Chiggers & Red Bugs
These mites are of the Arachnid group that includes ticks, scorpions and spiders. They can inhabit almost any habitat and, like ticks, are predators. Some of the names these mites go under include, red bug, furniture mite, flour mite and harvest mite. Like their cousin the tick, chiggers are the source of much folklore and myth.
Although the numbers of varieties exceed 30,000 species there are primarily 2 species that cause problems in the United States. Outdoorsman should consider use of permethrin clothing treatment to protect against these predators since it is the only product proven safe which actually kills these mites prior to attack. By the time you are experiencing the discomfort of a chigger attack the chigger is already gone.
Like ticks the chigger adults lay their eggs on the soil or vegetation. When the eggs hatch the new young crawl unto some vegetation to await the passing of some vertebrate host. As with young ticks, the chigger mites are grouped closely since hatching and are slow to expand their birthplace site. This is why people and animals attacked by young chiggers or ticks will find numerous versus single bites. Unlike ticks that may need to feed for several days, the chigger mites feed briefly and drop off. Feeding areas are commonly found where tight fitting clothing makes contact with the skin.
The chigger does not burrow under the skin but instead injects anticoagulants and other compounds that partially dissolve the skin, it's this dissolved skin that the chigger prefers. After several hours or sometimes days the chiggers are fully fed. The dermatitis and intense itching is caused by the fluids forced under the skin during the feeding and does not begin until after the chigger has dropped off. Some pharmacists recommend Tincture of benzyl benzoate as a good chigger itch reliever.
Larval mites (trombiculidae) commonly called chiggers and red bugs are mostly lymph-feeding (1) parasites of vertebrates' (2). Many of the various species cause either a scrub itch as an allergic reaction to the chiggers' saliva, or transmit human disease organisms. Among the important chigger-borne diseases are scrub typhus or tsutsugamushi disease, which occurs in many east and southeastern Asian counties. The most common issue of chiggers infesting humans is the scabies or itch mite. Most common areas affected are the hands and wrists. Many species of food mites can cause dermatitis (3) in people handling infested food.
- Lymph is the clear, watery sometimes faintly yellow liquid that contains white blood cells and some red blood cells. It travels throughout the lymphatic system to return to the venous blood stream through the thoracic duct, and acts to remove bacteria and certain proteins from the tissues, to transport fat from the intestines, and to supply lymphocytes to the blood.
- Vertebrates are any animal having a backbone or spinal column. Includes mammals, fishes, reptiles, birds, and amphibians.
- Dermatitis is a skin disease.
Animal Odyssey's I, by Dr. Robert Breene III
The Encyclopedia of Insects, edited by Christopher O'Toole
A manual of Acarology, by G.W. Krantz