Insect Bites – ID Help
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Written by Jim on August 3rd, 2007 with
605 comments.
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Yesterday I woke up with a red bite on the back of my arm. It appeared to be a mosquito bite, it was small and itched. This morning the swelling and itching increased and I noticed it was slightly wet. A picture is shown below:
When I was able to get a better look at it I noticed it had two fang marks and it was oozing a clear pus that seemed to have the tint of blood in it. The swollen area around the bite is larger than a penny. I live in MS and with the heat and humidity here spiders are everywhere.
I can say that I have had to kill a few black widows in our garage and we have killed several spiders in our home lately. I have tried to take a couple of pictures and I am attaching them to this email. Any info you can provide would be appreciated.
I’m Diana and i live in Calgary, Ab, Canada
A few friends and I fell asleep in the park located across from my house during a picnic (no we weren’t partying it was like 4pm). I woke up once to find a small grey-ish black-ish spider on the sleeve of the sweater that i was using as a pillow.
I became a bit scared because i really don’t like spiders but, so i just flicked it away and went back to sleep. The next morning i woke up and noticed a red splotch close to my knee but just ignored it, i just assumed it was a mosquito bite
The following day i noticed two more red splotches, one higher up on my thigh and one closer to the back of my leg well that was on Monday – Wednesday and now it’s Thursday and they have all become bumpy, inflamed, and swollen.
It has become hard for me to walk because there is a pain in my left thigh as if the bites had some effect on my muscle the bites are SUPER sensitive, they get immensely painful at even a gentle touch and randomly they start pulsing painfully.
I don’t know what bit me because i thought spider bites looked different but they are starting to turn a dark red, almost purple (note: the bites are similar to ‘Hilary C’ Response #41, but they are in more of a cluster and look more like goosebumps).
does anyone know if this is common for a spider bite or to any other bite?
my mom said it was bed bugs but i just assumed that i would have had more bites by now seen as though it has been 3 days now.
Thanks for helping.
-Diana
what do you think bite me?
It’s very itchy other than that it doesn’t really bother me.. The red area is kinda hard though the area around the red was swollen but it went down… I’ve been taking benadryl and putting anti itch creme on it.
Its on the back of my calf.
Hello,
I’m hoping that you can help me. For the past couple of weeks my daughter has been getting eaten alive by something at night. I talked to a pediatrician who said that it looked like a spider bite because there were two entry wounds.
I’ve attached a couple of pictures of the bites below.
The strange thing is that they are mostly along her waist, like where her pants would hit. We’ve washed all of her blankets, sheets, I haven’t seen any spiders in her room, and we haven’t been on any trips to hotels/motels lately. Clearly she is having a bad reaction to what is biting her, because they swell up and itch.
I’m trying to figure out if it is a spider, and if so do you think it could be the same one coming back night after night? Or could it be something else, like bed bugs, mites, etc.? Help! She actually had two a few new ones that showed up after her nap today, so not just at night!
Any ideas? We live in northern California, near San Jose, if that matters.
Thanks so much,
Melinda
Hello,
I had a nap, woke up with this bite in the crook of my elbow. Any ideas as to what got me? The bite has two small holes, red but not really swollen or itchy.
I’m in Nova Scotia, Canada in an apartment building in the city. No indications of bedbug infestation. I do have cats, but they are flea free.
Any and all comments welcome.
Thank you in advance,
- Heather
Hello,
A few days ago something bit me . I am so scared. It is red and itches a lot.
I have not been scratching it. Anyone know what this is? Should I go
to the doctor? I’ve included a picture below:
My friend said it looked like a boil.
Thanks
Anjela
Hello,
I was down near the beach this weekend and woke up yesterday with this. It looked a lot worse yesterday and hurt to the touch. It doesn’t hurt as much today, but I feel kinda weird and was thinking about going to the doctor. Does this look bad to you?
Thanks for your help,
Steven
I am have a migraine headache am nauseated. I felt it bite me as I was crawling into bed I was in SC for vacation. it has been at least 48 hrs now since I was bitten. A picture is shown below:
I went to the ER as it looked like a black widow bite (saw pictures on line of them) the ER did not take it serious gave me nausea medication however I went for a second opinion the pharmacy sugested a primary doctor she took a sample gave me antibiotic cream and stated it looked like a staff infection what do you think ? it is white in the center.
I don’t know what i got bit by but it has three bite holes almost triangular in shape and the whole thing looks like one big brown bruise please help???
Hello All,
I am submitting this picture. I live in New Jersey and was doing a lot of yard work yesterday-mowing-cutting shrubs etc.. This morning I had a bit of pain on my right breast- when I felt it I got scared because I felt a very apparent lump.
When I examined it there is a large red -some sort of bite mark. I did not feel anything bite me and it does not itch-but it is swollen and red with a bit of a yellow color center. It is extremely hard when you touch it and about the size of a quarter already. Does anyone have any idea as to what type of bite this may be.
Thanks
Hi,my wife was bitten last night(I think by a spider).I need to identify species.
Infected Area:Round with red streaks running from middle.Looks like venom flowing threw veins.
Almost looks like a spider under her skin. very weird.
Thanks,
Nichol Visser
Cape Town,South Africa
I don’t have any pictures of the bite and i am not really sure that it is even a bite, but it showed up the other day after i woke up and it is getting worse. It is about the size of a quarter and has a red ring around it, a red dot in the center of it and in between the two rings it looks greenish in color.
Dear All,
Since 2-3 days ago, I feel my legs so thight and hurt in the middle, front part of my legs is hurt too, the color is red and if you push, feel soft, but the skin and muscle thight, and my legs are getting bigger and bigger, swollen and now have bumps.
I tried hot lotion, but it didn’t really work, I am really worried and as I read the stories of others, I think my case is almost like that of case #223 – Justin Cas, so could you please help me Justin, if you already had success in curing your legs, or if anyone else has information on how to cure my problem, please let me know.
Thank you so much.
Regards, Olivia
My name is Connie, my husband has been getting bit like crazy all over his back and now legs.It looks alot like picture #41. We live in Vernal, Utah. we have tried flea and tick treatments, Gold bond itch relief spray, the pharmacy man sugested wash his skin in lice shampoo. Nothing has worked so far. I would be thankful if anyone could send me information or sugestions. Thank you.
hello,
i woke one morning to find two little holes on my hip. i didn’t really think anything of it, but during the day it was so itchy. the next morning i saw that it had spread to about a size of a quater and it looked like a little rash. i had little red bumps everywhere in the size of a quarter and was really itchy.
please help me find out what kind of bug this could be from.
thank you for your time
Caila,
Palmdale, CA
After I showered this morning, I noticed a red bite on my leg. It looks like three small punctures (like dots) that are very deep red and the area around it is a lighter red. The three punctures are very close together. It itches and there is no swelling. It is not even raised above the skin. I mowed yesterday and deer flies were buzzing around so I was wondering if that is what it might be. Can you help? thank you.
We live in Southeast Florida. Jun 10 ‘08 I knocked a wispy black insect off of my hand about 11am. At 11:20 I reached for a can in the back of our under-sink cabinet. A couple of minutes after that my hand hurt. I looked down to see a 2″ long by 1″ wide portion on the back of my hand swollen up (about 1/3″!) and BLUE, and it seemed firm. It looked like a hideous bruise, but I had not hit it – it was all due to the bite(?) reaction. The swollen spot was already noticeably painful, but over the next 5-10 minutes got a lot more painful (& burning?), then the level of pain went back down. No problems with breathing, tongue swelling, dizziness, etc.
