# Are Chiggers a miserable nuisance everywhere? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346 "2019-05-01T21:47:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/61 "2019-05-02T16:27:59Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > As you know, chiggers can’t be boozers. Dammit, I came here to make that joke! :mad: (I have several B. Kliban books. I don’t remember which one it’s in.) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/62 "2019-05-02T16:37:30Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > They don’t burrow into you. Instead, they inject digestive enzymes that create a small tube (known as a stylostome), from which they suck your (already partially digested) flesh. Thank you for that. LOL ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/63 "2019-05-02T16:56:36Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Not a problem in western PA AFAIK. Then again, I’d never seen a tick in western PA until about 20 years ago and their numbers have steadily increased since. I grew up in northern WV, close enough to western PA that I used to bicycle into PA fairly often. Chiggers were like grits. They were a southern thing. We knew what they were, but no one that I personally knew had ever experienced them. We had ticks, though. I used to spend a lot of time hiking through the woods, and getting a tick wasn’t all that uncommon. This was 30 to 40 years ago. I live in southern PA now, near Gettysburg. According to the map that was posted upthread we’re supposed to have chiggers in this area, but my experience doesn’t match that. If that map didn’t say otherwise, I would have said that they aren’t in this area. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/64 "2019-05-02T17:05:25Z")
I have never seen one or had a bite here in Denmark. Apparently they live here, but are on a different diet. I don’t know any Danish name for them. Ticks, though. They are here, they suck blood and they are carriers of several diseases. According to Wikipedia chiggers live in all of Europe, but are only a problem in the warmer parts. I wonder what they are eating here and could we send some chiggers south to teach the southern ones to change their diet? ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/65 "2019-05-02T17:24:30Z")
I don’t get why people are saying they’re not in the Chicago area. I got 'em when I was a kid from sitting in tall grass under a tree in suburban Chicago. The itching was intense and seemed eternal. Maybe the 'burbs are so manicured now, there’s no tallish grass?? ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/66 "2019-05-02T17:32:27Z")
[Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculidae) says they’re found all over the world: > [@](#): > > … Trombiculid mites are found throughout the world. In Europe and North America, they tend to be more prevalent in the hot and humid regions. In the more temperate regions, they are found only during the summer (in French, harvest mites are called aoûtat because they are common in August[20]). In the United States, they are found mostly in the southeast, the south, and the Midwest. They are not present, or barely found, in far northern areas, high mountains, and deserts.[21] In the British Isles, the species Trombicula autumnalis is called harvest mites, in North America the species Trombicula alfreddugesi, and the species Trombicula (eutrombicula) hirsti which are found in Australia and are commonly called the scrub-itch mite It also says they can be found on lawns. Dampness seems to be a factor. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/67 "2019-05-02T18:15:22Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Looked at some land yesterday evening and walked through some knee high grass. Chiggers jumped all over my legs. > > It’s not the first time. I soaked the clothes & socks in a weak bleach solution and showered extra well. > > Treating the bites & rash with Chigarid. > > Are Chiggers everywhere in North America & Europe? Never encountered them in the North West or North East. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/68 "2019-05-02T18:29:07Z")
Never encountered them here in NW Oregon. There are deer ticks here but I have only found those when working on/butchering an actual deer. I have never picked one up by walking out in the field or forest, and I spend a lot of time outside. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/69 "2019-05-02T19:55:29Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I’ve never experienced them or even heard of them in California. I had to look up the word to find out what chiggers are, although I vaguely remember hearing about them in my youth in Chicago. > > I don’t really want to know more about this, which I discovered in my research: > > > [@WebMD](#): > > > > If you’re a guy and you get a chigger bite in your groin area, you could get a condition known as “summer penile syndrome.” I’ve had it. It’s not the worst thing ever but it’s definitely in the top 10. Chiggers are common in tall grass here in Oklahoma. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/70 "2019-05-02T20:22:28Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Are they an issue in Central America (or do the botflies and malaria keep them down)? Here in Panama we have tick season (the dry season) and chigger season (the wet season). They can both be bad. Chiggers are worst where there are large mammals around. I’ve had my worst bouts of chiggers after walking in a cattle pasture. However, I seem to be almost immune to them now. I was recently on a three week trip where everyone else was complaining bitterly about the chiggers, and I didn’t get any even without using insecticide. Since the itching is partly an an immune reaction, I think I’ve been exposed so often I’ve stopped reacting. Or maybe it’s because I am old, thick-skinned, and bitter, and my blood is 25% alcohol.😉 Botflies and malaria of course only affect vertebrates and have no effect on chiggers. ---
