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Biting, white insects

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Started 1 year ago by rme
Latest reply from gotagrip

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rme (Member)

For over a year now I've had a problem with tiny white insects biting. I moved to an apartment in October of 2007 and the day after, the two cats started getting bitten by something I couldn't see. The smaller cat started to lose her hair in patches. The vet said insect bite but cou;d find nothing. I started to get bitten a few days after moving in. Just a few bites, one every so often. In spring I put plants out onto the balcony and these rice-grain-shaped, pale-yellow/off-white bugs started killing everything. Summer planting was a wash. When I took the plants out, the bugs bit me.

Once the plants were gone from the balcony, they moved indoors. At first it was the area near the balcony door that I got bitten in the most. By Winter 2008 they had infested the couch further in, and I couldn't sit on it without being bitten constantly. They seemed to mostly bite around the rib cage. I was spraying constantly with a 0.25% permethrins spray, but got no relief. I lost use of the livingroom. To stand in one place or sit on a chair (wooden) for 10 minutes was to get bitten. The superintendent of the building got the pest control company in, who looked at a sample of a bug on black paper, and said that without looking at it under a microscope, he'd say that it was a spider mite. So they sprayed for spider mites and told me not to wash the floor s for 6 weeks.

After two weeks the biting was intolerable and was happening in the dining room. The pest control company said that that was very strange because the "Dragnet" that they sprayed was supposed to be at full effect at two weeks. It would run out at 6 weeks. At 5 weeks I started bleaching the floors, which would provide a few minutes of rest. I had no time to eat, or do much else but clean. I lost weight and became panicky. Again I had the pest control man come. he suggested another spray with Dragnet. I was convinced these were not spider mites.

Finally, the bugs invaded my bedrrom. I got no sleep. The floors were constantly bleached. Although the mattress was still in plastic and I was sleeping naked in a dust-mite-proof mattress cover, 10 minutes after lying down, the bites would start. Sudden, sharp little bites, especially in the warm areas of my body. I was getting bitten all around my face and in my hair I could feel things crawling.

I left a message for the landlord describing the situation, and fled to my fathers. They followed me there. I left most of my clothes behind and went to the Y' They came with me. I went to a rooming house with nothing but my makeup and the clothes on my back. They came with me. I showered thoroughly, and my mother drove me to a new apartment that I had just gotten. They came with me. I shaved my head and got much relief from the biting there. But I was being bitten all over, especially my torso.

Now I bleach the floors and coutners once daily, shower twice daily. I have no soft furnishings, only a couple of emergency mylar blanketsd to sleep between, and some few clothes that I boil each day for an hour. A fry pan and a hone. I get bitten less, but winter will come and I have to get rid of these so i can get a coat and boots.

Look like a body louse from what I've seen under a 'scope, but bite cats, bite inthe shower, infest balconies. Atypical body louse? I was never homeless until I encountered these in the last apartment. So maybe an import?

Please, sonmeone, anyone...I'm losing the will to live. U. Of Guelph doesn't do DNA analysis for the general public. I have some good samples that I know are bugs. Can anyone help me? I'm spreading these things around but only my mother gets small bites. Estrogen? No-one else seems to get bitten so far.

Help!

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

I think I should add a description of the bites to help out anyone who might know what this is;
At first the bites on the face were all about 5mm in diameter, a red area with a raised white area in the middle. Around the torso they were red areas about 2mm in size, raised. After a number of months of constant biting, it seems that either my immune system has calmed down a bit, or the bugs are dmaller and able to do less damage. The bites I get on my neck are smaller red areas with white raised centers, of about 3mm. Sometimes I just have a red raised area of 2-3mm. Some spots are little more than tiny blood-spots. The older bites get to look like blood spots, or grey spots on my skin.

They seem to prefer to bite in the neck area or the face. When I sit on a stool on the balcony, I can get bitten on the ankles and shins, although that's rare. Most often it seems that a little bugger will start at the base of my neck, then chew a few bites on the upper cheekbone of that side, then take a nibble or two of the scalp on that side.