I saw an allergist/immunologist at 1:30pm that day. By then some of the swelling’s height had come down, but the blue section had spread over more of the back of my hand. Doc said he didn’t know what bit me, but prescribed prednisone pills (40 mg./day) for 3 – 4 days to bring the swelling down. Still hurt to the touch that night. Overnight dusky, dark red blotches started appearing in a line from the bump on outside edge of wrist to just past the big knuckles. By next day (6/12) those splotches have turned into a continuous field of dusky, dark red. By now the blue coloration (that looks like a bruise but isn’t) covers a 5-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ area & the dark red is on top of it. (note: I had an I.V. in the back of that hand on 6/6, but the pain, swelling, & discoloration came on VERY suddenly right after reaching inside the under-sink cabinet). I didn’t feel a bite then (tho I suspect the flimsy black insect that I brushed off my hand at 11:00 may have).
I see what I’m guessing is the I.V. puncture spot (from 6 days ago now) on the back of my hand, but don’t really notice any other holes/bite marks, & I don’t see any white ring encircling that blue & red areas. I’m sending in a picture as of about 53 hours after the initial pain, swelling & blue coloration. I’ve NEVER had a reaction like this before. It’s really freaky to suddenly have part of my hand swell & turn blue & painful like that, & now continue to morph into different discolorations. I have really dry skin anyway, but don’t see any blisters at this time. Can anyone give me some insight into what the heck happened & what I should do about it? I’d appreciate it. This is very unsettling.
6/16/08
This morning my 20 month old daughter got up with a red dot on her head.Looked like a zit. ( She did wake up during the night screaming, but she was fine once I got her & let her sleep with me.) As the day went on , the zit” began to swell.
I’ve enclosed photo to show, it almost looks like she was growing a horn in the middle of her eyes & forhead. It is warm to the touch & it is VERY HARD! I notice her right eye was swelling and as the day went on it looked as if the left eye was beginning to swell. Her eye looks somewhat bruised, although the “bite” is actually on her forehead.
Has anyone seen this before? Any idea? I’m going to take her to the doc in the morning if it is still swelling.
for number 39, jill b, go see a dermatologist when you get a chance. they have ointments there for that kind of thing
dear #47 elizabeth, if the pattern of the bites are close together, then it could very well be bed bugs. and even though the mattress is only a year old, bud bugs can live in anything from cracked furniture to pillows and even telephones. also in dresser drawers and baseboards, under rugs and egdes of the carpet, and also between couch cushions and chairs. try looking for little blood spots on his mattress around the edge, also on his pillows and drawers. note: i am not a doctor but have dealt with this before. if i can find pics ill post them
I noticed this bite Friday evening. It started out looking like a large mosquito bite. Now it looks more like a bruise. I don’t see a defined center hole/bite like all other spider bites and I have no other symptoms. Should I seek medical attention?
Hello,
recently, my little brother was bite by something that we think is a spider bite. It started out as a small bubble, but it felt pretty hard. When we took him to the doctor’s office, the doctor himself couldn’t ID it himself. On the way home, the bubble popped, and some wet fluid came out.
It’s three days after the bite, 1 after it popped, and it’s back. It’s a bubble again, and now there’s a single red line next to it. Can anyone please ID it for me? Don’t want it to worsen.
hi. i got a bite about a week ago, and it is on my knuckle. everyone including myself thought it was a spider bite. about four days ago, instead of being one big bump, it had multipled to three. the next day it was still three, but one of the bumps had moved. yesterday it was six bumps, and this morning it id four large bumps, all localized at my knuckle. does anyone know what this is?
i don’t have a picture, but they look like misquito bites (except the largest, which looks like a semi-rectangular welt). they itch me occasionally, and do not seem to be getting better. any ideas? ALL HELP IS APPRECIATED.
today i’ve been bitten by a really small, flea-like insect. it hurt a lot, and i can’t feel my hand where it was bitten. i didn’t think too much of it when i pinched the yellow bug between my fingernails, but now i regret it.
i’ve been feeling extremely light headed, almost as if i were going to pass out / faint. and i don’t know if it’s just a coincidence or not, but i’ve also gotten the feeling of being high? kind of. there is a very small mark where the bug bit me, but it doesn’t look bad at all. i’m beginning to think it may be poisonous? please help.
I need help identifying these bites. I woke up about 4 days ago with these bites. They got pretty swollen. The swelling has since been replaced with what you see in the picture. It looks bruised and is pretty painful. Feels like someone is stabbing me with needles all day and is worse when i press on them. They still itch, but burn when i scratch them, so i avoid that.
It’s on my back and covers an area of about 2.5 inches x 1.5 inches.
Any clues? Please help!
Everyone keeps saying it’s a mosquito bite. I went to the doc about 3 days ago, and he put me on antibiotics & Claritin. What do you think by looking at the pictures.
Thanks
Dionna
I am a “survivor” of a Brown Recluse Spider bite. I was bitten July 4, 1984 at the beach on Long Island, New York. I did not notice anything wrong until the morning of July 6. I thought I had an abnormally itchy bug bite on my calf, nothing more. By that evening my leg was very swelled. Still, I was not that concerned. By the morning of July 7 my leg was huge, dark purple, and I had an ulcer at the bite site. I was in agony, could not walk, and was rushed to the emergency room. They did not know what it was; I was given antibiotics and told to soak and elevate my leg. I visited a dermatologist the following week, and that also did not work out well. Finally I went to a general practitioner. Luckily, he was familiar with BRS bites and immediately identified my bite as one (I had never heard of the spider before, but later my uncle told me that they are commonly known as Fiddleback spiders.) The doctor gave me anti-venom and told me not to elevate my leg or move around too much. It took a while, and I had a scar for a long time, but I healed fine and after 24 years the spot is now only a shadow.
This is my next chapter. I got bit by something on Sunday while I was standing on the deck at our weekend house. I felt a sharp bite on my leg. I think it bit me through my jeans, high up on my right thigh on the outside of my leg. I suspect it was one of those mean flies we have there but I am not sure. (I see from searching that there is something called the “Blandford Fly” with a bite that has strangely similar symptoms but those are only found [supposedly] in the UK). There was no blood and the bite is tiny. My husband thought maybe it was a bee since one of the dogs was stung earlier in the day, but it didn’t hurt like a bee sting. I went inside and pulled down my pants and it looked terrible within minutes. There was no tick attached or anything like that. I shook my pants out and couldn’t find any bugs. By late that night when we were back at our weekday house it was just awful, about 4″ across and very red. Not a bull’s eye, a dark, solid red circle.
I had to be on campus Monday and had forgotten my insurance card at home so couldn’t go to one of those urgent care places (there is one right next to campus), but I was kind of worried all day. Monday night I put baking soda and cortisone cream on it and thought it looked OK, maybe even a bit better so I stopped worrying. By yesterday afternoon the redness and swelling had traveled to my groin and I freaked.
So I went to the doctor, she said it could be any type of bug but they suspect a spider, although probably not a poisonous one like last time. (She said they do get a growing number of people in recent years who have been bitten by brown recluse spiders, though, which is interesting, since years ago when I was bitten and even more recently doctors deny BRS are found in New York.) She also said it doesn’t have the characteristics of a tick bite, which I already knew, since Lyme Disease is rampant around here and pretty much everyone is aware of the symptoms. I still think it was a flying insect that bit me through my jeans because I’m pretty sure I would have seen a spider inside or outside of my pants.
