JIONENEE MWENYEWE

Science photographer Steve Gschmeissner has put everyday bugs under the microscope to provide these extreme close-ups of the creepy crawlies that can almost certainly be found in your home.

Flour mite: A pest in flour mills and grain stores, these mites sometimes find their way into homes where they live in flour, grains or cheese and need humid conditions to survive. A single female lays 500 eggs or more - sometimes as many as 25 a day. Infected food and dry food close by should be destroyed.

Bedbug: Not just the subject of a children's rhyme, the nocturnal bedbug really does bite. Its mouthpiece is used to suck blood from warm-blood animals - including humans. Though they do not transmit disease, their saliva can cause itchy swellings on the skin.

Silverfish: The primitive silverfish has remained unchanged for millions of years, making it a "living fossil". They eat almost anything including book glue, paper, photos, sugar, coffee, hair, carpets and dandruff and can live for a year between meals.

Red flour beetle: A 3mm-long agricultural pest that attacks stores of grain, cereal, pasta, biscuits and beans but which can also be found in larders and cupboards. They live for up to three years and lay hundreds of eggs in only a few months

Ddust mite: Feeding on human skin and crumbs of food, up to 10 million can live in one mattress. The females live up to 70 days and lay up to 100 eggs. A single mite produces around 2,000 droppings and can trigger allergic reactions.

.Daddy longlegs spider: So-called because its legs are around five times the length of its body, this spider preys on other spiders, injecting them with venom from its fangs. Native to the tropics, it has spread around the world and now lives in the UK.

Common housefly: The housefly has one pair of wings, six legs and two eyes each composed of 4,000 image-forming facets.

Bluebottle maggot: The larvae of this bug hatch from eggs laid on dead animals and humans. They are used in medicine to clean wounds. Once placed in a wound, the 1cm-long maggots feed on dead tissue. Their saliva contains anti-bacterial chemicals which keep injuries sterile.

Cat flea: One of the world's most common fleas, they bite and feed on people, but can only breed on cats. They have a life cycle of just 30 days.

American cockroach: It might be magnified a million times but the common cockroach doesn't get any prettier. This nocturnal creepy crawlie inhabits warm places.