Biting Insects
Getting Rid of Biting Insects Safely and Effectively is PermaTreat's Specialty.
Mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, wasps...Here in Virginia we have lots of insects that "bite" or "sting", and most of us have been bitten or stung at some point. Whether you want to identify an insect or learn how to protect yourself outdoors, you'll find some of the information you may need here in the PermaTreat Pest identification Library. While this category page is primariliy concerned with "biting" insects, the term is frequently synonomous with "stinging" even though these are not identical in how an insect attacks you.
Insects and related animals attack human beings in many ways. But the primary concern of biting insects is that they can be carriers of disease, such as deer ticks that carry Lyme disease, dangerous biters (the danger depending on the sensitivity of the target and the number of bites), or serious nuisances (which may grade into danger at times). Some are irritated attackers (such as bees and wasps that sting in defense of nests or in counterattack), while others are blood feeders (such as mosquitos and ticks). Although we will consider all these classes, our focus will be on nuisance insect biters including mosquitoes, horse flies, gnats, midges, and black flies.
Insects will bite at any time of day but most bites occur in the evening, especially just after sunset. Other insects like bees, wasps and ants posses stings which can be quite painful and sometimes dangerous. Hundreds of stings by bees or wasps can be fatal due to direct toxicity. Biting insects themselves, aren't generally dangerous because allergic reactions are rare. However, their bites can spread diseases like Malaria, Yellow Fever, Lyme disease, Typhus, and Encephalitis. For most of us though, insect bites just cause us to experience severe itching at the bite location.
There are a lot of things you can do to prevent insect bites...wear long clothing, use insect repellants, and avoid places where biting insects might be found (e.g. deep woods during tick season). If you have an infestation of biting insects in your home or yard, call PermaTreat today for a FREE Inspection.
Biting Insects Found in Virginia
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Click images to enlarge.
Information courtesy of Wikipedia and the National Pest Management Assn.