Anyway, I am on keflex. When I got to Rite Aid to get my prescription, the pharmacist came out and had one of those counseling sessions. I mean a real one, not just one they make you sign off on. He asked me about my penicillin allergy. He said there is a 5% chance I will react to keflex since it is related. I don’t think I have ever had keflex before, at least not as far as I can remember. He said if I get a rash I should stop taking it immediately. I laughed because a rash is what I am taking it for!! But a friend of mine told me to take that very seriously, because the 5% is too much of a softball, and the reaction could be delayed, or more serious. (Great, so now I have something else to worry about.)
The picture was taken 6/24. It is about 5″ across. Considering how it looks, it only itches and hurts a little. It is also a bit hot. Too bad there were no digital pictures in 1984! No one would believe this, but the Brown Recluse bite was much, much worse!
Anyone have any idea what kind of bug did this?
Dionna (#326):
My husband was bitten by a mosquito a few years ago on his ankle and the swelling did look something like your pictures. It was a few days before he went to the doctor, and it traveled up his leg a bit. He also had an opening in his skin where they bite was, probably because he tends to scratch until it bleeds. He was bitten by a mosquito, scratched it, and then had gone tubing in a creek, and scratched some more. I believe he and the doctor thought that all contributed to him getting severe cellulitis. His treatment was three days of outpatient IV antibiotics, which worked well.
My daughter was bit by an unidentified insect. Initially it looked like a small pimple and the next day it increase to a dime size and now its the size of a quarter and vey hard at the sight of the pimple and a redoval ring around it about 3-4 inches across. I took her to the doctor and was give antibiotic cream to apply but it still has me extremely worried. She’s freaking out saying it hurts terribly and she is only four years old so it’s hard to get good answers of how she is feeling cause all she does is cry. I am a wreck and need a clue as to what might have caused it.
Tiffany-california
Please help! I live in South Florida, have three pets and have been experiencing bites I attributed to a bad flea infestation. I have bombed and treated animals. Dog is still very itchy. So am I. The bites on me have occured mostly around my bikini line and bra strap areas. Also near armpits and on my hands, though not as much. I have had the bugs actually trapped under a piece of clothing and could feel it biting repeatedly. At first, looking for fleas, I saw nothing.
But recently, I have found two nearly microscopic bugs that are the culprits. I was not smart enough to preserve these specimen and they would be impossible to photograph. The only reason I even noticed the specs was because there was movement near the area where I was bitten. They are smaller than a grain of sand or flake of black pepper. I’ve looked up bed bugs and the size seems all wrong, also there are no indications on my sheets of their feces. Can you give me hints as to what these could be? Ive called my exterminator and local Dr- both say our island has a bed bug problem occasionally, but I really don’t think this is the case?! Thanks!!!
#312: Your description sounds like the classic bull’s eye rash from a tick bite. I would get tested for Lyme disease if I were you. If it is positive, the sooner you get on doxycycline, the better, and if it is negative, no harm done.
I was bitten on June 24th, 2008 on my right leg while watering the grass. It hurt just like a bite originally, but began to swell within the first hour. I tried Benadryl creme and pills, ice and elevated it, but by the morning it was the size of a silver dollar. I worked on it(I’m a nurse) on Wendsday, but it continued to swell and is now the size of a large softball with a hard red center.
I went to the ER today, spent about 4 hours there, was told it was cellulitis, no kidding…started on Keflex, even though it does not cover MRSA, which I am exposed to everyday….and was told to come back in a day or two if it is not better or worse, so they can lance it and change abx.
I am having trouble walking on it and it is bigger than my hand at this point, so we will see how it looks tomorrow. I tried baking soda and water paste, hydrocortisone,abx ointment, allergy meds, rest, motrin…no results. Any Ideas let me know…Thanks
I am a “survivor” of a Brown Recluse Spider bite. I was bitten July 4, 1984 at the beach on Long Island, New York. I did not notice anything wrong until the morning of July 6. I thought I had an abnormally itchy bug bite on my calf, nothing more. By that evening my leg was very swelled. Still, I was not that concerned. By the morning of July 7 my leg was huge, dark purple, and I had an ulcer at the bite site. I was in agony, could not walk, and was rushed to the emergency room. They did not know what it was; I was given antibiotics and told to soak and elevate my leg. I visited a dermatologist the following week, and that also did not work out well. Finally I went to a general practitioner. Luckily, he was familiar with BRS bites and immediately identified my bite as one (I had never heard of the spider before, but later my uncle told me that they are commonly known as Fiddleback spiders.) The doctor gave me anti-venom and told me not to elevate my leg or move around too much. It took a while, and I had a scar for a long time, but I healed fine and after 24 years the spot is now only a shadow.
This is my next chapter. I got bit by something on Sunday while I was standing on the deck at our weekend house. I felt a sharp bite on my leg. I think it bit me through my jeans, high up on my right thigh on the outside of my leg. I suspect it was one of those mean flies we have there but I am not sure. (I see from searching that there is something called the “Blandford Fly” with a bite that has strangely similar symptoms but those are only found [supposedly] in the UK). There was no blood and the bite is tiny. My husband thought maybe it was a bee since one of the dogs was stung earlier in the day, but it didn’t hurt like a bee sting. I went inside and pulled down my pants and it looked terrible within minutes. There was no tick attached or anything like that. I shook my pants out and couldn’t find any bugs. By late that night when we were back at our weekday house it was just awful, about 4″ across and very red. Not a bull’s eye, a dark, solid red circle.
I had to be on campus Monday and had forgotten my insurance card at home so couldn’t go to one of those urgent care places (there is one right next to campus), but I was kind of worried all day. Monday night I put baking soda and cortisone cream on it and thought it looked OK, maybe even a bit better so I stopped worrying. By yesterday afternoon the redness and swelling had traveled to my groin and I freaked.
So I went to the doctor, she said it could be any type of bug but they suspect a spider, although probably not a poisonous one like last time. (She said they do get a growing number of people in recent years who have been bitten by brown recluse spiders, though, which is interesting, since years ago when I was bitten and even more recently doctors deny BRS are found in New York.) She also said it doesn’t have the characteristics of a tick bite, which I already knew, since Lyme Disease is rampant around here and pretty much everyone is aware of the symptoms. I still think it was a flying insect that bit me through my jeans because I’m pretty sure I would have seen a spider inside or outside of my pants.
Anyway, I am on keflex. When I got to Rite Aid to get my prescription, the pharmacist came out and had one of those counseling sessions. I mean a real one, not just one they make you sign off on. He asked me about my penicillin allergy. He said there is a 5% chance I will react to keflex since it is related. I don’t think I have ever had keflex before, at least not as far as I can remember. He said if I get a rash I should stop taking it immediately. I laughed because a rash is what I am taking it for!! But a friend of mine told me to take that very seriously, because the 5% is too much of a softball, and the reaction could be delayed, or more serious. (Great, so now I have something else to worry about.)
The picture was taken 6/24. It is about 5″ across. Considering how it looks, it only itches and hurts a little. It is also a bit hot. Too bad there were no digital pictures in 1984! No one would believe this, but the Brown Recluse bite was much, much worse!
Anyone have any idea what kind of bug did this?
–Gina
Number 92 looks like my daughter’s bite. We live in NH. How do I discover, on this page, what the advice or response is to these pictures? There doesn’t seem to be an answer to everyone’s inquiries or pictures. thanks.
