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3025. jayackroyd - 5/11/2005 8:16:11 PM Concerned--
My experience with devices intended to attract and kill bugs is that they provide a very satisfying collection of dead bugs, but attract many more than they kill. This would be particularly problematic with mosquitoes, as they may well stop to bite on the way to a grim death.
wabbit--
Ah deerflies. As a teenager, I worked for a caretaker. Deerflies were the bane of my existence. The worst part is they really like to hang around in back of you, at head height. I ended up developing a very effective back of the head snatch technique. Didn't matter, of course. I ended up all bitten up every day. 3026. PelleNilsson - 5/11/2005 8:23:34 PM thoughtful
We must be talking about different varieties of mosquitoes. If you were to come here and sit outside a summer evening in shorts and a T-shirt ignoring the mosquitoes that buzz because "they are male and don't bite" you would be guaranteed a sleepless night.
Luckily, we don't have any mosquito-borne diseases. There used to be malaria but it disappeared in the 1930s. 3027. robertjayb - 5/11/2005 8:44:19 PM West Nile returns to Houston...
Harris County health officials said today they have found a mosquito infected with the virus in northeast Houston, near the intersection of Navasota and Rebel.
This year's first infected mosquito has appeared about one month earlier than last year's first appearance in mosquitoes, which happened in early June.
Harris County's Mosquito Control Division has begun spraying in affected areas in response to the tests for positive mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes become infected with the virus by biting birds, and then can pass it on to other birds, animals and humans.
Understand that Houston was built in a swamp. 3028. thoughtful - 5/11/2005 9:35:41 PM Pelle, that old saw wasn't meant to be truthful, only meant to keep young campers up at night... 3029. thoughtful - 5/11/2005 9:36:27 PM Then there was my father in law who used to drink so much he would sit outside in the evening and watch the mosquito land, bite drink up and keel over.
Takes all kinds.... 3030. arkymalarky - 5/11/2005 9:58:02 PM My experience with devices intended to attract and kill bugs is that they provide a very satisfying collection of dead bugs, but attract many more than they kill.
Hahaha! Exactly. And the blue zappy ones are cool to look at late at night when you've had a few friends and a few beers on the porch. 3031. arkymalarky - 5/11/2005 9:59:02 PM Hmmm. I wonder if Con'd got one whether it would help his neighbors' bug problems? All the bugs would be gathered at Con'd's house. 3032. arkymalarky - 5/11/2005 10:01:49 PM We have all kinds of bug-borne diseases here, though it's better than it used to be. They don't spray any more, though, I don't think. They used to when we first moved here, but quit after complaints, especially following a national NCAA track tournament hosted at the university where my dad taught. Races were underway when the city "bug truck" went by. A blue-gray fog slowly descended over all the athletes as fans watched and coughed in the stands. 3033. arkymalarky - 5/11/2005 10:03:51 PM I don't know if that university had the privilege of hosting any more national tournaments after that. 3034. Macnas - 5/12/2005 8:57:10 AM Arky
Yes I still smoke, so there may be something to that. However, I can recall back before I started to smoke, walking home in the warm evenings from the fly-paper house after work, as clouds of gnats and squads of horse fly filled the country lane. I'd hardly ever get bit.
However, It sounds like y'all have much, much more of a problem with the amount and variety of bugs that like to bite and sting.
Another reason why I love Ireland. 3035. alistairconnor - 5/12/2005 9:21:56 AM No skeeters! Did St Patrick swat them all? 3036. Macnas - 5/12/2005 9:32:07 AM If we do have them, they've never bothered me, or anyone else I know. I must find out. 3037. Macnas - 5/12/2005 9:46:00 AM It seems there are a few species of skeeter in Ireland. But our climate, among other things, does not make for a lot of them. Speaking for myself, I've can't recall ever having seen one.
