HikeArizona.COM

I'm more obsessed than most with bug bites - for years I've been locked in a battle of wits with aedes aegypti who come in the cat door and bite my ankles. I think they get in 3 bites for every one I take out with my electric tennis racket.

For this reason I take special notice of this weekend's interaction with gnats. They were swarming during my Saturday hike but didn't really bother me much other than the constant deep dives into my ears. At one point it occurred to me that if there were mosquitoes in this cloud I'd be bitten to death.

Anyway Sunday afternoon I started scratching. At first I thought it was my usual foe but then I noticed the bites were different...long lasting (still today!) and very itchy and particularly in my ears. Gnats! With a time delay! Sheesh.

@flagscott
Just to be clear....I was no where near water up on HS Mesa except for a couple very widely spaced stock ponds. I'm sure I was supplying some sweat though.

@ssk44 @lindaagm
And I don't so far use any chemicals on my skin except deodorant now and then.

@SuperstitionGuy
Yep I'm used to man sized mosquitoes I can fight with. The local ghosty ones in my AZ neighborhood are way more frustrating.

out of curiosity I searched a bit

only females in the biting gnat species bite ( various sources )
- they require a blood meal from cattle or humans for effective reproduction, aka protein to create eggs
- they use their mandibles, four ‟cutters” inside their mouths that slice the skin open
- attracted to carbon dioxide and black moving objects
- bite is very painful, can itch and swell for several days
- you can't stop a Trane but you can out run a gnat

Gnat ( wiki )
A gnat is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the Dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae.

No See Um
The scientific name for the no see um is Ceratopogonidae
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-no-see-um.htm

Wiki
Ceratopogonidae, or biting midges, are a family of small flies (1–4 mm long) in the order Diptera. They are also known as no-see-ums, midgies, sand flies, punkies, and others in North America, and sandflies in Australia. (The name "sandfly" is ambiguous, as it is also applied informally to many other flies, such as the subfamily Phlebotominae.) They are closely related to the Chironomidae, Simuliidae (or black flies), and Thaumaleidae

Hansenaz wrote:But the insidious thing to me that I don't see mentioned in the other posts is the time-delay....24hrs or so before I started itching.

looked around but no clue, seems fleas are offset a tad

What Bit Me - 2015 msn.com page with 12 eye catching slides
http://www.msn.com/en-ca/health/medical ... ss-AAcGu1q

remedies that caught my attention
- cold pack
- dip Qtips in boiling water then press on bite
- clear nail polish over bite ( mom used red... oh the joys of going to school )

Simuliidae are the only ones that I can't tolerate. I finish a hike in black fly season with little patches of blood all over my shirt. Horse flies are worse, but they're usually concentrated in smaller areas.

@joebartels
I had seen some of this on-line but not what the range of these critters really is. So did I get bit by a no-see-um or a biting gnat? Do chiggers (those ankle biting mites) get AZ hikers? Always interesting to try to combine the available internet facts with the beaucoup experience of AZ hikers on this site...

Right after the monsoon starts in July and August in the meadows of northern AZ we have encountered lots of Chiggers.. mostly when we used to go up to the meadows for Star Parties with our telescopes.. we even had a place on Dugas Road that we called Chigger meadow since everyone that observed there that night got Chiggers..

Chiggers are definitely in parts of AZ, I've encountered them plenty of times on my parents' property about thirty miles northeast of Show Low.

I find that chiggers are "selective"; fortunately the little boogers don't like me. When i lived in Missouri a friend and I were hiking a weedy section of the Ozark Trail and we were both wearing shorts. I was chigger free but my friend got a bad case of chiggers which itched for weeks and left permanent scaring on her legs.

I got my first Oregon tick today when bushwhacking in an overgrown clearcut. It was tiny! Got home and did the ol' full body check. I know, I know, TMI.

Got some bites walking in PEFO/Winslow area last week. Red itchy splotches at sock line, both ankles. Gotta be chiggers.

I hear (and read) almost nothing from other HAZzers on this topic though I know I'm hiking far less than them. Am I the only one getting bit?

Hansenaz wrote:Am I the only one getting bit?

Yes!

And if they're biting you just above the sock line, maybe you should not wear socks.

But seriously, either nothing wants to bite me, or I just don't feel it when they do.

@Hansenaz
I've experienced the same thing above the sock line on several occasions. I assumed it was a reaction to a plant however and not chiggers. Not a lot of flora out where you were though.

@LosDosSloFolks
With first itch I initially thought some sort of plant irritation. But it ended up being 4 distinct "bites" on each ankle (I'll spare you the photograph). I'm off trail with plenty of knee-high dry grass so a biting bug seems best answer. They're a minor annoyance but I'm just surprised that I don't hear it from any one else.
@Mountain_Rat
Yeah maybe I'm somehow more susceptible. I know my wife's English relatives come over here and at the same time they get numerous ugly-looking mosquito bites - I get none.

Yikes! Nothing itches like chiggers. They make wonder whether a blowtorch might make it stop.

@Hansenaz
3 of us just got back from PFNP. All 3 had bites from what we believe were gnats. All were above the sock line into the calf area.

My sock line is lower calf ;-). I should have said calf bites not ankle.

I suggest using Picaridin repellent. It's available at REI. It doesn't stink at all, and repels flies, mosquitoes, chiggers, fleas and ticks. It is way better than DEET for a lot of uses. It doesn't ruin your gear, also. A tiny bit goes on smoothly like white lotion. It does taste bad, so you need to wash your hands after putting it on. It's also available as a spray, which I haven't tried yet.

I use it for biting flies on river trips. The flies don't even hover after I put it on my legs and knees, they just disappear.

https://www.rei.com/product/887628/sawy ... on-4-fl-oz

@Hansenaz
chiggers maybe, although far less of a nuisance than chiggers from Missouri I used to battle. The wet winter and long grass combo, I ran into a dozen below the knee bites on a recent trip to Wet Beaver. The AZ chiggers don't seem to burrow as much, so it could be a chigger relative? 100% DEET will do the trick...

My guess is probably chiggers. I've only had to deal with chiggers a few times but that was back in the day (the early 70s I think) around the farm; getting into a reservoir. I do remember having to take a presription.

I got bit while out on the Bush Highway photo shoot this spring. It was pretty bad but it was only a single bite (really couldn't see it, but it was red all around and slightly swollen). I just used neosporin. Cleared up in a week.