A veterinary technician that I know has separated out the good, identifiable samples from the mashed and the mistaken. A photographer aquaintence believes he has a lense that can take a decent photo of such a tiny bug. I'm hoping to get the samples returned soon, and the photo's taken in order to find someone who knows how to kill these insects.
Meanwhile, I have to live with them until that special someone kills all little fiends off. I would very much like to hear from anyone who has heard of a variety of body louse that can live outdoors, bite a person while in the shower, and which bothers animals other than humans. If you can have a name for it for me, that would be freat. If you know how to kill it, that'd be the best news yet!

In hope,
rme.

Posted 1 year ago #
getagrip (Member)

Chicken mite or Northern fowl mite..ok bird mite..anyhow find abandoned/dead bird nest.
If not try house mice mite. The nest will have to be located and removed. I don't think you need any more pesticide applications. You need the maintenence man, this nest could be anywhere. Go outside your apt. building and look up to see if there is a bird problem. Ask your neighbors who have been there a while if they know of any bird problems Let us know what happens.

Posted 1 year ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

Aren't you glad getagrip is here?

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

Thank-you for your advice. However, I no longer live in the building that initially gave me the problem. I have moved from place to place in the hopes of ridding myself of the bug. Now I am in a new apartment. There are no nests. The insect came with me (probably in my clothes or on my skin) when I moved here. I didn't come with belongings, so they didn't move in that way.

There WERE many pigeons living on the roof the building I was in previously (where this all started), and I was living on the top floor. But the balcony was netted off to birds. I asked the superintendent if anyone else has reported an insect infestation like this, and the answer was no.

A vertrinary technician friend has looked at several samples of insect that I snagged off bites with cellophane tape. She has found two good samples that show the insect clearly. She says that it looks like an elongated head-louse, with either 6 legs and two antennae folded under the corpse, or 8 legs.

A few days ago I saw a tiny, white, flying insect fly from beneath a kitchen cupboard, towards to newly boiled clothes hung in the kitchen. I think I managed to grab it, but it was barely 3mm in size. I am desperately hoping that it is not related to the crawlers (which move fast, VERY fast) but I have read on other sites, as well as here, about white, flying, biting insects. I have only seen a flyer twice, but I do worry that there may be a connection.

The bugs appear to be off-white in a pale yellow kind-of way, and the vet tech says that they either have 8 legs or 6 legs and two antennae, and that they look like elongated head lice.
Bites: Small raised ones at the moment, and they disappear in minutes. The one I got last night was totally gone in half-an-hour.

Pesticides: I am currently getting from 1-3 bites per 24 hr period. This is with practically no belongings, boiling all clothes one hour, and spraying countertops and floors and in cupboards with 70%- 100% bleach daily. I leave the apartment for three hours following spraying, and leave the fans on, to ensure that aerosoled bleach is gone by the time I return, to reduce mucosal membrane irritation. There was a short time last month where the spray bottle, that I use to apply bleach with, malfunctioned and was only squirting as opposed to spraying a mist. A lot of area was missed until I noticed this. During this time the bites increased quite dramatically, and only reduced when I got a new bottle that properly sprayed a mist. I feel that continued pesticide use (bleach is considered an insecticide/pesticide) is essential at this point.

I appreciate all input and suggestions very much. Thank-you.
rme.

Posted 1 year ago #
getagrip (Member)

There is another mite that may be worth checking into. It's called the straw itch mite. It's considered beneficial because it usually feeds on stored product pests ie. flour moths, grain beetles etc. They are white to yellowish but the bird mite is also white before it feeds. None fly. Look up "straw itch mite" or Pyemotes tritici..if not related are Myobiid mites, Feather mites, Scab and manage mites.Good hunting..get back to us, we will resolve this.

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

Hi. Tha image of Pyemotes tritici.. on the webpage http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=3037033
looks like the insect that I only saw in shillouette (sorry about the spelling) under my fathers microscope (His microscope only has light from below). But so does a body louse, the straw itch mite, and the unfed bird mite. The bugs don't change colour once they've fed. I've never seen one in any color other than the off-white.

