Insect bites

[Wowbagger]

Scotland's dry weather devastates midge numbers

Yet another endangered species. Save the wee biting midgie bastard!

[Kim]

Among my walking friends there was a theory based on the small sample size studied that ppl who were midge magnets were not tasty for ticks and vice versa.  I lad one friend who could part a huge cloud of midges but every walk follows with a tick hunt, often in very intimate places.

This midge-magnet has never been bitten by a tick.  Tsetse flies also seem uninterested in me.

I once took a tick home.

My dad picked up a tick in Zambia (see above re tsetses), carefully removed it, and brought it home in a 35mm film canister, ostensibly to identify it.  Think he kept it in the lab as a pet for a while.

[Flite]

I suffer badly from midge bites and ticks. After an orienteering event in the Lake District I gave up counting at 50 ticks - but just tiny immature ones.
It's the ticks that get lodged in less accessible places and have time for a good feed that I worry about more.

Antisthan - used it when both calves looked like red balloons from midge bites - they got worse.
GP said "stupid woman, you are allergic to the Antistan".

[Jurek]

I was eaten alive again Tuesday night / Wednesday morning.
ETA - I've lost count of how many as I can no longer easily identify which were amuse bouche, which were starters and which were mains.

[TPMB12]

I suffer badly from midge bites and ticks. After an orienteering event in the Lake District I gave up counting at 50 ticks - but just tiny immature ones.
It's the ticks that get lodged in less accessible places and have time for a good feed that I worry about more.

Antisthan - used it when both calves looked like red balloons from midge bites - they got worse.
GP said "stupid woman, you are allergic to the Antistan".

A mate once got drunk and admitted to a head torch led tick hunt in a very inaccessible location on her then boyfriend. Now happily married so embarrassment must be truly binding on a relationship. That or knowing where the skeletons or ticks were buried of course.

I got two ticks last year I had to remove. They were the first and only ones I've ever had. It's a bit disconcerting to feel the last tug from the tick as it finally has to relinquish it's free feed on you. It goes through me!

[mrcharly-YHT]

I feel a distinct 'ick' shudder, pulling off leeches or ticks.

[Flite]

A mate once got drunk and admitted to a head torch led tick hunt in a very inaccessible location on her then boyfriend.

It does put you off having a quick comfort break in the long bracken....

[ian]

My twenty-three recent mosquito bites have mostly declined from furious mountain ranges into small hillocks.

[chrisbainbridge]

Our lovely butler recommended the hotel provided ant insect cream. So we tried it before dinner. 5 minutes later with the worst bite of the holiday we applied the scientifically proven very high concentration DEET.  No more bites tonight. DEET works, citronella cream doesn’t!

[Pingu]

There's been an epidemic* of cycle related 400kΩ insect stings on the lips in this neck of the woods recently.




*Well, me and Mrs Feanor.

[Feanor]

Yes, indeed.

Last weekend I was hiking up Mt Keen, and paused briefly for a sammich.
I noticed a large fly thing on my arm, and tried to blow it off with a puff of wind from my mouth.
The thing did not move.
A firmer brush with my hand, and off it went, and I had sprung a leak!
The little bugger had probed me with it's proboscis, and was extracting my juice!
I hadn't felt a thing.
It would not stop bleeding for a few minutes; I think it injects some anti-coagulant to keep my juice flowing.
Little bugger.

[hellymedic]

 DEET is very effective at repelling mosquitoes and dissolving any plastic kit within reach...

[jiberjaber]

DEET is very effective at repelling mosquitoes and dissolving any plastic kit within reach...

Smidge for any plastic areas (lycra etc ..)

[mrcharly-YHT]

A couple of odd things the size of horse flies landed on my arm last week and bit in savagely. Had a sack of peat balanced on my shoulders so I couldn't brush them off. Didn't trigger any reaction though.

They were a speckled grey, skinnier in proportion than a bluebottle and about 1.5 times as long. Hmm, googling suggests that they were Clegs.

[Wowbagger]

Is the word "cleg" not interchangeable with "horse fly"?

Edit: aha! Possibly, in some cases.

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/flies/notch-horned-cleg-fly-horse-fly

[Feanor]

Yes, I think so.

The thing that attacked me was exactly as mrcharly described, and my companions called it a cleg.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Is the word "cleg" not interchangeable with "horse fly"?

Edit: aha! Possibly, in some cases.

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/flies/notch-horned-cleg-fly-horse-fly

The horse fly that I'm familiar with is about twice the size of these clegs.

30 species of horse-fly in the UK

And they are all bastards.

[Jurek]

As I was pulling on my shorts this morning, a spider about the size of my hand ran from under the bed to hide behind the bedside cabinet.
I suspect that is what has been biting me over the past couple of weeks.

[andrewc]

https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/news/midges-and-keds-clegs-and-ticks-oh-my/


Pictures of the various nasties!

[Lightning Phil]

Horse fly up my shorts on ride yesterday.   Bite didn’t  itch yesterday but did today, but now settling down.

[SteveC]

Just back from a re-enacting event at Blenheim Palace. Almost all of us have bites, but they stop just above the ankles.
All the grass was very short.
No idea what the perpetrators were, but the resulting itches are not fun.

[ian]

As I was pulling on my shorts this morning, a spider about the size of my hand ran from under the bed to hide behind the bedside cabinet.
I suspect that is what has been biting me over the past couple of weeks.

Spiders generally only bite humans in defence (they don't feed on blood, so have no reason to bite humans). Nor do most UK species have mouthparts capable of breaking our skin even if they want to bite us.

[Jurek]

As I was pulling on my shorts this morning, a spider about the size of my hand ran from under the bed to hide behind the bedside cabinet.
I suspect that is what has been biting me over the past couple of weeks.

Spiders generally only bite humans in defence (they don't feed on blood, so have no reason to bite humans). Nor do most UK species have mouthparts capable of breaking our skin even if they want to bite us.

That's kind of reassuring to hear, given that this beast was big enough that I could hear his footsteps.
I think.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Just realised I had a tick on my leg.

Noticed red lump on shin yesterday, but I'd bashed my shin on a step while taking up carpet, so thought it was just a bit of blood.

Itchy this afternoon, so looked closer. Damned tick, well embedded.

Will keep a close eye on bite site, Lymes is endemic here.

[Wowbagger]

Just back from a re-enacting event at Blenheim Palace. Almost all of us have bites, but they stop just above the ankles.
All the grass was very short.
No idea what the perpetrators were, but the resulting itches are not fun.

Very probably the blackfly (Blandford fly) or its ilk.

https://www.deddingtonsurgery.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/New-ajc-Blandford-Fly-Bite-Advice-Sheet.pdf refers.

Nasty little fuckers.