What’s eating you?

When the weather warmed up a few weeks ago, I started itching. Figuratively itching for spring to get here already. But I literally developed an itch.

I developed a slew of itchy red bumps on my stomach. Every day for about a week, I noticed a new batch of bumps on my arms, legs, feet, ankles and back. They were intensely itchy and painful and drove me crazy.

Chiggers, I thought. Or chicken pox, but that seemed unlikely.

So, I called the Oklahoma State University Department of Entomology to find out more about chiggers. I talked to Justin Talley, assistant professor who patiently explained chiggers to me. Talley said he doubted my bites were from chiggers because they occur in areas where clothing is tight such as sock lines, wristbands, etc. My bites were all over.

He asked if I have any oak trees around my home. I live in an older addition with hundreds of mature trees of all varieties, including oaks. He said he thought my bites might be from the microscopic Pyemotes itch mite.

Never heard of it?

Apparently, the itch mite is fairly new in the United States. They were first identified in oak leaf galls in 1954 but it wasn’t until 2004 that the mites made news. After a football game in Pittsburg, Kansas that year, 300 residents reported mysterious red welts and the outbreak became an entomology mystery. Eventually, they were identified as reactions to itch mite bites.

Generally, itch mites come out of galls in late summer looking for food but Talley said it could be an unusual early occurrence. He came over and took bags of leaves from my yard to dissect in his lab. He found some galls but no mites. Not surprising, he said, and that doesn’t mean they are not the problem. But he can’t say for sure.

Talley recommended ridding my yard of any old leaves but said spraying insecticides at this time of the year won’t help much.

To ease my itch, Bactine became my new best friend. And thankfully, when the weather got cold again, the biting ceased.

Have any of you been experiencing mysterious bites?

Talley wants to know if you’ve noticed any unusual bites lately. He said there could be a minor outbreak but the only way to find out is to get reports from people. Leave feedback here if you have been bitten and think it could be the Pyemotes itch mite.

Talley warned me that some people falsely report outbreaks of bites. These people suffer from Delusionary Parasitosis.

Delusionary Parasitosis is a heartbreaking condition  that causes people affected to think they have worms, bugs, bacteria or some other organisms living on their skin, in their hair, in their homes, etc.  Pest management companies say they get tons of calls from people claiming they are crawling with bugs. It’s a terrible psychiatric condition and is no joke. If you suffer from Delusionary Parasitosis, there is hope. Contact a psychiatrist or your general practitioner. Here is site with more information about the condition.

Here is a CDC page with good information on the itch mite.