Another bit of info that I think might be relevent: they seem to like wet/humidity. Before I shaved my head, I would be bitten occasionally around the heair-line, but after a shower the bites were numerous and large. I am bitten more frequently after a shower or when I'm in the bathroom. I'm pretty sure that buying the dehumidifyer and putting it next to the stove while boiling my clothes has dcreased the bites. When I was trying to sprout avocado piits in glasses of water, I would find the little bug carcasses in the water, they having crawled in to the water.

Do Straw itch mites, or Pyemotes tritici follow one about from place to place, in clothing and hair, as I have been followed by "my" bugs? I can't understand why the constant boiling, showering (now with carbolic soap), shaving, and the lack of personal belongings (no couch, bed, blankets, clothing other than what I can boil in a day, no carpet, nor much of anything) and spraying with 70% bleach daily hasn't ended this. Also, do the mites mentioned survive in water (bite in the shower) or wait for a host on hard surfaces (plastic bottles, countertops)?

What would be thr treatment for Pyemotes tritici or mites? I was using regular bug spray for months, then 0.25% pymethrin spray (Ortho Home Defence Max), then finally the bleach. So far on ly the bleach has yielded any results.

Thank-you.
rme.

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

Another observation that I want to add (please bear with me as I add more), these little white bugs crawl very fast. Speedy, really. I've felt and seen them move at incredible speed for their size.

Posted 1 year ago #
getagrip (Member)

Tell Dad a flashlight held at a 45 degree angle above the specimen under the old scope works wonders.
Now, I've been thinking about you and re read all your info..the only lice/mites that would travel so much ( with no furniture or clothes, or stuffed animals?..) would likely be back to body lice (in your clothes) head ( but you shaved it) or crab. So consider this..another host bringing them in. Is it possible you have a close friend that has visited all these places and had contact with you that may be infested? They may seem clean but maybe?...

Posted 1 year ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

I was thinking body lice too. But speedy, lice are not. Fast moving makes me think flea. Does it hop or crawl? You really need to catch one, put it in a container and take it to your local university. Get an entomologist to look at it. The first step for any pest control strategy is positive identification.

Posted 1 year ago #
getagrip (Member)

One point rme is overlooking is that insect bites don't usually appear the moment you're bitten, it takes time for a welt to appear. She feels that she's being bitten in the shower but I'm guessing the welts are appearing to her there. Not only do we need a positive ID on the lice/mite but we need a doctor, there must be something to put on the skin. Good luck she's in Canada.

Posted 1 year ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

The Canadian health care system is not that bad! Republican propaganda....

Posted 1 year ago #
getagrip (Member)

LOL.. Democrate propaganda back at ya! Define "not that bad". Only 3 months wait for emergency surgery, unless you're a gov't offical or celebrity? Woohooo..let's ask rme. Why haven't you gone to a doctor rme?

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

Hi y'all. I have read that body lice are quite fast movers. I have observed a little white speck crawling up my arm (almost 3/4" /sec?). So I have considered them as the culprit. However, there are some atypical behaviours such as crawling up the legs and biting, from the balcony, as well as biting my two indoor-only cats. I can't be 100% sure that the insect that infested the plants out there was the same one that's biting, but it sure looks the same, and it would be a big co-incidence if it is not (plants infested, malathion not working. Removal of plants resulted in bugs biting me outside, then suddenly I am being bitten inside when ever, initially, I am near the blacony door). I have wondered if this is some kind of imported body louse. But it could be something else entirely.

When I looked at the insect under Dad's microscope, we did try very powerful flashlights aimed at the sample, to no avail.

No-one else except my mother has reported being bitten. The bites started within days of moving to a new apartment, Oct '07. The cats started scratching first, then about 2 or three days later, I started to get the odd bite. I didn't really think about them until June '08. That's when I started balcony plantings, the plants got infested, and I really started getting bitten a lot. The cats were crying and exclaiming as they would suddenly stop and then start biting and licking at something on their bodies. I had to avoid that part of the livingroom completely.

