University: Dept. of Entomology)

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you for your response. I was wondering if they are booklices myself, but on the photos their legs seems thicker near the body and I do not see that on the photos I've made. Since I first wrote, I have seen few more - very small - less then 1 millimeter long. They seemed to be coming from behind the baseboard. I also have added one more photo to my original post (I am not sure if that's helpful). Is there a way to verify if they are in fact booklices? $\endgroup$
    – man
    May 12, 2016 at 11:08
  • $\begingroup$ @man There are many species and the thickness of femur can probably differ between species (and is in either case difficult to evaluate in your pictures). Considering their shape, size, light colour (almost translucent) and long slender antenna they are probably booklice. Does the wall or wallpaper appear moist close to the baseboard? $\endgroup$ May 12, 2016 at 11:28
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    $\begingroup$ I'm not convinced, the head, body and legs are all very different to the booklice in the image here $\endgroup$
    – rg255
    May 12, 2016 at 11:30
  • $\begingroup$ @rg255 This is a single example picture. There are e.g. >60 species in Sweden only (probably about the same in Poland) $\endgroup$ May 12, 2016 at 11:33
  • $\begingroup$ wow, didn't realise there are so many species! $\endgroup$
    – rg255
    May 12, 2016 at 11:33

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