Hello, I’ve been searching the web and found this site-I’m hoping someone here may possibly be able to answer my question. Is it possible that I could have been bitten on the roof of my mouth by a spider last night in my sleep??? I woke up this morning feeling numbness and a bump on the front right roof of my mouth. I assumed I just slept with my tongue in a weird position (?). As the day progressed the bump got bigger and started to feel blister-ish…as if it needed to pop. It grew bigger and more uncomfortable so I took a sterilized needle and popped it, clear fluid came out and the bump went down. Now a few hours later it is filling back up again, which leads me here.
Earlier today I found a different site about people who ate crunchy foods before going to sleep and waking up with blisters in their mouths but the majority say they are small blisters. Mine (I can’t see it in the mirror because of its position) seems to be the size of, say a small lima bean and does not seem to be the same as what they were talking about. Taking a picture would be impossible. ..
This site is the first one that I’ve come across where someone popped a blister and it filled back up again. It totally creeps me out to think that I had been invaded by, and possibly swallowed a spider! Has this happened to anyone else?
Thanks for ‘listening’.
Patti
here some info on what happen to me. I was helping a friend in here gargage and we were on the floor coloring fake here, when we went back in the house i felt something on the lower part of my leg. I started stomping my leg. when got home i felt this burning, tight feeling on my chin. it was a small red pimple and just the touch hurt so bad. the next day it started speading i was freaking out, but it had a small opening which i thought it was a black head or ingrown hair. this was not normal and this was something strange to my body so because if that i went to the ER. when something that quick start on your body run to the ER
#332 update. The keflex works!!!! I guess it was just staph or strep, even though the infection control md at the hospital said the ER should lance it and run cultures, and at the very least, put me on Clindamyacin for MRSA. I did not want to do that since if you have an open, draining wound, I can’t work at the hospital….
Anyway, it is so much better, still lacey red and hard in the middle, but only silver dollar size and the outside redness and swelling seems to really decreased. The pain is gone as well.
For Gina #333 I hope the Keflex works for you too since your bite looks very similar to what mine looked like the 1st day. Pretty sure it was a fire ant that bit me and scratching introduced staph or strep from my own skin into the bite and cellulitus was the results.
Veronica
I have this one bite on my arm that had a black thing in the middle that I’m pretty sure was not a scab, i scraped it off because I thought maybe it was a tick head, but I dont know. it’s itchy. a few days later on the same arm, I got these little black and blue marks. I thought they were bruises but they developed into an itchy read bumpy rash. I’ll mail you the pictures, any help with ID would be appreciated.
Hi,i have a bite that looks like a mosquito bite, the the sore spot around it is about 1 inch diameter, It itches, and its on the back of my knee.
Any Help?
Veronica (#337): Thanks – I didn’t scratch (it really wasn’t itchy) and there was no improvement until Saturday 6/28 (6 days after bite, 4 days after starting keflex). But it it much, much better at this point (6/30) so the keflex must be working.
I am finding keflex difficult to tolerate, but since it worked I will suffer through it for the full ten days. I went swimming (in a baquicil pool) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday so maybe that helped too. I still think it was a black fly, not a spider (and certainly not a brown recluse spider), but everyone who sees it has a different opinion.
my two year old g-child has a red lump on the arm, it is hot to the touch and feels hard at the center and about the size of a nickel. but it does not have any blistering-yet. she cant talk much, but she is not scrachinng it and does not appear to bother her, should i be concerned?
Hi not sure what you can tell from this pic…its the best I can get with cell.
2 weeks ago at a cookout I got insect bites, don’t know what kind. I was in maplewood, NJ.
They were just regular itchy and swelled enough to send me home to take benadryl.Bites that I noticed were on my finger and arm.
The next day I noticed there were some on my right leg in the thigh area.
The bites on my arm and finger have long gone away. The 8 on my thigh (all the right leg) remained there swollen.
Yesterday I noticed the one was a little bigger than a susan b. anthony and began to itch. Today its warm and a little painful.
What could have bit me?
I have been cleaning it with alcohol, no stinging…so its not open and then applying the hydocortisone cream OTC.
I can’t see that there is a puncture.
Please help, best you can.
Thanks
Eric M (248)
That’s a snake bite. Look at how far apart the fang marks are. To me it looks like a non poisonous bite. I’ve studied herpetology for the past 8 years. Probably just a garden snake or a small boa. Since there’s nothing to me that shows any poison was injected.
I noticed while showering today that I had on my right bicep what looked to be an ingrown hair starting. However, I’ve had over 8 spider bites in my life. All of which have required either a trip to the doctors, prompt care or emergency room.
Heres my advice:
If you see something that wasn’t there last night: put a circle around it. Grab an ink pen, marker or anything. Put a circle around it and check on it throughout the day. This can help you tell if it is growing or not.
Identifying what bit you can be difficult. I AM NOT a doctor. But since I’ve been bitten enough times I’ve come to study what types of spiders leave what types of marks on their prey.
A crib spider will leave you a mark similar to that of the brown recluese. It will appear as though it is an ingrown hair, with a red area around it. The red area will continue to grow and grow. But that’s pretty much the extent of it. I got bit by a crib spider when I was 6. It bit me on my left thigh. By the time I got treated it’s circumference was around 12 inches. I had to go to the doctor for anitbiotics.
A wolf spider will also leave a marking like that.
Although it is slated that brown recluese spiders have the circular markings, they don’t always.
Around 10 years ago I was bitten by a brown recluese. I know this because it woke me up. I immediately put my hand around the area and held it there until I got my mom to run into my room and turn the light on. She grabbed the digital camera off my nightstand and took a picture of the spider before I smashed it. I didn’t know whether or not it injected anything into me. So i went back to sleep. I woke up to the tell tale sign of an “ingrown hair”. I put a circle around it. I continued on with my day and saw that it was growing, but not in a circle. I went out to eat with my family and then to the movies. By the time the movie was out (around 7:30-8pm) the red mark had moved up my arm, traveling the same path my vein is.
I went to the emergency room and was treated with IV Anti-syrum for recluese. By the time I was treated though (our ER is slow as heck and it takes no less than 6hrs to be seen) the venom had traveled all the way up my arm, up the left side of my neck and was on my left cheek.
If I would have waited longer it would have gone to my brain and caused tissue damage.
So just make sure things that look out of the normal get taken care of.
my right foot is welled badly. there is clear stuff coming out of it! my arm had orange/yellow stuff inside it. its red today! im not sure whats on my left foot? they are all swollen!
I have attached 2 pictures of what I think is a bite but I am not sure. I was working outside yesterday morning and I started itching and it felt like a mosquito bite on my right butt cheek. It was just one small bump and I didn’t think much of it. It got bigger last night and more swolen around the bump area, raised and red and about a quarter size. Now it looks like this with small heads on the bumps. It is very itchy but hurts if I scratch even around it…I would not scratch right on it because i know that would really hurt. I don’t know if this is related at all but I thought I would mention it.
I was in a prison visiting room yesterday and I used the bathroom there, I also used a bathroom in a rest area. I live in northern Florida. Thanks for your help!
Cory
The ‘incident’ occurred on 01/06/2008
The first picture dated 18/06/2008
The second picture dated 06/07/2008
(Decided to photograph, as people kept asking me how my leg was & to see it but at that stage it was always covered up & now I’ve come across your website!!!!)
I live in Northern Ireland & one Sunday morning around 5.00am I woke up with a burning sensation on my leg & when I looked at it, it had a red mark which was surrounded a whitish colour & was swollen to approximately the size of the circumference of a cup. I immediately thought I’d been bitten by something & took an anti-histamine to stop the swelling & went back to sleep. I woke a few hours later with a ‘massive’ big blister, which blistered for about a week. The blister became went down but was still weeping & the wound became sore so I went to the doctor who gave me antibiotics which I have finished 3 weeks ago & have been attending the nurse 3 times a week to get it dressed.
