For Release July 2, 2006

Chiggers!

AGRI-VIEWS

     by Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent

My long range plan was to write an appropriately patriotic column today. Then I came back from 4-H Camp with a good case of chiggers, as did everyone else. This was followed up by many questions, this past week, about chiggers. Obviously chiggers are in high season right now, and with the holidays upon us, maybe I can help relieve some post-holiday discomfort.

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about chiggers. Chiggers don’t burrow under your skin. We don’t have anything called sand fleas in Kansas, they are simply chiggers! (There is a creature officially known as a sand flea. It is a parasitic crustacean found in the ocean.) Call them what you want, they are a pain in the body location of your choice!!

Chigger season seems to be peaking later than usual this year. I’m sure the weather is the reason, but I’m still not sure exactly how or why. A chigger is a mite. As an adult it has eight legs and is more closely related to ticks then to true insects. In Kansas, chiggers do not carry diseases. Chiggers do not suck blood, like ticks or mosquitoes. There are 46 different chigger mite species in Kansas, although most of the misery is caused by one specific species.

Chiggers overwinter as adults. Sometime in late April or early May, the adults become active and start laying eggs. These eggs hatch into chigger larvae. The larvae is six legged and is tiny, somewhere between 1/160th and 1/120th of an inch long. It’s doubtful that you can see them with the naked eye. When a host passes by, the larvae snag onto whatever is moving. They are so small they can go right through the weave of even tight woven denim.

They locate a hair follicle or skin pore, hang on tight and attach their mouth parts to the skin surface. Once attached, they secrete saliva into the skin to dissolve and digest the skin cells. If left alone, they will feed for two to four days before dropping off to molt to the next life stage. If you know you have been in chigger infested areas and can shower or bathe, scrubbing vigorously when you return home, you can dislodge many of the chiggers. While some individuals will react within a few minutes of a chigger bite, most people will have nominal reactions if the chiggers are washed off within the first few hours. Once they have had a meal from a mammal host, they molt and from then on they will feed on insects, other mites or plants, never to bother humans again.

The best defense against chigger bites is to keep them from getting on you. Skin treatments containing 25 to 30% active ingredient DEET are very effective. Be sure to re-apply at the recommended intervals. Products containing stronger concentrations of DEET don’t really give you better protection. I have also had very good luck with a clothing treatment containing permethrin. Locally I have found this product sold under the brand name of Permanone.

You can reduce chiggers in your yard with insecticides. Any of the commonly sold lawn and garden insecticides will be effective against chiggers. Several of the newer products come in their own hose end sprayer, eliminating the need for mixing. Attach the applicator to a garden hose, turn on the water and when you turn on the sprayer, it meters out the amount of chemical needed. You apply what you need, remove the applicator and set it aside for the next time you need to spray. Two treatments about two weeks apart should be adequate to reduce the chigger population in your yard for this season. The chigger population should be peaking now and decrease through the rest of the summer.

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