As the Chigger Expert, I can tell you they are supposed to eat lizards and
birds, who they do not irritate. We are an incorrect host, and they irritate
us. I have an indepth article on the evil of chiggers in one of the last few
Texas Cavers, but I have included it below so you can refresh your chigger
knowledge and despise them as much as I do.
Kara
Know Thy Enemy by Kara Dittmer
I hate chiggers with a passion. Inevitably, when caving or camping out on a
caving trip, the invisible demons invade my skivvies, and inflict torturous red
welts that last weeks, causing me to scratch parts of my body with a fervor
that most people find uncouth in public. Sometimes, these welts become infected
and cause more pain and last even longer. After repeated infestations of the
‘evil weevils’, I decided I was going to fight back. I was going to prevent
myself from ever being burrowed into by the itchy little critters again!
Besides, that whole burrowing thing – GROSS! I mean, we’ve all heard that,
right? They burrow into your skin and lay their eggs, and you have to smother
them with nail polish. I get chiggers more often than most people I know, and
it really made me wonder about that widely accepted burrowing theory floating
around out there. Wait. Burrow? Hmm. That didn’t seem right. How come I never
see the hatchlings escaping from
my oozing red welts? How long is their gestational phase? And most
importantly, HOW DO I GET RID OF THEM, or better yet, NOT GET THEM AT ALL? I
embarked on a journey to know as much as I could about chiggers, in the
interest of preventing everyone I meet from experiencing the long suffering of
the damned things. I have learned a lot, mostly that the whole burrowing thing
is a BIG LIE. This brings me to the fulfillment of my quest: to set you
straight on chiggers, and add a few interesting words to your vocabulary.
A chigger (sometimes called “jiggers”) is the parasitic larval stage of a
common mite in the genus Trombicula. The adult stage is not parasitic and is
more easily observed because of their larger size. The adult form spends the
winter in the soil, and females become active in the spring and will deposit up
to 15 eggs per day in vegetation when soil temperatures are 60°F. These
globular-shaped eggs hatch into the evil we know as chiggers - hairy,
six-legged larvae 1/120 to 1/150 of an inch in diameter. The little buggers
tend to climb up on taller vegetation, awaiting a host to snag a meal from.
Ironically, they irritate humans because we are an accidental host. The
preferred meal is an animal, especially reptiles and birds, in which they do
not cause an irritation. After engorgement, often requiring one to several
days, larvae drop off the host and transform into eight-legged nymphs which
mature to the adult stage. The life cycle is about 50 to 70
days, with adult females living up to one year. The adult nymph is a dark red
and for this reason, in the adult stage, they are often called "red bugs."
Maybe you’ve seen one, now that I mention it. They are about the size of a
period at the end of a sentence on this page. And they aren’t red because they
suck your blood, if that’s where you thought this was going. Further up the
ladder, chiggers are indeed related to ticks and spiders. However, you will see
that their method of irritation is very different from the bloodsucking tick.
Chigger bites appear in places where clothing restricts their movement. Rather
than shoulder through a tight crawlway (lazy bums!) they settle in for a
feeding. They search your body for the soft, easily penetrable skin found at
creases, hair follicles, and in delicate places. They move around very quickly
for being so small! Once they find a suitable place, they pierce the skin with
their mouthparts, and inject a digestive enzyme. This fluid actually dissolves
your epidermis, which the chigger sucks up like yummy skin smoothie. Within an
hour or two, the tissue surrounding the feeding area hardens into a straw-like
tube called a Stylostome. The chigger remains attached to this handy device,
sucking up your liquefied skin like it was a melting ice cream shake. The
stylostome progressively penetrates into deeper and deeper layers of your skin,
causing the irritation. If left undisturbed, this process will last three to
four days, but usually ends within a
few hours, once the itching (and thus the scratching) starts, and the chigger
is scratched away before it finishes its meal. Perhaps you will be satisfied to
know that by scratching the chigger away, you break its delicate mouthparts and
interrupt its meal, killing the microscopic hoodlum. Hey, they deserve to die
for what they are going to put you through. You will be driven insane by the
intense itch until your body can neutralize the saliva, dissolve the
stylostome, and repair the tissue damage. Dissolved tissue will continue to
ooze out of the wound each time it is scratched. The fluid oozing out forms a
hard cap, a distinct indication of chigger bites. This cap is not present with
other arthropod bites, such as mosquitoes. You might also be interested to know
that chigger nymphs and adults feed on the eggs of mosquitoes. Does that make
you feel any better? I didn’t think so.
In general, chiggers are more common in damp areas with low-growing shrubs,
tall grass, weeds, etc. I find that I get them in caves, perhaps they travel in
on some cave visitor, (Vulture? Snake? Porcupine? Racoon?) and then deposited
in areas of the cave with soil at a favorable temperature. They also feed on
various forms of isopods in their adult stage, also leading me to believe that
I get chiggers in caves as well as on the way to the cave (i.e. walking through
tall grass and shrubs) and camping. It is worth it to know that within
favorable habitats, the distribution of chiggers is usually patchy. The little
buggers are often concentrated in certain areas of the habitat and virtually
absent from other areas of apparently equal quality. Usually, I am that
unfortunate person sitting in an area with a high concentration of chiggers,
being attacked, while someone sitting only a few yards away will often receive
no bites at all. Or maybe they just taste
bad. What this means to you is that if you are getting chigger bites while
sleeping, or at your campsite, you need to move. You should also opt for a nice
rock to recline on while lounging about, instead of sitting in grass, or on
soil. If you get chigger bites in caves, you are probably a sketcher, and
prone to sitting still in the dirt for long stretches of time. I suggest you
ditch sketching and take the dumb end of the tape and check leads. That job is
more fun anyway, and you can possibly outrun the gross hairy little devils.