It doesn’t seem to be going away & nurses & doctors aren’t very sure what it is, some say they ‘think’ it looks like a bite & at present I am on a waiting list to see a dermatologist.
Friends & family have said it looks like a burn/bite/MRSA skin infection & my mum’s friend who lives in Florida said that it sounds like a spider bite. I have looked all of these up on the Internet & I think it looks like spider bite especially with my early symptoms. However I’m from Northern Ireland & Northern Ireland wouldn’t be known for spiders that bite???
The morning that this appeared on my leg, the previous night I was outside till about 3.00 am as we’d had a barbecue (one of the few summer nights we get in N.Ireland) and I was wearing my jeans!!!
The week before, on our summer seat there were loads & loads of wee tiny spiders – smaller than a pin head which knocked away but when they reappeared we took the insect spray to kill them, this was the same seat I was sitting on the night of the barbecue a week later.
We definitely have loads of spiders in the garden because the fence & washing line are always covered in cobwebs.
There is doubt in my mind that this is a spider bite because I live in Northern Ireland. What do you think?
Suzzii
As I was searching the web for what I believe to be spider bites, I came across your web site. I am having trouble finding anything similar to what I have on my back. I live in a wooded region of New York, Orange County, to be more specific and am from an urban area so I have no clue when it comes to insect bites. I am sending you the pics I just took and I will include any details I have.
I simply woke up one morning with two red bumps on my back. I thought they were from mosquitoes, so I thought nothing of it. After a few days, the affected area turned into one big red, raised area with the two bumps still visible. It’s been about a week and a half so I have finally decided to look into it. The pictures I have included is what the area looks like now. The round, dark red markings look similar to scabs but they are not. I am hoping someone can explain what this is as I do not have medical insurance and am trying to put off an emergency room visit. I really appreciate it.
Can you help me identify? Itchy, 3 days later, but seemingly better. Happened in bed, all over torso and legs. Thank you!
My boyfriend has what I think is a spider bite on his back, his entire back and stomach are painful whenever he breathes or moves. The large red spot looks like a blister and more red spots keep popping up. Could you please take a look at the attached picture and tell me what you think?
Thanks,
Michelle
I’m not sure if this is still an active forum, however, I really hate to bother my doctor with something I’m not sure is a serious matter, so I thought I’d try.
I have a red, raised, macular rash on my left leg and on the lower right area of my back. There are 4 bumps on my leg and 3-4 on my back. The spots itch and hurt after I scratch them. They are smaller than a pencil eraser and do not get bigger after scratching. I have a few smaller spots on my right leg, as well, but I can’t tell if they are the same, or if they are simply razor burn. I also have 2 small spots on the lateral aspect of my right wrist.
I have done no yard work or camping lately. I have 2 indoor cats and 1 dog that rarely goes outside (she uses a litter box). We have 5 chinchillas. The cats/dog are treated with frontline and we have seen no evidence of fleas in the house. I have not changed bedding or cat litter recently, nor have any of the animals been bathed.
I have not changed laundry detergent, but I did recently change loofas and body wash. I do have a history of psorasis, however the spots are definitely not plaques. We have seen a few spiders in our home, but I can’t recall being bitten by anything. My husband has no similar bites.
I used a bad razor recently and got a tremendously bad case of razor burn (which I still have in some places, particularly on my upper thighs and groin), so I speculated that I had folliculitis, but I don’t know how that would have developed onto my back and arm. Also, there is no sign of pus or infection in these bumps.
My whole body itches, not just these bumps, though they do itch worse. I have tried benadryl and clariton for the itching, as well as hydrocortisone cream, benadryl spray, A&D ointment, and some steriod cream I used for my psorasis. Nothing has changed the appearance of these bumps. Or the itchiness.
I’m having difficulty sleeping or doing anything because I itch so badly. Do you think these sound like insect bites? Shingles? (I did have chicken pox twice. I also have psoriatic arthritis and asthma.) Scabies? Should I see my doctor?
Thank you.
I have a bite neer my ankle. At first i thaught it was a misquito bite. But after i looked at it closly. It is very small. About 3mm cm2. And it is red around the bite and in the inside it looks like pus or white fluid. Can someone help?
On July 13th 2008 I woke up and felt a stinging sensation on my left toe. I am assuming it’s a spider bite of some sort. The area was itchy and sore in a short period of time and it continued to swell. Last night the foot and toes were very swollen and there was noticeable redness spreading from the sore up the top side of the foot. I have seen a doctor and he has put me on a couple of bacterial fighting antibiotics. The bite itself has definitely grown to almost the diameter of a dime and is red and somewhat purple with a white/clear blistered centre. Today the swelling of the foot seems to have gone down and a lot of the redness has disappeared except in the area of the bite.
thanks, Dave
Ok, so I live in San Diego, CA and contrary to popular belief…we do have some friggin creepy spiders out here!
So about two weeks ago I was at the bay taking pictures of the sunset. I was wearing a sundress and flip flops. I stepped down into the jetty (fancy word for huge wall of boulders formulated to create a ’sea barrier’) and I remember feeling a ‘pinch’ on my lower inner leg, right above my ankle. I thought I had probably just scraped it on one of the rocks. Well, that night I was awoken out of a dead sleep because of the unbearable itching and burning I was feeling in this same place. I turned on the light and saw what I thought to be a mosquito bite because it was the size of a half-dollar, hard, and HOT to the touch. Not to mention it itched like hell.
I went back to sleep and when I awoke the next morning, the bite site was as bad as before. After a couple of days, I noticed a blister-like round thing in the middle of this swollen area. I thought this was just broken skin from me itching it. After the swelling went down I decided to take a gander at the goods and see what we were working with here.
What I observed:
-Same small round blister, shiny at the top, somewhat discolored, flattened over time (very similar to many of the spider bite postings on this website).
-Two evenly spaced ‘punctures’ right above the round thing (this was the creepiest since the punctures were like, just shy of a centimeter apart!!!!!!!!! AGHHHHH!
-The inside of the punctures looked kind of dark brown.
-On the 10th day, the skin in the affected area ‘peeled’ from the outside to the center.
Just when I thought everything was over and my bite was heeling, it suddenly flared up again. This time the swelling began just under the original site, but the original site was soon on the bandwagon too and now the diameter of my bite has doubled. Same symptoms as before (hard, HOT to the touch, itched and burned like crazy). Now, the day after the second flair up, I am getting sporadic, lacey red patches that itch like crazy up and down on the same side of my body as the bite, then dissapear as mysteriously as they arrived. I am also feeling very small ‘pinches’ all over my body (I wouldn’t call them painful, but they aren’t pleasant).
My fiance suggested it could be staph, but that doesn’t explain the fang-like puncture marks, which were visible for 12 days after the initial discovery of the bite. There also has been no visible pus or liquid secretion from the bite whatsoever.
Any suggestions??? I am desperate here! I was thinking maybe a black widow since their bite effects the nervous system and that could explain the pinches I am feeling and the crazy waves of itching along with the red, lacey patches. I’m not usually an itchy kind of person so this is very peculiar to me. I also have a high iron level in my blood, so I RARELY get bitten by insects at all.
I am at work now having a hell of a time, but I will post a picture later.
Thanks for your help!
~Itchy in San Diego
hello,
I am Ramya from India.
Some insect bit me on my leg, 20 days back.
I dont know what bit me, but a general physician suggested worm bite medicine to apply. I have attached fotos of the bitten area.