**Author:** ![slalexan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@slalexan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slalexan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/71 "2019-05-02T20:32:45Z")
I grew up in the Kansas City area and we all knew what chiggers were. There were many an afternoon after playing in the “woods” behind our house spent scratching any exposed skin. I kept having a pretty strong reaction to them all the way into adulthood. But then I started noticing a pattern. I was the only one really getting itchy out of the group I was with. I was also having some itchy eyes, runny nose nonsense and it was always worse if the grass was freshly cut. Turns out, I’m just allergic to grass. I don’t know if I’ve ever actually been bitten by chiggers but I avoid grassy areas regardless. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/72 "2019-05-02T20:53:45Z")
Yeah, if the itchiness is immediate, then it’s not chiggers. It takes a day or two for the chigger bites to swell up and start itching. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/73 "2019-05-02T23:52:53Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > … they inject digestive enzymes that create a small tube (known as a stylostome), from which they suck your (already partially digested) flesh. I should add that they are not actually as bad as this makes them seem. They are worse - much worse. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/74 "2019-05-03T01:24:30Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Yeah, if the itchiness is immediate, then it’s not chiggers. It takes a day or two for the chigger bites to swell up and start itching. Usually about a day after you’ve decided that you didn’t get any chigger bites. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/75 "2019-05-03T10:58:31Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Not especially in Europe that I know of - not in the UK anyway. We did have to put up with [Cheggers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Chegwin) for many years, though. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/76 "2019-05-03T13:19:37Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > We did have to put up with [Cheggers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Chegwin) for many years, though. Well, I never knew Janice Long was his sister. You live and learn. I’ve not encountered chiggers here in the UK, although as mentioned above you’ve got to watch out for ticks. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/77 "2019-05-03T13:38:19Z")
I’ve lived in the southeast for the past 60 years, so I’m quite familiar with chiggers. As a kid, I’d go camping, running through fields, and in plenty other ways I made myself available. Funny thing, they have never bothered me. Oh, I may have had a bite here or there, but I’ve seen people with red bumps on their legs that would outnumber the freckles on a freckled kid. I also seem to have an unusual response to mosquito bites (or so I’ve been led to believe). If I get bit by a mosquito, I will get a welt the size of a dime and it will itch like crazy for a couple of minutes. After that, the itch goes away and with 15 minutes or so, the welt is gone. I know people who not only seem to attract mosquitoes, but if they get bit on Monday, they will still likely have a bump there on Wednesday, perhaps still by Friday. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/78 "2019-05-03T14:13:43Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > I also seem to have an unusual response to mosquito bites (or so I’ve been led to believe). If I get bit by a mosquito, I will get a welt the size of a dime and it will itch like crazy for a couple of minutes. After that, the itch goes away and with 15 minutes or so, the welt is gone. I know people who not only seem to attract mosquitoes, but if they get bit on Monday, they will still likely have a bump there on Wednesday, perhaps still by Friday. I’m prett ymuch the same way - mosquito bites swell up itch like crazy for about 15 minutes, and after a half hour, they’re completely gone. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/79 "2019-05-07T02:18:45Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I’ve never had a problem with them in New Jersey although they are supposed to be here. I did get horribly bitten all over both lower legs when I was at Fort Indiantown Gap. So middle PA certainly has them. I grew up not far from there, and while I heard of chiggers (and spent a fair bit of time tramping through woods as a youngster), I never encountered any that I knew of. I have managed to get ticks here in Virginia, twice. Once was on a Girl Scout camping overnight and that wasn’t a huge surprise. The other time was walking down the street in our suburb - no woods or tall grass. Found the damn thing about 18 hours lsater. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346/80 "2019-05-07T14:02:58Z")
Several people have mentioned mosquitos and I am pretty familiar with them. I grew up in Sierra Leone, in what was then British West Africa and mozzies were pretty endemic. We took a daily Paludrine (proguanil) tablet and slept under mosquito nets. DDT was freely spayed around to stop them from breeding, but the most effective way was to eliminate any standing water. My sister and I ran around all the time wearing as little as we could get away with - mother despaired of getting us to wear shoes. “The natives don’t” we would say. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-chiggers-a-miserable-nuisance-everywhere/833346.md?page=5)