I agree that it's possible that the bites I notice in the shower were not actually being made while I was in there. The bites I get do tend to welt up immediately (I've caught an insect on a bite by A. feeling the bite and B. seeing the lump welt up), but water on them makes them hurt and itch. So an old bite of a few days old may cause distress for several days after whenever it gets wet. At one point, when I still had hair, I was shampooing with Flea Shampoo. This really seemed to tick the bugs off, and I would go into the shower sans bite, and come out with bites all around the hairline. That would seem that they are capable of biting in the shower. I've been dealing with these critters for so long that I would believe almost anything possible of them.

GOOD NEWS: an insect taxonomist at the local university has agreed to take a look and try to I.D these little critters. I am hopeful that he will be successful, and will be able to tell me an effective way to kill them off for good.

I did try to get in to the doctors office a few months ago. I was shunted off to the health nurse there, who told me I was out of my mind and that there are no bugs that look like this or bite like this, or that are this hard to erradicate. After I continued to request that she advise me as to whether or not there was something to "make me less tasty" to bugs, she prescribed Kwellada-P lotion, 5% permethrins. I haven't used it yet. I have been intending to use it when the Pest Control Company used by the Landlord finally makes their move to kill off the things. Then I will use the lotion and put on clean clothes so that while I am away from the apartment when it's being sprayed, I am bug free (I hope-- this depends on whether or not Kwellada kills these things). Then hopefully then I can reurn to a bug-free apartment and not bring any nasties back with me. That's the PLAN anyway. Fingers crossed. So far, though, permethrins in the form of "Dragnet" haven't been effective in the last apartment.

And fingers crossed that the insect taxonomist will be able to I.D. them, and that they're killable, and that I can get back my life...

Posted 1 year ago #
getagrip (Member)

Fingers crossed!!Let us be the first to know, you have a lot of people on edge even though they don't post ..they read..and don't forget the case of beer J and I have riding on this!

Posted 1 year ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

Just one case? You said a keg!

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

Oops, I got metric and imperial measurements mixed up: I should've said thte little bugger travels at around 1cm/second. Still pretty fast.

Someone has a case of beer riding on this? Oh no, I already have too much pressure on me! :-p. No more, please.

I will keep you posted.

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

Oh, have had no bites for two days. I hope that posting this doesn't jinx things. I hope to be able to wear a coat and boots this winter.

By the way, Canada has many great Health care systems. Ontario's means that I don't have to pay for a doctors visit, and that serious illness won't end up with you in debt. We're happy that we don't have to either pay for insurance, or get no help. So don't worry about me in that regard. :-)

rme.

Posted 1 year ago #
getagrip (Member)

Hey rme read the post by angiemitehater..we DO have some talent on this site.

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

Yep, I read the postings by angiemitehater awhile ago. Thanks.

Well, the trip to the insect taxonomist at the local university seems to have paid off. He says that the samples were damaged, and it was hard to see much clearly, but one really intrigued him. He spent half an hour turning it over and over and came to the conclusion that IF (He put it in capital letters) it is an insect, that it is a newly hatched one because of the softness of the body, and the tranlucency, thus the damage when picked up with tape. He says that it can only be a louse. That's good enough for me. I know the samples were damaged because these critters are very soft, but the veterinery technician saw a very clear, intact bug when she looked at them. This satifies me that the delicate sample was a tad more distorted by the time the professisonal insect i.d'r got to it. A person with that kind of professional reputation doesn't go throwing around opinions casually. Since he says IF it's an insect (and he was "intrigued by the sample"), then it's definitely a louse, then IT'S A LOUSE. The vet tech said that it appeared to be a louse, but longer than a head louse. So, then, body louse.

I haven't been bitten for three days, now.

I'm thinking that all the possession disposal, bleach spraying, showering with carbolic soap, body hair shaving, and dehumidifying has worked. I won't truly believe it until I've been bite free for 8 weeks at the least, but I'm very hopeful. When the pest control company was hired by the landlord to spray with permethrins, it got worse/the situation did not improve. The new apartment was also sprayed with permethrins before I moved in. Since this had no effect on the louse, I'd say it's one of the resistant strains I've read about. We have eMailed the man at the university to ask if he has any ideas on how to combat a permethrin reistant body louse. I hope that he eMails back. He has been very good to us thus far. If he does have suggestions, I will pass them onto the landlord in the hopes that he will give erradicating the bug another try.