Any suggestions will be really helpful
I was up in Idaho for a few days.. mosquitos were doing a nice number on me but this bit was not from a mosquito.. seeing Dr. tmrw. to see if they know what it is and can treat – currently it’s grown to 5×3 in the swollen zone..
Hello, I have quite a few areas on my arms that look awfully like mosquito bites, except for that they are all pairs about .2 inches close. I’m probably just overreacting, but I thought it was weird that they are all like that, there are about six pairs.
I was cutting the grass on Friday, didnt feel any bites but when I got indoors had 2 long weals on my lower leg, one approx 2 inches long and the other 3 inches long.Over the last couple of days looks like they are growing with fingers at the end.
Have been very itchy and gone from bright red to a darker color.
Any help in identifying would be appreciated.
I have just use used neosporin.
I will send picture in seperate email
Thanks
I am thinking this is from a chigger bug because I saw somewhere else a person with a red mark similar to mine and they said that it was chigger.
chigger- lives in tall grass or weeds and clings to skin for about 3 days and leaves a red itchy lesion which is what I think I have but I could be wrong.
I was in my atrium which is filled with some weeds and no one has been in there for months.
But I am not sure of what it is. I have not touched it or put anything on it except for just today. I used lanacane. I think that I have had my bug bite for at least 4 or 5 days now.
There is a good sized bump.
Any idea of caused this?
Thanks so much!- Catie
Are there any doctors in Colorado that specializes in spider bites.
Well last week i noticed that i had 4 small blisters on my left hand. They were right on the pad below my thumb. Being a normal person I popped them, cleaned them, and went about my day. By that night 3 of the blisters had meshed into one and the 4th still stood alone. At this point I had to bandage my hand because they were leaking. I wans’t sure what it was and didn’t want to spread anything bad to my children. Friday of last week I decided it was time to see the doctor. All 4 blisters had now meshed into one and the area was now about the size of a nickel. The doctor looked at it and told me it was interesting. He wanted to knwo if I had been burned? I told him no. I told him I didn’t know what had happened. Well basically he said he couldn’t figure it out. He told me to come back this week (I don’t go back until Friday) so he could check it again. Meanwhile I still have this large, leaking, blister on my hand and I don’t know what it is. My mother said a friend of hers suggested maybe it was a spider bite. The fluid that leaks form it is usually clear or yellow tinged.
So I began researching it. But of course everything I’ve researched could be a possiblity and I was hoping maybe someone with more knowledge might be able to look at it and tell me if I should even suggest it to my doctor? It’s been very hot and I’ve had to keep it covered so it tends to look whiter than most of the ones I’ve seen but that’s mainly due to the fact that it’s constantly moist no matter how much I change the bandage. Anyways here are the photos. I am from Upstate NY also. The 1st picture was when it first started turning from 4 blisters into one. I believe it was day 2. The other picture is from yesterday. If you need more photos I could take some more. I didn’t take these with the intention of sending them out for examination so they’re not the best. Thank so much for your time.
I know I should have posted a photo of the bug, but Ive already killed it sadly enough
I was sitting on my bed today when I felt something bite me on my elbow, I looked down and it was some sort of bug with many legs.. not as many as a centipede but still lots. it had like to thingies in the back , legs on the sides, and antennae’s. I don’t feel anything, like no itchiness or anything… but i’m still worried.. I always see this bug around, especially during the summer but i’ve never been bitten by one… :S plz someone help me out, im freaked out.
OKay. I’ve got like 4. There’s 2 on my stomach.. 1 on my bottom.. and one on my ineer thigh. My mom pulled one of the black things out of one and its healing.. but it hurt like hell. I’m talking the worst physical pain I have ever ever felt. I put Neosporin all over the oner on my thigh last night and it seems to be getting a little better. It’s not hurting near as much, well not at all. The one on my bottom however, it getting black and crusdty like one of Suzannes picturesa. I need help please.
I have a bite on my arm. I felt it Saturday (July 26, 2008). I do not recall
being bitten, but was working in the yard and around the deck of the swimming
pool. It has a bump in the center with a red ring around the bump. The entire
spot is about 1 inch in diameter. It is hot to the touch and tender, but it is
not oozing. I have tried benadryl and hydrocotozone, but nothing has helped. Do
you think it could be a spider bite. It looks similar to some of your photos on
line. I am attaching a photo. It is hard to see, but you can make out the ring
with the bump. Any advice would be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Rachael
I was bitten about six weeks ago on the inside of my left bicep while sleeping. There were two distinct puncture wounds about a 1/4″ apart with a quarter sized circle of redness around them. There was only a tiny bit of noticeable discomfort in touching the area and a small amount of itch. I thought it was a common spider bite and kept an eye on my symptoms. For about a month, the redness persisted and grew to about a 5 inch radius and it seemed the rash would be aggravated with any attempts at rubbing or itching the site. Aside from being unusually tired I have had no other recongizeable symptoms. The redness is gone but there are still two scars where the puncture wounds were. I’ve been searching the internet and can’t find any bite wounds that look similar to what I had. My concern is that whatever it was may still be running around the house or there may be more of them. I live in the suburbs of Baltimore, MD. Does this sound familiar to anybody?
these are two pics i hope u can help me identify this. its been a week now and still no improvement. it started out with 3 bumps pimple like and turned into a cluster of blister like bumps that itch. hope u can help me thanks.
Sandy
Looking for a little help here – seems kind off odd sending pics of my leg to a complete stranger, however I am interested to know if you have see anything like this before.
I live in NL, Canada and we are not known to have any harsh biting spiders. Last week I had the bigger bruise on my leg surrounding a clear ring and then the bite in the centre and now the same thing has appeared this week on the opposite leg however slightly smaller. Could it just be a reaction to a fly/mosquito bite? Never happened to me before and now twice within 7 days? Seems odd. Thoughts?
Regards,
Dana
Hi there,
I am wondering if you might be able to help me figure out what kind of dead bug I found in my bed. Immediately, one would assume bed bug! However, it doesn’t look like a bed bug from the pics I have researched online…it is approx. 5-7 mm long, looks like it has thin wings (pointy not round), transparent/yellowy brown in colour, black eyes, and quite thin looking. I found another one if these things dead a few months ago in my dresser drawer, but thought it was a one time bug..
I have been getting a few bites lately, on arms (cluster of three and then random one) and neck (four, somewhat in a row), and have checked sheets and mattress for markings and found nothing. Any idea what this bug might be and whether it could be the culprit of the bites? I cant find anything online that looks like it.
Sincerely,
Lindsay
I got bite, I think, yesterday. It itches some and also burns some. It keeps getting bigger and bigger and is now the size of half a baseball on the under side of my forearm. It is very hard and very hot. I live in Boulder Colorado and saw a picture that looked similar and was identified as a Rocky Mountain spider. I have never heard of one before. Are they anything to worry about, assuming that is what I have been bitten by. Any help would be appreciated. It is Saturday and not the best day to find a decent doctor. I’d rather wait and see what happens unless I am advised not to. I’ve attached 2 pics. Not much to see but a large reddish swollen mound.
Thanks,
Lisa
Good afternoon to you. I was on the website and noticed that one of the bites on page 6, picture 1 looks just like the one I have on my back. I think that I got it over a week ago (not sure of where or how), but last Monday the area started to itch (similar to poison ivy) by Wednesday I had several black holes around the area. I have yet to go to the doctor yet, but have called them. Any ideas what bit the person in that picture? Also, I am attaching a picture of mine with this email.
