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Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from house stuff marks dot com

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Speaker 1: where smart happens. H I am Marshall Brain with today's question,

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Speaker 1: what are chiggers and how do they bite you? If

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Speaker 1: you've ever been out in the woods or an open

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Speaker 1: field in the spring, summer, or fall, you may have

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Speaker 1: gotten chiggers around your waistband or on your ankles. They

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Speaker 1: leave red, itchy bumps on your skin. Chiggers are the

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Speaker 1: larva of mites called harvest mites or scrub mtes. Like

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Speaker 1: ticks and spiders, might go through several biological stages in

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Speaker 1: their life cycle. They begin as eggs, hatches larva, developing

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Speaker 1: the nymphs, and finally become adults. Nymph and adult harvest

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Speaker 1: mites feed mostly on plant life, and they don't bother

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Speaker 1: people or animals, but in the larval stage they go parasitic.

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Speaker 1: After a parasitic chigger hatches, it finds a good position

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Speaker 1: on tall grass or other vegetation so it can spring

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Speaker 1: onto a passing animal. When it finds an animal, it

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Speaker 1: attaches to the animal to gather the protein it needs

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Speaker 1: to grow into the nymph stage. Chiggers don't burrow under

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Speaker 1: your skin as many people believe, nor do they feed

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Speaker 1: on animal blood. They actually feed on the fluids in

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Speaker 1: skin cells. To get to those fluids, they attach themselves

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Speaker 1: to a skin pour or a hair follicle, and they

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Speaker 1: inject this digestive engine that ruptures the cells. The enzyme

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Speaker 1: also hardens the surrounding skin tissue, forming a sort of

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Speaker 1: straw for sucking the skin cell fluids. The whole process

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Speaker 1: irritates the skin, and it causes an itchy red bump

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Speaker 1: that can last for several days. Chiggers are only about

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Speaker 1: half a millimeter long, and so they're too small to

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Speaker 1: see with the naked eye. This invisibility is the reason

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Speaker 1: so many people believe chiggers burrow under your skin. You

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Speaker 1: usually find chiggers in the woods or in tall grass,

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Speaker 1: and they're especially common in damp areas with a lot

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Speaker 1: of vegetation. They're attracted to concealed moist conditions on hosts, too,

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Speaker 1: so they tend to attach to skin under tight clothing

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Speaker 1: such as socks and underwear, or in concealed areas of

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Speaker 1: the body like the groin and the armpits. One way

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Speaker 1: to decrease the chance of chiger bites is to wear

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Speaker 1: loose clothing when you're in the woods or other infested areas.

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Speaker 1: You should also take a shower as soon as you

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Speaker 1: get home from an outdoor expedition to remove any chickers

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Speaker 1: before they have a chance to attach to your skin.

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Speaker 1: In North America, chiggers don't spread any diseases to humans,

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Speaker 1: but chicker bites can get infected. You should keep the

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Speaker 1: irritated area clean and refrain as much as possible from scratching,

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Speaker 1: although that's sometimes nearly impossible. In other parts of the world,

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Speaker 1: chiggers may pose a more serious threat. One commonly known

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Speaker 1: remor for chigger bites is to put nail polish on

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Speaker 1: it to reduce the itchiness. This doesn't kill the chigger

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Speaker 1: or treat the bite in any way. It simply seals

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Speaker 1: off the air, which keeps the sore from itching so badly.

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Speaker 1: If you want to apply something to relieve the itching,

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Speaker 1: it's probably better to use a salve or a cream

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Speaker 1: that contains antihistamines, or something like cala drill or hydrocordizone ointment.

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Speaker 1: If the welts continue to irritate you for more than

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Speaker 1: a couple of weeks, they might be infected, and you

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Speaker 1: should probably go see a doctor. Be sure to check

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