These things itch like hell!
What the heck are they? Anyone....?
this sounds disgusting, but are they attaching themselves to you? Might be chiggars (or however it's spelled). If you see the black spots on your arms or legs or whatever and are supper itchy, you need to soak in a bath for something like an hour (this is according to my wife), and drown them. They'll die off and fall out into the bath water, and the itchy will be gone.
Have you seen the gnats? Chiggers are almost invisible to the eye. I have had them before and they do itch like hell and leave red welts around your ankles usually.
Gnats don't bite. About the worst thing a gnat ever did to me was to get stuck under my eye lid when I walked thru a swarm of them. I had to hold open my eye lid and cry it out.
Ok, they may not be gnats, but they are gnat like bugs. The fly around in little swarms. People at work have been complaining about them as well, so it is not just me.
Also, I went out to our baseball fields to check on staff tonight, and heard many complaints about these 'gnat like' bugs. Our highschooler that was working out there was all bit up.
I was bit by the same type of bug in South Carolina last year as well.
I just asked some guys playing basketball about them, and no one knew what they were except that they look like nats and itch terribly.
They are not chiggers of the normal variety. Chiggers do not fly in swarms. Not even sure if chiggers can fly. I thought they just fell out of trees and shrubs. They may be a bug that only comes out after heavy flooding. I know there are bugs that lay dormant until it gets to be 100 degrees and humid. I've seen them on my screen door at home. They only come out when it is over 100 degrees.
Anyway, someone needs to do some sleuthing on this one.
Possibly Buffalo Gnats (http://www.sj-r.com/homepage/x1867426792/Second-summer-of-batting-at-gnats-on-the-way) or (less likely) Biting Midges (http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/aquatic/biting_midges.htm)
If they bite around the hair line they might be blood flies. Blood flies mostly live in the northwoods, north of the 45th parallel, but with the cool summer, they might have moved south.
i've been bitten by these things also. i took a picture of some and kept a couple i killed that were on my arm and showed them to a buddy that studies bugs, he said they were a form of flea that i guess can form during heavy moisture and they get on you because they are looking for a host to live on. but ive never seen a flying swarm of them.
Quote from: can't putt on September 22, 2008, 08:29:49 PM
Possibly Buffalo Gnats (http://www.sj-r.com/homepage/x1867426792/Second-summer-of-batting-at-gnats-on-the-way) or (less likely) Biting Midges (http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/aquatic/biting_midges.htm)
ah, there was a girl in college we called Biting Midge. But seriously folks....
I'm guessing they are buffalo gnats. When I worked at Yellowstone National Park I was terrorized by buffalo gnats, although then they only bit me around the hairline. They itched much, much worse then as well.
I went to the park today and so far I'm not feeling any bites! I did run away from a small swarm of them though...
my family calls them "no see'ms" they are just annoying and we don't know what they are but we know when we walked into a swarm of them.
i went to check on my laundry i hung out to dry and those little black things were all over the stuff that was still damp. that kind of explains why there are so many of those things this year, cause all the rain we got that is still puddled around keeping everything moist is perfect for living and breeding conditions. heres a link to what is most likly biting all of us. if you read the whole thing it explains everything.
http://www.ento.okstate.edu/ddd/insects/blackflies.htm
Quote from: Jon Brakel on September 22, 2008, 07:03:24 PM...They may be a bug that only comes out after heavy flooding...
Anyway, someone needs to do some sleuthing on this one.
Nice conjecture, eh? Thanks for the sleuthing!
Umm, I think black flies were suggested several days ago. Black flies == Buffalo gnats. :mellow:
Quote from: can't putt on September 26, 2008, 03:29:30 PM
Umm, I think black flies were suggested several days ago. Black flies == Buffalo gnats. :mellow:
many things were suggested over the past week, we are simply drawing the conclusions from all the suggestions and occurances people are having thats all. not trying to steal yours and some others suggestion. :o
Hey, cut him some slack. He had a link to an article with pictures and science content and stuff!
My dig was to you Jon, not Duain. Nobody gave me an attaboy for nice sleuthing! I wanna be special just like everyone else!!!
Sounds like you guys are ready to play the courses in FLORIDA!
Throw enough rounds and you get desensitized to all the bug biting.
See you when the snow flies?!?! We are Open ALL YEAR here.
I've followed this thread a bit and was too lazy to lookup any details. My wife though sent this to me a few minutes ago that seems to fit pretty well...
Minute Pirate Bugs
If you spend much time outdoors enjoying the beautiful fall weather you may encounter a minute pirate bug. You will know you have met the pirate bug when you feel a painful bite, look to see what got you, and see a small black bug walking across your skin. Your first thought will be that this little bug couldn't have hurt that badly, but trust me, it was that little pirate bug that bit you.
Pirate bugs are about 1/10 of an inch long, oval to triangular in shape, somewhat flattened and black with whitish markings on the back. They are beneficial as predators, feeding on small insects and the eggs of other insects. One pirate bug, the insidious flower bug, is an important predator of corn earworm eggs in corn fields.
Pirate bugs are present all summer in fields, woodlands, gardens and landscapes. They quietly go about their business as a natural control of insect pests without anyone taking notice. In the late summer, however, they migrate from fields and woodlands and begin the disagreeable behavior of biting humans. Their bite is surprisingly painful for such a small insect as they probe their short blunt beak into the skin. They do not feed on blood or inject a venom or saliva.
People differ in their response to pirate bug bites. Bites on some swell up like a mosquito bite, some turn red and for others there is no reaction at all.
Control of minute pirate bugs is not practical, in part, because their presence and abundance is temporary and variable from year to year. Further, widespread control is not desirable because of the beneficial role they have in the environment. Wearing dark clothing on very warm days when pirate bugs are abundant may help. Repellents are generally not effective though you may want to try them to see for yourself if they work or not for you.