Your help is greatly appreciated, and the link that I found that is below and it is picture one.
http://www.badspiderbites.com/nggallery/page-69/page-6
Hi,,
Great site, very helpful…
I’m in Portland OR, and do a lot of outside gardening, have had some
significant building reconstruction for about 2 weeks.
Bites have accumulated.. Start with (just as described) no notice of bite,
then one small puncture surrounded soon by about 2″ of red inflamed tissue.
Within a day there is oozing serum… Quite a lot. The red tissue then
turns to bruise, and the very shallow wound ruptures, up to less than 3/8″
crater, but bleeds like crazy, easily disturbed. They do seem to be healing
(3-4 weeks) but am getting new ones without seeing any spiders!
Thoughts welcome. Also, is there a way to view your responses to the
messages sent in?
Thanks much!
I was bitten buy something don’t know what. At first my hand was very itchy. I doesn’t itch anymore it just hurts and feels very numb around the bitten area. There is a little redness with a bruise. No pus nothing at all. When I touch the area it hurts and I noticed there is a lump under my skin. Does anyone know what could have bitten me? It’s scaring me because my hand feels numb. Thanks.
My daughter has a strange bite on her scalp. Need help diagnosing.
Bite is size of quarter- swollen and white, with red ring around it and with redness in surrounding area. At first it was raised at least 1/2″, and incredibly painful. Now, four days later, it is flat, however pus is seeping out in a ringlike formation.
Upon onset of bite, she has had high fever of 103.5, on and off for the past 4 days. During first 24 hours, she also had vomiting, however she still complains of a tummy-ache.
I have taken her to the doctor- they thought it was perhaps lymes disease- but it does not look like a tick bite- especially with the seepage. We have dozens and dozens of spiders in and around our house. It is not uncommon for me to find 30 in a day inside our house. We live outside of Boston, MA. We were at the beach the day of the incident, however.
It is also possible that it is a fly bite or mosquito.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
last week sometime i got bite by something i presume a spider. its very large and red now almost purple in the middle and a dark red going out from there then a swollen ring around all of that whitish pink. itches pretty bad and has heat in it. hard in the middle then gets progressivley softer as it goes out. i have no clue what kind of spider bit me. would like some advide please.
hi….about 2 or 3 days ago i noticed a what looked like a chigger bite on my thigh…up around my waist…and earlier today i noticed it start branching out….like little fingers sticking out from the original bite….it itches too…im not sure what it is…so i thought i post a comment on here….can anyone help me?….im not sure if its a spider bite,rash or something else….if you could post back i would be very very appriciative…..thanks
Don’t know what bit me- had this about 5 days now- didn’t feel getting bit, just had bump like mosquito bite show up one day- then it got big like a welt and was kind of hard- the bite itched like crazy for days- put some hydrocortisone on it, but didn’t relieve for very long. Now I find the deep color kind of disturbing as well as a red squiggly line coming out of it? seems different than typical gnat bite so thinking must be a spider? Haven’t had any pain or other symptoms (yet)
I was bitten about two weeks ago. Its realy itchy and sore. Can you maybe tell me what kind of bite it is?
Lize d.
South Africa
Approximately one week ago, I felt something bite me on my lower back. It mildly itched for about an hour. I haven’t felt it after the itching subsided.
However, recently someone noticed a redish/purpley blotch with a at the bite scene. The blotch doesn’t appear to be expanding, but I have no idea what it is. I haven’t had any time to see my doctor yet, as this was discovered within 24 hours ago.
Any help diagnosing it would be greatly appreciated!
Hi, I got bite about 2 wks ago by something..I live in Dallas Tx..I assume it is a spider, left two bite marks on my left arm, just above my wrist. The swelling went down but the area has moved outward and now i have many, what appears to be small bump marks going up my arm towards my elbow…they are itchy but no skin breaks and not alot of redness…any ideas?
There are 3 on the back of my thigh. It’s hard to take a picture so that’s the best one. It’s also the smallest, they’re kinda small, a bit red and itch. I woke up this morning and there they were. I think they might be flea bites but I’ve never had one so I’m not sure.
i started noticing these yesterday afternoon. i thought they were just mosquito bites. when i woke up this morning, the bigger one was swollen and the entire area (my thigh) was very very itchy. the big one is about an inch in diameter but the swelling is about 2 inches. the little ones are about a half inch.
it continues to be very itchy, going on about 15 hours now. i have been trying not to scratch but it’s horrible!
She just woke up looking like she had a black eye. she was bitten by something possiably a hobo spider or maby a wolf spider we dont know.
The other day while i was in the shower, i realized i had a red bloch on the right side of my right breast. at first i thought it was nothing, just a rash. But then about two days later, it devolped a dark stop in the the middle. It’s sore to touch. Lately, i’ve had a runny nose, a headache and a sore throat – but that could just be my allegries but i think it’s better to state it anyway just in case.
sorry the picture’s such bad quality.
Hi
I think I may have a spider bite and I probably got it on Monday, August 18. I didn’t see the spider. I remember my leg itching and then yesterday it was swollen and bruised (A little larger than a quarter in size). At first I thought I had just walked into something but then I noticed the light spot in the middle where there are 2 red spots. I’m concerned about the darker spot. I don’t want to end up with necrosis. I just drew the line around it to see if it gets any larger. I know you can’t give medical advice, but if you had this bite, would you see a doctor? I tend to over-react and don’t want to look foolish.
Thanks!
My name is Sheri and I live in Cincinnati, OH.
The last month has been so aggravating because of some bites I keep getting and I was unaware as to what caused them. I will be sleeping and start itching or sometimes wake up and feel like a sting or a prick. I turn on a light nothing on me or the bed. I couldn’t figure what could be causing this, maybe a small white spider I could see missing that…. Anyway, then it happened again. Couldn’t see anything and the previous bites hadn’t even healed. Fast forward a couple weeks. I am up a 6 am searching the internet for anything to tell me what is causing me this pain and constant itching. I did the usual alcohol, helps with itching, benadryl and ice to keep swelling down. I’m so sick of this I could scream!
I stumble upon this website and start reading all the blogs, from last year to current and I’m like that’s me, that is how I feel and oh look I have a bite like that…..So I start researching. I have my husband look at the site with me and he agreed some of the descriptions and pictures are the same. Then I see something about an itch mite and the Chicago Tribune. I look that up and then continue searching under itch mite on my own. I’ve spent most of the day doing this and I think I may have found my culprit.
I am hoping this information will help others. I thought I was going crazy, I had red welts with a white pimple like thing in the middle and the more I scratched and of course I did the bigger the red turned into looking like the hives. I couldn’t figure out what was causing it, my husband wasn’t getting bitten. Then I found the Pyemotes herfsi, it is a species of the itch mite. Aka Oak Itch mite. They basically fall off of Oak tree leaves and blow around and can land on people. Believed to be the culprit of the mysterious red bumps that caused problems in Kansas 2004 and Illinois in 2007. From what I’ve read it seems they follow the 17 yr Cicadas around and they were big here this summer.
They fall on humans among other things and it takes atleast 4 hours for the little suckers to bite us, then 10-16 hours for the actual bite mark, our red welts with the nice pimple white in the middle to show up. So we think we are being bitten in the middle of the night but we aren’t, it is just the reaction to the saliva of the mite that we received hours earlier. So we are not crazy!
Good news, they don’t live indoors ! Yeah, I can stop the obsessive search and cleaning. Although, I already stripped everything in the bedroom and washed it because at the time I had no clue what was causing this problem.
