help! biting insects, noseeums???

7622 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by sancraft, May 16, 2004

Mel-

Discussion Starter · May 14, 2004

I went to ohio on monday and got out and stood in some weeds to take some pictures. A few minutes later I felt a bite on my leg and couldn't find anything. The bite was really sharp but only itched for a minute or two.

Once I got home, I kept feeling these kind of bites. I couldn't see a darned thing though! I showered, threw all my clothes immediately in the washer. Now it's been several days and I am still getting bitten, I keep taking my clothes off immediately and showering and even washed my bed clothes. What in the world is this and why can't I get rid of it ??? I did finally see something last night, not sure it is the culprit but it was only the size of a pinhead or a skin pore!

Help, this is driving me crazy! I have never had anything like this before, fleas, chiggers, ticks, yea all of those but I can't SEE this bug! What in the world did I bring home with me??? and how do I get rid of it

Mel-

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fin29

· #2 · May 14, 2004

Crabs? :haha: Just kidding.

It sounds like Noseeums to me. We call them Mingies. I think the characteristic of the bite is a sharp almost burning sensation. They itch intensely, but just for a few minutes.

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Mel-

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 15, 2004

fin,

but do they usually hitch hike home with you? I've been reading on the net and it was saying noseeums/midges/mites can't reproduce on a human so after a couple of weeks they will die out but I'm not sure I can take two weeks! though I think now after washing all of my clothes and shoes I wore that day (and my bedding) I think I have gotten rid of them but I'd like to know what they are. If we have those indiana, I've never ran across them! This area was hilly and swampy at the bottom (cat tails growing anyway).

I may never visit ohio again,lol.

Mel-

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Linda Camello

· #4 · May 15, 2004

Mel--Sorry to hear about your bites and itching. I've lived in Ohio all my life and I have never known of a noseeum until I went to Floridia!! So, I don't know what the heck you got into. But I don't think those noseeums follow you either. Must have been a nasty bug of somekind and maybe you were getting a bit of an allergic reaction from it...whatever it was. (I'm only guessing.) But...I hope you are better now!! Take care!! P.S......if you ever DO find out what the heck they were...please let us know! Thanks.

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fin29

· #5 · May 15, 2004

Chiggers will stay on the host for a while until they are ready to feed, sometimes for 48 hours. While the mature chigger is orangish, the immature ones (what may be biting you) are blackish and barely visible to the human eye, and they're the ones that feed on humans. They will bite where clothes fit tight-like around your waist, armpits, groin, knees, etc. A bath helps to get rid of the bugs, but while feeding, they create a straw with your skin cells and their saliva. When the bug leaves, the straw remains, and that's what itches for a while. Gross.

Apparently, bedbugs can be picked up outside. They will bite and stay sucking for a while, and then the bite area becomes very itchy.

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gobug

· #6 · May 15, 2004

Bedbugs are not as likely to be picked up outside as are chiggers because they are primarily nocturnal and stay around the resting place of the host. Bats, birds, squirrels, pigeons, rats, ***** and so on can be hosts. If the host dies or leaves, most of the bugs are left behind. The bugs will then move about looking for a new host. They can go 6 months without a blood meal! They are becoming very common in apartment housing all across the country. To treat bedbugs, you spray the mattress, frame and surrounding cracks near the sleep areas.

Bedbugs suck blood, chiggers eat the dead skin around the follicle.

Chiggers are a totally different bug. They are more likely to be picked up in the landscape. My pest control textbook says that good turf management significantly reduces chigger habitat (mowing, removal of unnecessary weeds, briars, and bushes). Chiggers will also attack other animals.

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Ozarkguy

· #7 · May 15, 2004

.

http://www.minifarmhomestead.com/Critters/chiggers.htm

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Mel-

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 15, 2004

this wasn't a chigger, I've had many run ins with them before! and I always swell up around the bite the size of a half dollar and end up with scars that take months to dissapear.

I don't think this could be bedbugs either. I did some reading about them on the net and it said the bites didn't hurt but would itch afterwards and the bedbugs are a quarter of an inch long, huge compared to the teeny thing I did spot. Also, they apparently leave reddish spots on your bedclothes (their feces) and I have none of that either. These bites STING and just itch for a couple of minutes or so after.

It looks like I got rid of them in the laundry thank goodness.

Mel-

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rio002

· #9 · May 16, 2004

Just curious.......no one hit on the idea of poison oak, poison ivy or nettles which I believe each one of these can stay on the fibers of clothing causing further irritation but just the initial contact can bother the skin and cause itching/rash for a few days.

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sancraft

· #10 · May 16, 2004

There was something in my goats' stall. It was super tiny, could barely see it and black. The bite hurt like heck fire and itched intenesely then the itching stopped and a small red bump rose up. The bump does't itch too bad, nothing like a mosquito bite and goes away in a few days. I completely cleaned the stall, washed it out with bleach and water, limed it and put down fresh straw. So far, no more bites. I'm glad you got rid of whatever it was.

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