So I hope this helps some people reading this forum thread. I've been battling the bug for a long time. Like I said, until it's been eight weeks bite free, I won't believe it's over. But a diagnosis has been made.

Thank-you all who have given advice and information. Please keep an eye on this thread as I will be continuing to add information to it as things progress.
Wish me luck! :-)

rme

Posted 1 year ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

rme, I would like to thank you for sharing this with us. Hopefully people will find this thread (people with body louse problems) and find it helpful. Congrats on figuring out the problem. I look forward to future updates.

Thanks to getagrip as well for providing as much input as he has.

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

I feel like such a fool! Last night I thought that it would a good idea to take a (previously boiled) sweater from out of one of the airtight bags that I've had sitting on the livingroom floor for the last month. Each has been periodically sprayed with bleach. WELL, I took out the sweater, put it into the pot, got it boiling, and had a shower. Put on the nightshirt that I had hanging in the kitchen from the morning's boiling. a few minutes later BAM! 5mm itchy bite on the end of the right eyebrow. Aiya me! I rubbed around on my face trying to catch something, but no avail. Threw the nightshirt into the pot with the sweater, had another shower with carbolic soap. I ended up with 2mm bites around the eyebrow, and later that evening I felt something doing a rapel-style fall down my left cheekbone. Got three 2mm bites on the left side of my neck. With tape, I caught something hard and white and elongated on my cheekbone. I don't know if it's a bug. After two showers the chances of it being a skin secretion are small. The vet tech that I know has kindly agreed to look a the previous samples to see if they are very damaged, and at this new one to see if it's a really good sample to show the prof' again.

I have discarded all clothing that I cannot wear in a day. So I have a total of two nightshirts, a pair of flip-flops, one set of underwear, a tank top, a pair of capri pants, a bandana, and a sweater. Period. That's all I own in clothing. Nothing else soft. Hopefully it was the bags on the floor that were my downfall, and now that they're gone, things will continue to improve. All items are stored in airtight plastic bags in the fridge.

I'm not sure about the helpfulness of the fridge because at one point, when I was leaving a shelter that I was staying at, and I took out from the freezer the frozen food I had saved there, that action resulted in bites all up my hands and arms, and eventually my neck. And the insects have shown that cold means nothing to them in the past. After all, the sofa cushions spent the whole, cold Canadian winter on the balcony, and still were crawling when they were brought in again.

The man at the university told me not to despair, that things can be done to rectify this. But iif permethrin spray, malathion, chlorine bleach, shaving all hair, eating garlic, and erradicating anything soft cannot help, then what can? I'm feeling deperate again. I have developed panic disorder as a result of this situation and it makes it harder to deal with it. Some websites mention that there are permethrin and malathion resistant body lice, but no mention is made of what else to try. All seem to think that treating the individual and washing/ironing the clothes will be enough. I think I've done all that's humanly possible. What more can I do?

I'm asking, here, what more can I do?

Feeling desperate,
rme.

Posted 1 year ago #
getagrip (Member)

How long were you in the shelter and since it seems you had the problem before you went in, it may be prudent to contact the shelter.

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

Hi. yes, I told the shelter when I was bitten. I told them I was having a problem before I went in, as well. They accepted me, but told me that should I continue to get bitten, I would have to leave. After three (?) nights, I left on my own accord.

