'Bugs News

follicle mite Mites live on plants, in the soil, in our homes, and sometimes even on us! Mites are among most abundant and diverse animal groups on earth.  Mites occur literally everywhere; in our homes, on our garden plants, in the soil at our feet, and some even live on us -- so it is indeed a good thing that most are so small that they are barely visible! A "typical" mite is about the size of a grain of salt but some, such as ticks (yes, ticks are a type of mite), can be as large as your fingernail while others like the demodex follicle mite (right) are small enough to live inside a normal hair follicle, with room to spare. brown recluse spider Mites are related to spiders but they are much more abundant and diverse than their arachnid cousins. While all spiders are predators (i.e. they feed on live prey) mites exhibit a range of lifestyles from the small plant feeding spider mites to tiny ectoparasitic scabies mites and to the relatively la...

There are few things more maddening than the itch resulting from the bite of some insect or mite. So it is a good thing that there are only a small number of insects and mites that actually bite people. However, if you are being affected by what you believe are bug bites but are not sure what is causing your discomfort check the list below for insects and mites that actually do bite people. The links go to articles at LivingWithBugs (our main "Bug" site) for ways to identify and then manage each of these common pests. Then, if none of these seem right check out some of the other causes of skin lesions that can look a lot like bug bites below the list. bird mites (aka nest mites, rodent mites) - many people believe they or their homes are infested with these mites. They are actually much less common than people think. bed bugs black flies (outdoors only) biting midges (outdoors only) chigger mites fleas lice mosquitoes ...