No-See-ums (Family Ceratopogonidae)
I had my first (and to date only) run in with No-See-Ums in Niagara Ontario. I hate them.
Some quick facts from pelotes.jea.com
WHAT IS A NO-SEE-UM? No-see-ums are tiny biting flies that often live near water. You often see many of themswarming together in a cloud. Keep your mouth shut or you might breathe some in or swallow them! (It won’t hurt you, but it will probably make you cough.) Biting midges are called no-see-ums because they’re so tiny that it is hard to see ‘um. No-see-ums are less than ¼ of an inch long.
WHERE DO NO-SEE-UMS LIVE? They often stay in shrubs or the thick layer of dead leaves that naturally covers the ground. Scrubbing your feet around in the leaves is a good way to get them stirred up. Don’t do it! Most no-see-ums never fly more than 350 feet from their breeding area, so if they’re bothering you, you might be able to get away from them by moving a few yards
WHY DO NO-SEE-UMS BITE? Only the females bite and suck blood. They need the protein in this blood to make their eggs. No-see-ums will take blood from mammals, birds, and reptiles. Male no-see-ums are nectar feeders and do not bite. While the bite is not painful, it becomes very itchy. Some people get a red spot 1-2 inches wide! Try not to scratch the bites; it makes them itch longer and can make the bites get infected. No-see-um larvae (babies) can be found in water, mud, or moist dead leaves. They especially like to live in the dying plants along the edge of a salt marsh. The larvae eat dead plant and animal matter.
HOW CAN YOU AVOID NO-SEE-UM BITES? The best way to avoid getting bitten by no-see-ums is to wear insect repellent when you are outside in the spring, summer, and fall. Also, move quickly away from the areas where they’re swarming. If you get far enough away, they won’t follow you.
So, I was sitting on a lawn chair with my feet in the sand and drinking beer with a couple of my friends. It was really a perfect day, sun shining, sitting in the shade on the beaches of lake Ontario and playing some dumb drinking game that Erin made up. It was a great day. Then we had a nice little B-B-Q and called it a night. When I woke up in the morning I had the most severe itch on both of my feet. I was confused as to why that would be, so I pulled the cover back and discovered my feet had been bitten so severely that they were one giant red itchy mass. Pus bubbles to complete the picture.
Now, we had been drinking, even over indulging, but I was not so drunk that I would have let what looked like the entire mosquito population attack my feet.
I walked on my hands into Erin's bedroom, and she was so impressed by my skills as an acrobat that she temporarily forgot about the itch on her own feet. Okay, I didn't walk on my hands, and Erin wasn't impressed, but she did have the same pattern of bites on her feet and ankles.
I told her that it couldn't have been mosquitos, she agreed and used the word No-See-Ums. I admitted to never having heard of them (and thinking she was an idiot) so later that day when I returned home I did some research on the internet.
Turns out the little bastards live all over the place.
The worst part, there's nothing you can do to defend yourself. I don't know why it says if you find yourself in a swarm run, you can't see the damn things, and furthermore, all the bites were on my feet, so they weren't flying, they were walking in the damn sand.
RUN....meh, fuck you.
These little bitches drank my blood so they could spwan more of their nasty breed.
There is no reason to feel for a No-See-Um, they are scum that cannot be trusted.
Oh and my feet, well, they itched for a week, and I had to buy antihistamines to get the swelling to go down.
BURN NO-SEE-UMS.....BURN.
Some quick facts from pelotes.jea.com
WHAT IS A NO-SEE-UM? No-see-ums are tiny biting flies that often live near water. You often see many of themswarming together in a cloud. Keep your mouth shut or you might breathe some in or swallow them! (It won’t hurt you, but it will probably make you cough.) Biting midges are called no-see-ums because they’re so tiny that it is hard to see ‘um. No-see-ums are less than ¼ of an inch long.
WHERE DO NO-SEE-UMS LIVE? They often stay in shrubs or the thick layer of dead leaves that naturally covers the ground. Scrubbing your feet around in the leaves is a good way to get them stirred up. Don’t do it! Most no-see-ums never fly more than 350 feet from their breeding area, so if they’re bothering you, you might be able to get away from them by moving a few yards
WHY DO NO-SEE-UMS BITE? Only the females bite and suck blood. They need the protein in this blood to make their eggs. No-see-ums will take blood from mammals, birds, and reptiles. Male no-see-ums are nectar feeders and do not bite. While the bite is not painful, it becomes very itchy. Some people get a red spot 1-2 inches wide! Try not to scratch the bites; it makes them itch longer and can make the bites get infected. No-see-um larvae (babies) can be found in water, mud, or moist dead leaves. They especially like to live in the dying plants along the edge of a salt marsh. The larvae eat dead plant and animal matter.
HOW CAN YOU AVOID NO-SEE-UM BITES? The best way to avoid getting bitten by no-see-ums is to wear insect repellent when you are outside in the spring, summer, and fall. Also, move quickly away from the areas where they’re swarming. If you get far enough away, they won’t follow you.
So, I was sitting on a lawn chair with my feet in the sand and drinking beer with a couple of my friends. It was really a perfect day, sun shining, sitting in the shade on the beaches of lake Ontario and playing some dumb drinking game that Erin made up. It was a great day. Then we had a nice little B-B-Q and called it a night. When I woke up in the morning I had the most severe itch on both of my feet. I was confused as to why that would be, so I pulled the cover back and discovered my feet had been bitten so severely that they were one giant red itchy mass. Pus bubbles to complete the picture.
Now, we had been drinking, even over indulging, but I was not so drunk that I would have let what looked like the entire mosquito population attack my feet.
I walked on my hands into Erin's bedroom, and she was so impressed by my skills as an acrobat that she temporarily forgot about the itch on her own feet. Okay, I didn't walk on my hands, and Erin wasn't impressed, but she did have the same pattern of bites on her feet and ankles.
I told her that it couldn't have been mosquitos, she agreed and used the word No-See-Ums. I admitted to never having heard of them (and thinking she was an idiot) so later that day when I returned home I did some research on the internet.
Turns out the little bastards live all over the place.
The worst part, there's nothing you can do to defend yourself. I don't know why it says if you find yourself in a swarm run, you can't see the damn things, and furthermore, all the bites were on my feet, so they weren't flying, they were walking in the damn sand.
RUN....meh, fuck you.
These little bitches drank my blood so they could spwan more of their nasty breed.
There is no reason to feel for a No-See-Um, they are scum that cannot be trusted.
Oh and my feet, well, they itched for a week, and I had to buy antihistamines to get the swelling to go down.
BURN NO-SEE-UMS.....BURN.
posted by WllDance4Mussy | 5:55 PM
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