I think I’ve found it, I believe they are coming off my parents oak trees, which would explain why my husband hasn’t had any welts. He hasn’t been there in a month, since my bites started showing up, but I go every couple of days. I am the only one that is in that area of their yard playing with the dogs etc. Now that I know what to look for, I will try and verify my suspicions and make sure I shower after I come in from the outdoors. I will update and let you know my findings…..
The other day I was itching what seemed to be a large mosquito bite. (about the diameter of a pea) It’s not pimple-like, it’s just a raised, lump-like area. It itches like a mosquito bite. My mom said that it could be a spider bite, I assume she’s seen one before. I used vinegar on that sucker and it stopped the itching for about a minute.
Update about the mysterious bites….AKA Oak Itch Mite. I think, I have my answer. I said I would update after I tested my theories. I have been to my parents several times and have taken a shower as soon as I came inside and I haven’t had anymore itchy red welts that awake me in the middle of the night. My Dad also confirmed that we do have Oak trees at the end of the property which have galls on them, which is where the mites drop from the leaves. My mother also informed me that she had a bite that was the same as mine.
I was also at my in-laws this weekend and when I was telling them about the itch mite, my sister-in-law said she had the same kind of bites. They also have several oaks in their yard.
See website below for additional more scientific information etc.
http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pcitchmites.htm
Basically, if anyone is suspicious that the Oak Itch Mite might be their culprit, try taking a shower as soon as you come inside and see if it helps. However, if you are outside for more than 4 hours, they may have already bitten you, so even if you shower it may not make a difference. I hope this helps others.
I woke up early this morning because it felt like a cigarette was burning my arm near my wrist. I moved my bracelet and had a small black hole and the skin around it was white & gooey. I flushed it with saline and I’ve kept it elevated all day. The black hole is slightly bigger than this morning and the gooey white skin seems to have dried into it but the area around it is still red, swollen, tender and my arm muscles feel achy. I hate going to the emergency room if it’s not an emergency, however it still burns. I’m probably paranoid because I’m terrified of all bugs, especially the horror stories about the Brown Recluse we have in Missouri. Any suggestions? I’m attaching a photo I took with a camera phone this afternoon, sorry for the quality.
Im not really sure what sort of spider bit me but I am from michigan. i sleep in a basement so there are alot of spiders in my room and alot of people told me my bites are spider bites. it first started with a few bites on my arms one morning when i woke up. the bite areas have 2 – 5 holes per bump the holes are very tiny about the size of a mosquito bite. so im like ok a spider bit me no big deal… so the next morning i wake up and my leg has a bunch more bites on my thigh calf and knee. so im thinking ok obsivouly there is a spider issue here so i got some bug killer and i sprayed down all the windows in the basement all the corners and cleaned under my bed and such.
so the next morning i have more bites on my other leg so i kept on spraying and such and checking my bed for a spider every night b4 sleeping. on day 4 i wake up with a few more bites on my other arm. so tonight i do my normal bed check and i find a spider with his legs spread out he was a little smaller then a penny and a dark brown or maybe black color its hard to tell. he had 2 distinct fangs and there are no webs in the area of my bed. it seems as if he came out of a hole in my comforter. the bites that i have scrathed turn into scabs but i think its only from the scratching the ones i have left alone on my arms still only have just the tiny holes from the bite.
im not really sure what they are or what to do with them. and i dont really have insurance to go see a doctor… what should i do?
Got bit twice yesterday, first above the ankle, then it crawled up my pants and bit me on the knee. I’m not sure what it was, but it looked like it could have been a spider. Today, the bite areas are a little red and there is a little pus under the skin. They don’t itch or hurt. If they’re not better by tomorrow, I’ll go to the doctor.
I can’t find any info on why half of my body went numb! I never saw the thing that bit me on the right ankle. It was very painful and made me cry out. A tiny purple dot is the only evidence left over two days later. Immediately after the bite, numbness spread up the right side of my body. I started feeling very faint, and unable to focus my mind. For the next hour, I struggled against passing out and a feeling of tightness in my throat. The numbness took about two hours to fade. Has anyone heard of a spider or insect that causes this kind of reaction? I went to the ER but was sent away untreated because I couldn’t find the bug that bit me.
My 12yr old daughter noticed a bite on her leg this past Thursday. It appeared to look like a mosquito bite. We were in the car Friday afternoon and she accidentally bumped her hand on her leg and the bite looked liked it popped and this runny yellowish stuff came out of it. Now she just showed it to me and there is a red circle around the bite approximatelly 3 to 4 inches high to 2 to 2 1/2 inches across. She says it is not ichy or painful. Unfortunatlly the Dr.’s office is closed today because it is Labor Day. Attached is a picture of her leg and the bite. Thank you very much~~~ Tania M.
Jim
I have 4 bites around my ankle after waking up Sat morning in a Sonoma 4 star hotel. They are red welt like bites 1/4″ around the bite and hard skin, they are oozing yellow liquid and itch alot. i will send the pic for your review. Thanks alot!!
Jim W., SF,CA
The bite is about the size of my thumb nail. I hope I can find out what it was so I can avoid at all costs getting one again. I was on the boat when I got it in the Chesapeake Bay, but we were down in North Carolina and Virginia and all throughout the Dismal Swamp about 6 weeks earlier.
Thanks
Hello,
Two days ago something bit me. I was in the woods (upstate New York) sitting on the ground, and all of a sudden I felt itching on my skin, where the bite is. I got red right away, and then there was a one bubble in the middle. Now it looks like there is several little bubbles filled with liquid, and it’s getting kind of yellowish in color. It itches and hurts. I am not sure what bit me.
Please look at the picture and let me know what you think.
thank you,
Monika
p.s. I hope that the picture is clear enough.
Hello,
I’m not sure what Or if I was bitten by a spider.
I have a large bump on my lower back maybe the size of a quarter, Its red and swollen.
I have no clue about what bit me or anything about spiders.
I live in Longs, South Carolina.
I am not sure when I have got the bump.
Its been about a week or 2, Possibly.
Does not hurt and just annoys me.
Not sure what kind it was. I got bit Monday and here it is. I go to the doc today for it. This is on the back of my leg above the knee. Sorry I couldnt get it any clearer.
I think I got these bites while clamming. Also slept in an old camper that could have had bed bugs, but why would they just be on my feet? It has been five days. Any ideas? Anyone know of a saltwater chigger maybe?
I live in Northeast Florida, I was bit yesterday morning 3 times on my arm while taking my son to school. I thought they were mosquito bites, later that morning my friend noticed that there were red circles surrounding the bites. The circles were not raised but they did expand throughout the day but by last night you couldn’t see them any more only the red bite mark in the center. At first the bite itched like a mosquito and kind of resembled a mosquito bite, but the red circles around it are what is really confusing me. I have recently adopted two baby squirrels and had been feeding them right before I left to take my son to school. My friend thought it was Lyme Disease due to the bullseye like look, but I have been searching for something that resembles them and the symptoms I am expirencing and have not found anything. I have had a bad headache since yesterday, as well as low grade fever, sore throat, nausea, and diarhea. If any one has any ideas or has expirenced something similiar please let me know. Thank you, Lisa
My Mom has had a rash for a week. She fears it’s a tick bite. We went across country in places like New Orleans, Wyoming, and Oregon. In New Orleans, we stayed outside at night for a very long time. It’s itchy and red, but I don’t see any certain marks. We’re African-American. She thinks it’s lyme disease because she’s always tired. But I think it’s because she drove hours at night, because we went across country in car.
Could you please help me ID these bites. I received them while in Lakeview, Or. this past weekend. Thank you for you help.