Latin: Order Psocoptera
The names booklice and dust lice are used somewhat indiscriminately. Booklice are light-shy insects that thrive best when the humidity is over 75%. There are several species. Some, such as Liposcelis divinatorius, have no wings and cannot fly, while others, the so-called winged booklice, e.g. Atropus pulsatorius, have small but non-functional wings.
Booklice run about actively when disturbed, with characteristic jerky movements, and they can also make small, rather clumsy, jumps.
As the name implies, booklice are found between sheets of paper in libraries and archives, and also behind loose wallpaper and in herbaria. They do not eat the paper itself, although they may feed on the glue in glazed paper, but they subsist primarily on the moulds growing on the paper. In- deed, the presence of numerous booklice is a sign that the paper is being kept too damp.
Some booklice can produce a ticking sound by striking the abdomen against the substrate (p. 214).
"Pests in House and Home"
"Bed Bugs - Bites, Stings and Itches"
"Food Pests"
"Husets dyreliv" (Insects Around the House - Only danish)
"Skadedyr i træ" (Timber Pests - Only danish)
"Stuefluen" (Common Housefly - Only danish)