In the interest of sensitivity to cave biology, I can’t recommend wearing DEET,
Premretherine, or other insecticides into the caves. If you’re just hiking and
camping, though… knock yourself out. These are fairly effective. Remember to
spray around entry points such as sock tops, cuffs, waistbands, collars, and
sleeves. A good option to try in a cave is avoidance. This requires closing off
those same entry points listed above by tucking in and buttoning up as much as
you can. Wearing densely woven fabrics can help, and try to avoid laying around
in the mud. Oh wait. I’m talking to YOU, a likely candidate for laying around
in the mud. Well, sorry. You’re doomed.
If you’re willing to try it, rubbing yourself vigorously with a rough towel
after possible exposure to chiggers can be fun, as well as effective. Just
remember the places where chiggers like to go, and don’t forget to rub there.
That’s kind of hard to do if you’re in a small space, or on the go and fully
dressed. A hot shower accompanied by rubbing is also highly recommended. These
manual removal methods work best within one half hour to two hours of possible
exposure. By the time you feel the itch, it’s too late to prevent the torture.
I’ve also heard reports that taking high doses of the B vitamin Thiamine,
which is then excreted through the skin, acts as a safe and effective repellent
in caving situations with sensitive biology. B vitamins are water-soluable, so
when your body is saturated with what it can use, it just gets rid of the rest
in your urine, and what a pretty radio-active color of urine you will see, in
testament to this very phenomenon. Do not be alarmed. However, most of the
scientific and medical literature decry this as myth, and studies done on the
efficacy of vitamin B1 do not substantiate this circumstantial, word-of-mouth
evidence. However, studies do support a significant decrease in bug bites in
people taking 1,200 mg of garlic a day. Unfortunately, somewhat less-scientific
studies also suggest this method repels members of the opposite sex from
initiating mating behaviors with you, as well, so keep that in mind.
There are two other options I’d like to put forth, and I honestly can’t speak
to their efficacy or safety to cave biology. Sulfur powder, usually put into a
sock and beaten lightly upon the body (as in self flagellation to atone for
your chigger-hating ways) is rumored to be effective and safer than other
chemical measures. The availability of sulfur powder is questionable, and your
results may vary. The other option takes some planning and (dare I even suggest
it?) something akin to grooming. I think its possible that you could safely
repel these creeps by applying rosemary or another essential oil to your bare
skin, before dressing, paying special attention to creases and delicate parts.
This substance is natural, and safe for most people without allergies to their
plants of origin, to use. I’m not even suggesting citronella, a highly potent,
irritating oil. Other plant essential oils that are gentle, yet effective
insect repellers are
lemongrass, hairy basil, kaffir lime, marigold, and the spice tumeric. I
believe these oils would repel, but not harm other cave biology. I think they
would be effective because they are warn on your skin, absorbed by your body,
and under clothing with limited contact to the actual biology. I could be
wrong. I welcome more learned input on the effects on cave biology before
trying it myself. I have had good luck with this method when applied to
children in an outdoor situation (a rosemary/lemongrass oil, specifically), and
therefore believe it may have an application in caving.
The other available methods of dealing with chiggers remain the salves you
apply to the bites to quell the burning, itching, and insanity after they have
melted and eaten your skin. I personally have had very good results with a
product by the brand Oak and Ivy called Calagel. This lotion includes a bit of
a skin-numbing agent, topical lidocaine, and a real blessing to chigger-bite
sufferers. You might also find relief from cortisone crème or benedryl, but
beware the side effects of these remedies, and educate yourself on their use
and hazards before smearing them willy-nilly on yourself. Natural salves
including comfrey, calendula, and marshmallow could also be of help. Always
consult the package of a product you buy for ingredients and use at your own
risk of allergic reaction. (the lawyers made me do it!) To prevent infection,
do not scratch – yeah, right. My suggestion is that you keep your fingernails
clean – yeah, right, again. We’re cavers,
remember? Well, wear gloves when you sleep. I’m not kidding! Try slapping your
itches away (you might like it!). Or – and this brings us back to the myth I’m
trying to bust – paint them with nailpolish. See, the old wives’ tales exist
for a reason, they just don’t often apply for the reasons ye olde wives pass
them on, like bugs burrowing into your body, in this case. I think the old
wives are just trying to scare you. You won’t be smothering the skin-drinking
jerks, but you will be protecting their handiwork from your sharp, germ-ridden
fingernails when you scratch. This could possibly prevent the infection and
lingering pain common with a chigger bite infestation. You will want to watch
the bites closely for signs of infection, relying on basic first aid techniques
at the first sign of puffy redness or the pain of infection. Keep them clean!
You now know more about chiggers than someone really should to get along in
polite society. But if I know you, you probably don’t do that well in polite
society, anyway, so please… spread the chigger gospel. Bust the myths. Rub
yourself with rough towels and smelly oils. Say the word “stylostome” with
pride. Just don’t use nail polish to smother the chiggers left inside those
ugly, horrible, insanely itchy red welts.
----- Original Message ----
From: Bill Bentley <ca...@caver.net>
To: gi...@att.net; texascavers@texascavers.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 1:15:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers
Gill,
I am reporting I had some chigger bites too
Anyone who doesn't believe in the Devil has obviously never experienced a
rash of chigger bites!
Pure Evil... What do they live on when people are not around?
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: <gi...@att.net>
To: <texascavers@texascavers.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 11:10 AM
Subject: [Texascavers] TCR chiggers
> I've had a report from amongst the A&I folks of chigger attacks at TCR.
Did anyone else notice them?
>
> Big fleas have little fleas
> Upon their backs to bite 'um;
> And little fleas have smaller fleas
> And so, ad infintum....
>
> --Ediger
>
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