What's biting us?

August 26, 2009 4:39 AM

What's biting us?!

I live on the east coast of Scotland and, for the last few weeks, my wife and I have been falling victim to some mysterious biting insects.

We generally discover the red, raised bites first thing in the morning, with the legs and arms favourite biting sites.

I've checked for bed bugs and we don't have them. Work colleagues and friends are also being bitten, so it seems as if it's 'something in the air'!

Any ideas as to what's biting us - and how we can combat them?

posted by Blackwatch to science & nature (8 comments total)

Bed bugs's flat bodies mean they are very good at hiding... for instance, they can hide in the cracks between floorboards, wall cracks etc. Are there any black marks (maybe look like dust) on the mattress? That could be a sign. But don't rule them out just because you haven't seen it.

Another obvious candidate could be fleas.
posted by plep at 4:52 AM on August 26

The key sign of bed bug bites is that they come in lines, so if you don't have straight lines of bites, it's probably not bedbugs. You're on the coast, and it's summer - sandfleas (no-see-ums) maybe?
posted by molecicco at 4:59 AM on August 26

Scottish Biting Midge?
posted by DU at 5:26 AM on August 26

A more to-the-point link
posted by DU at 5:27 AM on August 26

Aye, midgies, for sure. If you have any sort of standing water near your bedroom window, they'll be coming from there.
posted by Happy Dave at 6:09 AM on August 26

Anecdotally (as a friend originally from Glasgow who recently went back for a hol in Speyside found out to her horror and got confirmed from her Dad) mosquitos are now moving up into Scotland for the summer more than ever (global warming?) as well as the midges...
posted by runincircles at 6:30 AM on August 26

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Don't think they're midges, as we're used to being bitten by those and they don't produce the lumps we've experienced recently.

Could be mosquitos, though...
posted by Blackwatch at 7:23 AM on August 26

Clegs a.k.a. Scottish Horseflies?

Nasty biters.
posted by theCroft at 12:29 PM on September 5