I am being bitten again, since opening those clothing bags. Getting desperate again, folks. Have just looked at http://www.birdmites.org/nightmare.html
Feeling very stressed. His story seems just like mine. Identical. http://www.prohealth.com/blog/boardDetail.cfm?id=191865&setBoard=ChitChat is from a woman in Canada whofinds the same thing with her bird mites that I've found with my bugs: they seem to like estrogen. I'm really concerned now becuase although body lice seem to be like herpes ("for life"), there seemed to be some light at the end of the tunnel for some people. With Bird Mites, it seems suicide or a life of infestation. I DO have the coughing and sneezing that's mentioned on the URL
http://www.pestmall.com/rodent-and-bird-mites-in-homes.html
"Some with a prolonged bird mite infestation in the home eventually have problems with the mites becoming internal for at least part of their life cycle. Some symptoms include: a productive cough with white phlegm in the morning, itching ears and eyes, sneezing and coughing when the mites are in the nose/mouth"
I am also suffering the joint pain, just started recently.

I am a conservative, quiet-living, middle-aged woman who has always been meticulous about personal hygiene, laundering and housework. If I could get body lice, anyone can. Perhaps it really is a bird mite, which under the circumstances (there were a lot of pigeons on the building although my balcony was netted off) may seem more likely. I did not have this problem until I moved from a middle-class building to a lower-income building.

I am not sure about the insect taxonomist's diagnosis. His opinion was tentative, based on a distorted, newly hatched sample. And he was never told of the insects behaviour. Biting from an outdoor location, being worse in a humid area, biting cats...these do sound like a bird mite. Are there any that look like body lice, or would look like a body louse when newly hatched? I have seen pictures of some varieties, online, that seem to. Does anyone know what variety these are and the likelyhood of them being mistaken for a body louse?

Posted 1 year ago #
ShellyT09 (Member)

If you live in the South, like Florida they are called no-see-ums;meaning they bite you but youcan't see them or find them!!

I'll tryto look up some info. for U. ShellyT09

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

We get no-see-ums in northern and north-central Ontario, but not ususally here in southern Ontario. Really, the profile of the bird mite fits my experience exactly. Likes humidity, likes women (estrogen), tiny, white (I have begun to find small black specks on my bites, too; maybe more than one type of infestation?) comes out at dusk, can get to you by waiting on countertops and other objects, bites cats and humans, infests balconies. These are not the only behaviour matches that make me feel that I have bird mites, there are more. I spoke to a couple of Pest Control companies today: they say that no bird mite behaves as my bugs behave. Then again, they also said that no body louse behaves that way, either. They have their training and education, and feel that anything that falls outside of that doesn't exist. Or so they say.

I have bought a Celestron digital microscope. With the digital zoom I can get up to 1600x magnification. I was only able to see a basic outline of the sample that had already been identified by the taxonomist, when I tested it at the store. I'm hoping that with a bit of manual reading, I can get a better visual and take a picture of what's on the screen (it has a built-in "Snap" function and memory). I am getting quite sick and desperate so I hope that the microscope helps me turn up good samples to send to a qualified entomologist.

Has anyone ever gotten rid of these things?

Posted 1 year ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

You guys lost me on post #10. I'm afraid you'll have to find an entomologist. So we ruled out louse how, again? I don't remember what happened between when you solved the problem and when it escalated.

Posted 1 year ago #
getagrip (Member)

#10 was just the end of Chapter 1. You'll have to try harder to keep up!

Posted 1 year ago #
rme (Member)

Is there any way to upload images? I have several that are very good, and thought that posting them might be helpful. A head shot, a body shot or two, a lot of shots showing long antennae...etc.

From what I can see, this is a bird mite. I have caught a red speck that is harder to see because it doesn't show up as well as the white ones, but there are a few landmarks (i.e. sphere shapes dotted along the side of the body, I think eight legs, for example) that make me think that it may be a blood engorged bird mite. Since it is white when not full, I fear that I may have an infestation of the kind of bird mite (someone said "Chicken mite") that is really hard to get rid of. I have not heard of anyone actually managing to get rid of an infestation of bird mites, and from what I've read, these little white ones are the toughest of them all.

One of the nasty specimens that I caught was from the inner piece of an ear-plug that I used last night. Theh picture shows a head with two long antennae coming out from it. This thing came from inside my ear canal! I feel just sick...

Posted 1 year ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

RME, start a blog for free at blogger.com and then post the pictures there. Then, link to them from here.

Posted 1 year ago #

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