We do have biting midges, and grass mites in uncultivated land and meadows. Now, grass mites I do know about, as I've picked up a few while out and about. Nasty beggers. But, again, thankfully, only a few. 3038. judithathome - 5/12/2005 11:43:41 AM I think grass mites are called chiggers in the south part of the USA. 3039. Macnas - 5/12/2005 11:48:46 AM Chiggers, that sounds worse. 3040. judithathome - 5/12/2005 11:51:50 AM They are as pesky as the name implies.
Every kid I knew growing up had ankles ringed with chigger bites. They were the bane of our existance all summer long. 3041. Macnas - 5/12/2005 11:58:12 AM Methylated spirits and small tweezers were the only solution, otherwise you'd be scratching the bite for 2 days afterwards. 3042. judithathome - 5/12/2005 12:01:07 PM My mom used to powder me down with a little flannel puff filled with sulfer-smelling stuff. I don't know what was worse: scratching chiggers or smelling like hell. 3043. alistairconnor - 5/12/2005 12:09:38 PM Aoûtats, they are called over here.
1 chigger bite = 1000 megger bites.
1000 chigger bites = 1 terror bite. 3044. ronski - 5/12/2005 6:37:41 PM The skinny on chiggers (hate 'em):
If you have ever been out in the woods or an open field in spring, summer or fall, you may have gotten chiggers around your waistband or on your ankles. They leave red, itchy bumps on your skin.
Chiggers are the larvae of mites belonging to the suborder prostigmata, commonly called harvest mites or scrub mites. Like ticks and spiders, mites go through three biological stages in their life cycle: They begin as eggs, hatch as larvae, develop into nymphs and finally become adults. Nymph and adult harvest mites feed mostly on plant life and don't bother people or other mammals, but in the larval stage, many of the species in the prostigmata suborder are parasitic. After a parasitic chigger hatches, it finds a good position on tall grass or other vegetation so it can spring onto a passing animal. When it finds an animal, it attaches to the animal to gather the protein it needs to grow into the nymph stage.
Chiggers do not burrow under your skin, as many people believe, nor do they feed on animal blood. They actually feed on the fluids in skin cells. To get the fluids, they attach themselves to a skin pore or hair follicle and inject a digestive enzyme that ruptures the cells. The enzyme also hardens the surrounding skin tissue, forming a sort of straw for sucking the skin cell fluids. The whole process irritates the skin, causing an itchy red bump that continues to cause discomfort for several days. Chiggers are only about 1/50th of an inch (0.5 mm) in diameter and so are too small to be seen with the naked eye. This invisibility is the reason so many people believe chiggers burrow under the skin.
You might encounter chiggers in any number of environments, but they are especially concentrated in damp areas with a lot of vegetation. They are attracted to concealed, moist conditions on hosts, too, so they tend to attach to skin under tight clothing, such as socks and underwear, or in concealed areas of the body, such as the groin and the armpits. One way to decrease the chance of chigger bites is to wear loose clothing when you're in the woods or other infested areas. You should also take a shower as soon as you get home from an outdoor expedition, to remove any chiggers before they attach to your skin.
In North America, chiggers don't spread any diseases to humans, but chigger bites can get infected. You should keep the irritated area clean and refrain as much as possible from scratching. In other parts of the world, chiggers may pose a more serious threat. In some areas of Asia, for example, certain chigger species carry the disease scrub typhus. If you spend a lot of time outdoors, check an insect and spider field guide to find out what sort of chiggers are in your area.
One commonly known remedy for chigger bites is to apply nail polish to reduce itchiness. This does not kill the chigger or treat the bite in any way. It simply seals the area off from the air, which keeps the sore from itching so badly. If you want to apply something to relieve itching, it's much better to use a salve or cream that contains antihistamines (Caladryl or hydrocortisone salves are the most common). Like nail polish, these treatments will seal the bite from the surrounding air, but they will also help to prevent infection. If the welts continue to irritate you for more than a couple of weeks, they might be infected and you should see a doctor.
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