What's biting me?

VoucherMan

Not sure best place to ask. Hoping the old style collective may have some ideas.

I keep getting bitten by some unknown (insect?).
The bites are usually in pairs about 1 to 1½ inches apart. They were mostly on my upper back although more recently seem to have moved to neck / shoulders (possibly the additional clothing I'm wearing stops it/them getting any further). Only once, that I can remember, been bitten on my leg.

The bites don't really itch but I'm a habitual scratcher & if I come across a blemish on the skin I tend to scratch it without even thinking about it. Consequently the bite marks can last for weeks. Left alone they clear up in a few days.

They don't seem to happen very often. Maybe once a week, although this week I've noticed two new pairs of bites.

My first thought was bedbugs but I've not found any trace to confirm this. The bedding is white, or pale cream, so any marks on it would stand out. I've checked all the mattress seams and generally pulled the bed apart looking for and evidence of them. Similarly with the settee. No marks or signs of bugs dead or alive. I've taken all the cushions off & checked them. Turned the settee upside down to check it.

I've two cats who picked up some fleas earlier in the year but these are long since gone. Regular treatment of the cats and spraying the whole house with flea spray has left it happily flea free.



With the evidence in the above small essay any suggestions on what the pests could be? Until I can work out the cause I can't decide on the best way to cure it.

I still haven't ruled out bedbugs. I'm going to try a couple of preventative methods on the settee & bed in case there are bugs living away and just visiting for supper. I've ordered some Diatomaceous Earth to spread around the base and plan to get some Vaseline substitute to spread on the legs.

I've also ordered a can of insect killer that gets quite good reviews, but may still not be suitable for whatever's attacking me.

lally666young

sadly cats's fleas eggs can still survive the sprays, we use a bomb which is more effective. It sounds like cat fleas.

Helen2k8

I still have loitering mosquitoes, and the females are the ones that feed and they *don't* have the whiny buzz so you might not spot them?

meritaten

Whatever the culprit is, a 'smoke bomb' is very likely to get rid of it!
bed bugs usually only leave one bite hole - if its a pair its unlikely to be either bed bugs or fleas! Spiders sometimes leave two 'fang' marks but to bitten so much and regularly would, I think, be unusual. Mystery eh?
If you are using 'Acclaim' then it should be effective against most insects! Frontline is 'aimed' at fleas and may not work against bedbugs (which are tough little bu99ers) or other insects.

jfdi

You checked the mattress - did you check pillows (as the bites are upper body) ?

Helen2k8

Anything in the garden as opposed to indoors?

adonis

What about this







Sorry VoucherMan I couldn't resist with Halloween coming up;)

VoucherMan

Thanks for comments / suggestions.

In reply-

lally666young wrote: »

sadly cats's fleas eggs can still survive the sprays, we use a bomb which is more effective. It sounds like cat fleas.

While I agree there may still be eggs that I've missed I'm hoping that treating the house with Acclaim together with regular Frontline treatment will stop them making a comeback.
As for the bites, the fleas tended to hop onto my legs most of the time. I used to catch them & drown them. The current attacks aren't really in flea territory.

Helen2k8 wrote: »

I still have loitering mosquitoes, and the females are the ones that feed and they *don't* have the whiny buzz so you might not spot them?

Never had many mozzies around here. Plus the bite patterns seem too regular.

meritaten wrote: »

Whatever the culprit is, a 'smoke bomb' is very likely to get rid of it!

I'll keep it in mind but I'd want to identify the creatures first.

meritaten wrote: »

bed bugs usually only leave one bite hole - if its a pair its unlikely to be either bed bugs or fleas!

Some of the articles I've read claim the bedbugs often have 3 bites 'breakfast, lunch & dinner'

meritaten wrote: »

Spiders sometimes leave two 'fang' marks

I like spiders but these bites are usually over an inch apart. If there's a spider with fangs that big in the house then I'm moving out .:eek:

jfdi wrote: »

You checked the mattress - did you check pillows (as the bites are upper body) ?

I did take the pillows out of the case for a look. They're as clean as the rest of the bed. There's likely to be a few resident dust mites, but nowhere for bedbugs to hide.

Helen2k8 wrote: »

Anything in the garden as opposed to indoors?

No garden just a small yard. Can't think of anything that would bite though.

adonis wrote: »

What about this

I think the fang spacing may be about right but the bites are towards the back of my neck, nowhere near the jugular.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Any chance of a photo of said bites?

liana_y2kuk

My OH has had about 10 of these "double bites" over the last couple of months. We ended up working out that they were female mosquitoes.
Mainly due to the fact that he is alergic to these and his bites blew up like balloons. Also because the covered alley next to our house was full of them. He had been walking through this, in the dark, not seeing the little monsters. Since he has not been doing this and Ive been talking the bins out though the alley he has been fine. Mosquitoes have never been interested in biting me, so I don't have a problem using mossy alley. No idea why they bit in twos though. Maybe they don't like to dine alone.

Justamum

Re mozzie bites, when I first moved to Africa I was bitten like mad. Someone I worked with told me it was because I had sweet blood - I was drinking at least one 2 litre bottle of fizzy drink every day because of the heat! I stopped drinking it and stopped being bitten.