What crazy bug does this to campers?
May 30, 2017 8:06 AM Subscribe
As is our yearly Memorial Weekend tradition, we camped up in the Catskills, on Mongaup Pond. While we also get bug bites (that's camping!) this year, some of us got strange bites we haven't experienced before.
The bug in question was like an assassin. No one noticed the bug or the bite, until one felt some blood trickling - yes, a big enough bite that a drip of blood was noticed. The bite itself didn't hurt, but later became very irritating.
The bites that we noticed were on the neck / under the ear on most of the victims. They leave irritated red patches/bumps maybe a centimeter around, and very itchy, sore.
In general, the weather was cloudy, cool, very few if any mosquitoes were around, no horse flies, but lots of different gnats and other flying, annoying bugs.
Do you know what bug this is?
The bug in question was like an assassin. No one noticed the bug or the bite, until one felt some blood trickling - yes, a big enough bite that a drip of blood was noticed. The bite itself didn't hurt, but later became very irritating.
The bites that we noticed were on the neck / under the ear on most of the victims. They leave irritated red patches/bumps maybe a centimeter around, and very itchy, sore.
In general, the weather was cloudy, cool, very few if any mosquitoes were around, no horse flies, but lots of different gnats and other flying, annoying bugs.
Do you know what bug this is?
Best answer: If the bites had jagged, saw-like edges, those are black flies. They're horrible little bastards who relish cool, humid weather. They get into all kinds of nasty crap before they get into you, so a little polysporin on the bite sites would be a good idea.
Generations of Canadians have grown up with a song about their tortures.
posted by ZaphodB at 8:27 AM on May 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
Generations of Canadians have grown up with a song about their tortures.
posted by ZaphodB at 8:27 AM on May 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: One clarification: I thought black flies have a stinging, painful bite. These bugs did not cause pain at the time of bite... what do you think?
posted by RajahKing at 8:31 AM on May 30, 2017
posted by RajahKing at 8:31 AM on May 30, 2017
Black flies don't hurt when they're biting. They're adept at landing on you and taking away a chunk of flesh without you noticing. The pain and interminable itch come after the bite.
posted by ZaphodB at 8:37 AM on May 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by ZaphodB at 8:37 AM on May 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
You're probably thinking of horse flies, particularly greenhead horse flies on the beach, which look like oversized house flies and indeed have a nasty stinging bite. Black flies are different. They look more like an oversized gnat, don't buzz, bite nearly painlessly, and then leave you with swollen itchy bumpy welts for days. Fortunately, they don't seem to bite through clothing, so even a thin layer is useful protection.
posted by danceswithlight at 9:17 AM on May 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by danceswithlight at 9:17 AM on May 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Black fly bites don't necessarily hurt at the time, but they bleed like nobody's business.
posted by suelac at 9:31 AM on May 30, 2017
posted by suelac at 9:31 AM on May 30, 2017
Also vote for black flies - the timing lines up with peak black fly season around where you were at.
In my experience, people who have never been set upon by black flies before seem to think they're bigger than they are and yeah - people often think they're like horse or deer flies, which are super-unsubtle insects. Like, you can hear those guys coming. The black fly, on the other hand, is unassuming and insidious.
My first encounter with them as a kid involved feeling like I had sweat trickling down my forehead. When I wiped away what I thought was sweat, there was a surprising amount of blood on my hand. Didn't feel the bites, while they were going on, but man, my scalp itched like crazy later on.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:35 AM on May 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
In my experience, people who have never been set upon by black flies before seem to think they're bigger than they are and yeah - people often think they're like horse or deer flies, which are super-unsubtle insects. Like, you can hear those guys coming. The black fly, on the other hand, is unassuming and insidious.
My first encounter with them as a kid involved feeling like I had sweat trickling down my forehead. When I wiped away what I thought was sweat, there was a surprising amount of blood on my hand. Didn't feel the bites, while they were going on, but man, my scalp itched like crazy later on.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:35 AM on May 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
I live in the Catskills. Yep, it's black fly season.
posted by donaken at 10:49 AM on May 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by donaken at 10:49 AM on May 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ugh you have my sympathies. Black flies are the worst.
I grew up in a part of Canada particularly plagued by black flies. They can be pretty bad some years, which apparently they are this year. The bites are very easy to ignore, especially if you're doing stuff outside, but before you know it your head, or behind your ears, or frankly any exposed flesh is a bloody mess. When we played outside after school we would wear my mum's old stockings over our heads which helped because you could never put enough bug spray on, but even then our bath water looked like something out of a Herschell Gordon Lewis film.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:42 PM on May 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
I grew up in a part of Canada particularly plagued by black flies. They can be pretty bad some years, which apparently they are this year. The bites are very easy to ignore, especially if you're doing stuff outside, but before you know it your head, or behind your ears, or frankly any exposed flesh is a bloody mess. When we played outside after school we would wear my mum's old stockings over our heads which helped because you could never put enough bug spray on, but even then our bath water looked like something out of a Herschell Gordon Lewis film.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:42 PM on May 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by beccaj at 8:10 AM on May 30, 2017 [5 favorites]