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Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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Posted by marita40 (My Page) on Mon, Sep 24, 07 at 15:20
| Over the last few weeks I've been itching from something in my home that is biting me. I saw the thread on fleas, but I don't know if these are fleas or not. I cannot see anything, but I can feel little bites and in certain places in my house they'll fly up my nose or in my ear. I'm just itchy and jumpy all over, but the bites just itch momentarily with no welts or red marks (not, for example, like mosquito or fly bites). I think fleas leave noticable red marks, don't they? These must be something like biting gnats or noseeums, but I have scoured to make sure there is no left out food, etc., and I can't figure out where they are coming from. I've never seen anything like a "swarm" of them -- in fact, again, I can't see them at all. We've had continuing hot, humid weather well into September. I've tried spraying DEET-type spray in areas, including around the perimeter of the house, but I'm still getting bit inside. Does anyone have any ideas??? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| set off some bug bombs in teh house. READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS. if it is fleas, you will have to re-treat in about 10 days. |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| Read about mites. There are many different types, however, usually there is some sort of rash from the interaction with them.I don't want to scare you or anything, but itching with no rash or welt could also result from diabetes, liver disease and certain neurological disorders. One other critter you may want to check into are no-see-ums. The usually don't go into your home but you never know. |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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Good heavens, don't be spraying chemicals all over your house if you're not even sure what you're dealing with!
If these critters are not leaving a mark and you don't see them, how do you know they're critters at all?
Can't you catch one if they get into your nose?? You could be dealing with some sort of cloth fiber that you're allergic to, or maybe there is some fiberglass or other building materials flying about your home (perhaps via air conditioner ducts), or some airborne plant thing. You could also have some sort of skin condition caused by any number of things. Just about anything that bites would leave a mark unless you are really super sensitive. Is anyone else getting damaged? How painful are these things?
Point is, find out what you have before taking measures like setting off bug bombs! The cure could be worse than the disease. |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| Set some glue traps to catch the culprits so you can identify them, then take the appropriate action. Once you have a couple trapped if you can't identify them contact your State College Agricultural Extension Service and they will be glad to identify what your have and the best and safest way to deal with them. YOu can find your state college Ag ext service by running an online search... By example: search for- "Ohio State University Agricultural Extension Service" You will find an ag service in every state and they generally have field offices throughout the state. Their would be no charge for the identification and they offer free bulletins on how to deal with the pests. I find this to be the best source of information because they will have real entomologists make the identification and they are not in the business of selling a product so you can get honest and reliable answers. |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| Well, we have an identification -- the little critters are biting gnats (sometimes called biting midges or noseeums). Evidently plain old DEET mosquito spray keeps them at bay. What is still unknown is why I seem to have them in the house. I can't wait for the first frost! |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| They could be fleas. Different people get different reactions to them. I get bit bad and get red welts. My wife only occasionally gets bit and no welts. Fleas can jump high and they can get inside your ears and nose. They are impossible to see. Sprinkle borax in your carpet. Leave a week then vacuum. Vacuum everything including chair cushions. Throw out vacuum cleaner bag. If you have pets, treat them. They have flea drops that you squeeze into the pet's fur in the back of their neck. Use monthly. A vet can tell you if your pet has fleas. |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| I have had a similar experience with biting midges or noseeums. I went through a long process of getting them id'd and the county extension finally said they were biting midges. I live next to some ponds. They don't seem to bother my neighbors. They came in the house on or around April 14, and they are still here! I am in the process of finding some other place to live, away from ponds where they hatched. No one seems to have any answers. I am really freaked because they are in my car and follow me around on my clothes. I can't believe that its 2011 and there appears to be no solution. The pest control people don't want anything to do with them |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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Ive been getting bitten, only me! Leavin bites on me. Not any area of
My body more than others and not any certain room in the house. Been goin on about 2 wks. Not doing anything any different than normal and basically been home for these past 2 wks other than 1 night at my moms and 1 in mil barricks. I can feel something jump on my skin like a flea, but ive sprayed for fleas and I never see anything!! Its drivung
Me CRAZY and I have bites everywhere and i dont know what to do!! |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| Did you find a solution? My husband and I both are being bitten in our home by some invisible insect, I guess. This started suddenly about 3 weeks ago. I have large, red, itchy bumps on different parts of my body, the arm, leg, ankle, finger, elbow and back. As they start to heal, they leave dark spots. We are African American, but the spots are very red. My husband has recent bites on his neck, behind the ear, legs, arm and forehead. We seem to get them on exposed areas. I get them on the back when sitting in front of the computer. I feel sharp bites, with immediate itching. The intense itching continues for days. Each day, there is another or more bites. We never see anything, and we have searched the bed for bedbugs with no signs of bugs. We have always washed all covers and pillows once a month, but sheets and pillow cases are changed weekly. We don't have any pets, only the neighbors have pets, but they do not visit, and we do not interact with their pets. What can this be? |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| Use sticky traps to try and catch them for identification. |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| Thank you! But what should I use as a sticky trap? They are now biting me in the face, on the palm of my hand, on the bottom of my feet, and arms and shoulders. This is getting to be very frightening. |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| Has any one considered bed buga? |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| Yes, I considered that, but I inspected the bed and see no signs of bedbugs. We also covered our mattress with a plastic cover, but continue to be bitten. We are also being bitten in the daytime. I feel them in other rooms during the day. I am beginnig to feel like it would be simpler if it were bedbugs. |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| For those of you being bitten by something unseen, especially Esor55, google scabbies. It not only describes this insect, it shows the leasons and how to treat the bites. However, if your home is infested with scabbies, it is difficult to rid your home of this pest. |
RE: Help! what kind of biting insect has invaded my home?
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| Thank you for the response, but my husband and I both have been seen by 2 dermatologists and treated for scabbies (just in case), but have ruled out scabbies. The original bites were large itching welts that lasted for about 10 days and left dark scars, but now we get little stings and itcing, but no scars and itching goes away after scratching. Originally, we were bitten about 2 to 3 times a day, now we are bitten throughout the day all day and night. Feeling of something flying in the the face, eyes, nose and ears is constant. When I cotton swab my ears, I see a tiny spec on the q tip. I placed them on tape, and placed them on an index card. They feel hard to the touch when I rub my finger across the tape on the card. I also have the crawling sensation in my hair, constant washing of the hair is annoying. The constant sneezing from feeling the flying in my nose is also annoying. I find tiny white things on my laptop, spiral, dark clothing, or any dark surface. They feel hard to the touch when I tape them to an index card. Some are very tiny and round and some very tiny with a long shape. |
RE: Continue to help, biting me
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| I forgot, we have no symptoms of scabbies, no itching between the fingers, the wrists and the backs of the elbows, the knees, around the waist and umbilicus, the axillary folds, the areas around the nipples, the sides and backs of the feet, the genital area, and the buttocks. We have no small bumps (medically termed papules) and no blood crusts. We have no break in the skin, and no blisters. When the itching and welts went away, they left dark spots. We don't get them anymore. This leads me to believe we did not have scabbies, nor do we have scabbies. |
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