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BUG SPIT, NOT BUG BITES MAKE US ITCH

By Don Jordan

"I lay down in the yard last week and got chigger bites in my scalp. They itched so much, and I scratched so much that they got infected. I had to go to the doctor and get some antibiotic cream," said an outdoorswoman I know when the subject of bites arose last week. She found out the hard way that it is chigger time in southern Indiana.

Unfortunately, the chiggers' arrival isn't accompanied by a reduction in numbers of our other bug buddies-- flies, ticks, mosquitoes, bees, wasps and hornets.

Consider these factoids: four hundred million insects can inhabit a single acre of land, and one groundhog can carry as many as 4,000 chiggers. A mosquito, bloated on your blood, weighs less than 1/20th of an ounce.

Corporate biologists for Tender Corporation say there are three categories of "insect offenders." They are stingers that inject venom (bees, wasps, hornets, fire ants), biters (mosquitoes) and chewers (chiggers). But with all of these insects, it is the secretions accompanying the bite that cause the lingering itch, not the bite itself.

"With bee stings, the main source of pain is the bite action and the venom injected. Bees attack with needle-like lancets which not only penetrate the skin, but also pump venom and remain in the skin after the bee has moved on. Fire ants, also stingers, use a toxic venom that actually destroys tissue in the sting area," says Tender's Donna Bakker Crosby.

"With mosquitoes, the bite action itself can cause itching and discomfort, but the main culprit is the saliva. Highly acidic, this saliva contains allergens that cause both an immediate and a delayed reaction.

"Both reactions create welts, some swelling and intense itching. The best remedy for the itch is application of something alkaline, like our After Bite," she continued.

This product is ammonia-based. You can use household ammonia for the same purpose. After Bite’s main bonus is a convenient pen-like applicator to carry around with you.

Chiggers are even more diabolic. They secrete a substance with their bite that dissolves skin cells and leaves one of the "most itchy and long lasting of all insect bites."

Black flies, tiny, monster-jawed demons of the north woods, leave bites that not only itch and swell, but also hurt. This reaction also comes from a toxin the insects release as they bite. The toxin anesthetizes the bite area. You never know you're being bitten until the fly is gone. The toxin is so potent that itching and discomfort can last up to two weeks or longer if they get infected from scratching. A friend of mine on a Canadian fishing trip was bitten on his ears by these devils, and his ears swelled up to the size of grapefruits!

There are many strategies you can use to avoid insect bites that do not involve chemical repellents. The best of these is to cover your entire body with clothing. This is not foolproof, however, as mosquitoes can drill through thick pants and flies can chew you right through your cotton socks. Chiggers, those rascals, migrate under clothing and bite at barriers like elastic around legs and waist of most underwear.

The best defense against both chiggers and ticks is to use a repellent of some kind or another. The most effective ones use the chemical [Ital]N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide[ital] which is commonly called [Ital]DEET[ital].

Repellent DEET concentrations range from low, as in Cutter's [Ital]Pleasant Protection[ital] (9.5 %), which adds Aloe Vera and "fresh scent," to Tender's [Ital]Ben's Max[ital] which is 95 percent DEET.

DEET is a very strong chemical and might be hazardous to your skin as it melts plastic and dissolves paint. Don't get it on your plastic eyeglass lenses, watch band, fishing lures or the screen of your sonar unit.

Most experts advise against applying high concentration DEET products directly onto skin. Put it on your clothing (not on polyester) or under the brim of your hat. Do not use 100 percent solutions on children.

DEET is very effective against ticks too. This is very important in Indiana which is a Lyme Disease state. That crippling disease is transmitted when deer ticks bite you.

You can avoid DEET altogether by using Avon's [Ital]SkinSoSoft[ital] which is not sold as a repellent but as a skin softener. Another non-DEET product is Tender's [Ital]Natrapel[ital] which is citronella-based. These products do repel many insects, including mosquitoes; however, they are not very effective at repelling flies.

Garlic is another natural repellent. It is alleged to produce repellent effects if eaten in large doses. For this reason, fishing or canoeing partners should both gobble the mysterious bulb lest one offend.

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