Small Bugs in the Bathroom That Only Come out at Night

Many people notice small black bugs coming out into their bathroom at night. Many bugs are nocturnal, emerging to feed when the house is dark. Eliminating bugs in your home requires proper identification of pests and taking the necessary steps to get them under control.

Bedbugs are small, nocturnal insects often found in bathrooms adjoining bedrooms with infestations. These insects typically like to stay close to where they feed at night, making baseboards in bathrooms perfect places to hide. Bedbugs are also found beneath electrical outlets and under wallpaper. Bedbugs are small, brown insects that turn red after feeding on blood. Cockroaches are another pest often seen at night in bathrooms and kitchens. These insects primarily live outside but move indoors seeking food and shelter. Since they prefer damp, humid places, cockroaches are usually found underneath bathroom sinks or in loose baseboards. Cockroaches are usually brown or black and can be very tiny or quite large.

Bathrooms in close proximity to bedrooms may have bedbug infestations. These bugs crawl to feed on humans while they sleep, returning to their hiding place during the day. People with bedbug infestations suffer from red bites that cause intense itching and can become infected when scratched. While cockroaches can carry diseases, they don't bite or sting humans. These insects gather in bathrooms because they must have water to survive. Homeowners finding small cockroaches in their bathrooms must determine where the roaches are hiding, eliminate their hiding place and reduce clutter.

Reducing bedbugs inside your home requires some effort. Washing bedding in hot water and drying in a hot clothes dryer can kill bedbugs. Vacuuming around your headboard and footboard can eliminate bedbugs. Vacuum around your bathroom baseboards if you find bedbugs in your bathroom at night. Cockroaches gravitate toward standing water, so be sure all your bathroom plumbing is leak-free. Cockroach traps inside your bathroom at night may capture some of these pests.

Heavy infestations of bedbugs usually require the help of a licensed pest controller. Bedbugs are eliminated with a combination of dusts, aerosols and insecticidal sprays. According to Colorado State University, cockroaches are best controlled using a combination of traps and insecticides. Contact sprays can kill any roaches you see in your bathroom during the night, but they must make contact with the insect to kill it. Heavy infestations of cockroaches may require a professional exterminator for control. Some cockroaches such as the German cockroach have developed a resistance to pesticides and are difficult to control with over-the-counter products.