Chiggers are the larvae of harvest mites. Only the larvae cause discomfort to their hosts due to parasitism. Chiggers infest tall grasses and weeds, waiting for a host to pass by. Chiggers feed by injecting you with digestive enzymes. The enzymes help to dissolve tissue. Eventually, a feeding tube forms from the dissolved tissue, resulting in a straw-like apparatus known as a stylostome. It is the secretion of the enzymes that results in the symptoms you experience.
Instructions
1. Notice if you develop severe itching. Itching can begin three to six hours after being bitten and can last for more than a week.
2. Examine where the bites occurred. Chiggers prefer to bite you where clothing fits snugly against your skin. They can feed around the groin area, the bra line, behind your knees, around your feet and ankles or under your armpits.
3. Look at the type of welt left upon your skin. Mosquitoes can cause reddish raised welts, while chigger welts have a distinct whitened hard center.
4. Identify what are known as caps. After a chigger releases itself from your body, your body will try to get rid of the chigger's saliva by dissolving the feeding tube. This results in fluids oozing from the wound, forming the caps.
5. Fevers develop as an allergic response.
Look for the development of fever, which some affected individuals experience after being bitten by a chigger.
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