Excuse my absence. I’ve been away—scratching. After almost two decades of living in northern climes, I confess that I had forgotten those tiny microscopic red devils known as chiggers. Now, I remember.
The occasion for contracting chigger bites—a reminder of sleepless nights as a five-year old—was venturing into the “back forty.” Our property is very deep, and up to now we have concentrated our landscaping on the more prominent (and visible) front side of the property. I wanted, however, to get started on a vegetable garden so that I could be ready to plant a fall garden once the heat of summer has passed. So I ventured out to the back and began work on one of the raised beds that will make up the garden. That night in bed I realized I had made a terrible mistake in wandering around the tall grass and weeds in the back. Chigger bites are miserable.
The best article I ever found describing the ravage of chiggers (and dispelling some of the myths) was in the Missouri Conservationist magazine (the source of the delightful image) many years ago while we were living in Kansas City. Since this article appeared long before the internet was established, I had no hope of finding it again, but when I googled “chiggers,” the MDC piece was one of the first “hits.” Obviously, others have found that article useful as well, for it has re-appeared not only in the magazine but now in digital form.
One of the best aspects of that article (with this simple address):
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/images/chig2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/&usg=__8IL0NI5OM4J8H3sNOiyDcIytRUU=&h=284&w=300&sz=32&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=EGkfXsEwU7qcvM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchiggers%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
is that it dispels myths about chiggers that people in 2009 still cite with total confidence—such as the way to “kill” the chigger attacking you is to paint over the spot with clear nail polish to smother the insect. In fact, chiggers are not insects but the larval stage of a mite—hence an arachnid. They do not suck blood even though they are red. What they do, however, is ingenious—if it didn’t cause such discomfort. In fact the bite itself is not the cause of the itch. The chigger attaches itself and injects its saliva into the host. This saliva has a powerful digestive enzyme that destroys the skin cells in the vicinity and turns them liquid. These dead cells are the diet of the chigger. And how does the little bugger get the dead cells out? It seems that the human body reacts to the enzyme by hardening the cells on all sides of the saliva path, creating a straw (scientific name stylostome). The chigger proceeds to suck up the dead cells through his little straw. It is this stylostome that irritates the surrounding tissue and causes the intense itch.
When I was young, the preferred chigger deterrent was sulfur—plain old sulfur, the element. I despaired in our age of advanced chemistry to find something as simple as the element sulfur for sale, but, lo and behold! I found a bag of sulfur at a feed and seed store. For my next visit to the back forty, I liberally dusted my feet and legs against chiggers, and, much to my relief, returned—a little smelly, but with no new bites.
The occasion for contracting chigger bites—a reminder of sleepless nights as a five-year old—was venturing into the “back forty.” Our property is very deep, and up to now we have concentrated our landscaping on the more prominent (and visible) front side of the property. I wanted, however, to get started on a vegetable garden so that I could be ready to plant a fall garden once the heat of summer has passed. So I ventured out to the back and began work on one of the raised beds that will make up the garden. That night in bed I realized I had made a terrible mistake in wandering around the tall grass and weeds in the back. Chigger bites are miserable.
The best article I ever found describing the ravage of chiggers (and dispelling some of the myths) was in the Missouri Conservationist magazine (the source of the delightful image) many years ago while we were living in Kansas City. Since this article appeared long before the internet was established, I had no hope of finding it again, but when I googled “chiggers,” the MDC piece was one of the first “hits.” Obviously, others have found that article useful as well, for it has re-appeared not only in the magazine but now in digital form.
One of the best aspects of that article (with this simple address):
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/images/chig2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/arthopo/chiggers/&usg=__8IL0NI5OM4J8H3sNOiyDcIytRUU=&h=284&w=300&sz=32&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=EGkfXsEwU7qcvM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchiggers%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
is that it dispels myths about chiggers that people in 2009 still cite with total confidence—such as the way to “kill” the chigger attacking you is to paint over the spot with clear nail polish to smother the insect. In fact, chiggers are not insects but the larval stage of a mite—hence an arachnid. They do not suck blood even though they are red. What they do, however, is ingenious—if it didn’t cause such discomfort. In fact the bite itself is not the cause of the itch. The chigger attaches itself and injects its saliva into the host. This saliva has a powerful digestive enzyme that destroys the skin cells in the vicinity and turns them liquid. These dead cells are the diet of the chigger. And how does the little bugger get the dead cells out? It seems that the human body reacts to the enzyme by hardening the cells on all sides of the saliva path, creating a straw (scientific name stylostome). The chigger proceeds to suck up the dead cells through his little straw. It is this stylostome that irritates the surrounding tissue and causes the intense itch.
When I was young, the preferred chigger deterrent was sulfur—plain old sulfur, the element. I despaired in our age of advanced chemistry to find something as simple as the element sulfur for sale, but, lo and behold! I found a bag of sulfur at a feed and seed store. For my next visit to the back forty, I liberally dusted my feet and legs against chiggers, and, much to my relief, returned—a little smelly, but with no new bites.
1 comment:
Never had the displeasure although I have read about them in many novels. Yuck!
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