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If you have ever walked through a stand of pines or field edge in Anson County, it is likely you are familiar with chiggers. Ahh yes, the memories are flooding back… picking blackberries, walking through tall grasses or pine straw to a favorite fishing/hunting spot, walking along a brushy field edge. Only to come home hours later with intense itchy red welts around your waist and ankles.
The summer months are when chiggers are their worst. But what is a chigger or redbug, exactly? And does nail polish really work to smother them?
Here are some facts and myths:
Myth: Chiggers are insects. Chiggers are Arachnids, related to ticks, scorpions and spiders. Nymph and adult stages are free-living and have 8 legs, while the larval stage has 6 legs.
Truth: Only the larval stage is parasitic. Larval chiggers are yellow, orange, or red and only ¼ the size of the period at the end of this sentence. This explains how they manage to penetrate most fabrics.
Myth: Chiggers do not burrow into skin or suck blood. They pierce the skin at the base of a hair follicle and use a feeding tube, called a stylostome, to inject a salivary secretion containing powerful, digestive enzymes. These enzymes break down skin cells which are then ingested (tissues become liquefied and sucked up).
Truth: After the larva is fully fed in 1-4 days, it drops from the host, leaving the stylostome, which results in a red welt with a white, hard central area on the skin that itches severely and may later develop into dermatitis. Scratching deep to remove the stylostomes can cause secondary infection and is not recommended.
Truth: Chiggers are not known to transmit any diseases in the U.S.
Myth: Chiggers only affect humans. Chigger larva feed on a wide variety of snakes, turtles, birds, and small mammals, in addition to humans. The nymphs and adults feed on eggs of pillbugs, mosquitoes, and springtails.
Habits
Adult chiggers overwinter just below the soil surface. Females emerge in spring and begin laying eggs. By early summer, the tiny larva climb vegetation in shady areas from which they can more readily latch on
| to a passing host. Bites are typically found where skin in thin, or around tight fitting areas of the body which may restrict chigger movement such as around the waist, under socks, armpits, behind the knees, and groin area. There is no way of knowing if chiggers are in an outdoor area unless you have been bitten, therefore recognizing potential habitats (mentioned above) is helpful.
If possible, shower as soon as you get home after returning from a potential chigger-infested area. Launder your clothes in hot, soapy water. Unlaundered clothes may continue to harbor chiggers that have not fed yet. Repellants that contain deet or permethrin are effective for protection. Use according to label directions. Staying on trails, roads and avoiding sitting on the ground will keep the worst infestations at bay.
Skin Care
My first chigger encounter came 12 years ago in South Carolina one summer. I came home that evening with over 200 bites after a day in the field studying bats in a mature pine stand. I don’t think I slept for a week. Having grown up in northern Virginia, I had never heard of these critters. I still encounter chiggers occasionally since I spend a lot of time outdoors but I have learned a few things, such as itching only extends the misery. Don’t bother the welts and they will heal in 1-2 weeks with the help of itch relief ointments.
Once a bite is visible, the damage has been done whether the mite is still attached or not due to the remaining stylostome. Antiseptic should be applied to all welts. Remedies such as nail polish or New Skin serve to protect the irritated skin from clothing, which is helpful. Others swear by Vaseline, calamine lotion, or benzocaine. I found Neosporin and Vick’s vapor rub cools the skin and helps it heal faster. Everyone has an opinion for what works best. The sooner the treatment, the better the results.
Aimee Marshall, horticulture and forestry agent, can be contacted at the Anson Cooperative Extension Service by calling 704-694-2415 or by email, aimee_marshall@ncsu.edu.
Aimee Marshall
Horticulture & Forestry Agent
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