# Biting no-see-ems at Vero Beach?



## CMF

I was just told that Vero Beach is lousy with no-seems-ems.  Is it true? How bad are they?  Does regular insect repellant do the trick?  I'll be there with the clan in about a month.

Charles


----------



## littlestar

We stayed there a couple of years ago and I sprayed insect repellent on when I went to the beach and I never had a problem. I've heard that the Atlantic beaches have the "no seeums" but we've never really noticed them at Vero or Hilton Head. But, we always use insect repellent when we go to the beach.

Have fun!


----------



## Carl D

littlestar said:
			
		

> We stayed there a couple of years ago and I sprayed insect repellent on when I went to the beach and I never had a problem. I've heard that the Atlantic beaches have the "no seeums" but we've never really noticed them at Vero or Hilton Head. But, we always use insect repellent when we go to the beach.
> 
> Have fun!


This has also been our experience.
We have been many times and have never gotten bit, but we alwas use deet during the evening hours.


----------



## Sea Six

They don't bother you during the day, but get bad around sunset and after dark.  If you're not on the beach then, you probably won't notice them.  We were always told that Skin-So-Soft was a good repellant.


----------



## rreno

*no see em's*

From what I understand is they are really sand fleas.  The last 2 years we have been in Daytona and have had attacks both times.  The reaction is  several days later.  I have been told that Avon skin so soft works.  We will try that next year.  By the way reaction lasts about two weeks.


----------



## pcgirl54

It happened to me on Captiva Island in 2003. It was awful and lasted 2-3 weeks. No one else was bitten but me. Maybe when I did the Sanibel stoop everyday looking for shells. I never heard of them before. Never have been bitten anywhere else and we visit Hilton Head and other parts of Florida every year.


----------



## pedro47

We never had a problem at HHI, but at Parris Island. Yes !


----------



## STEVIE

I have never heard of this.  What type of reacton do you get from these bugs, and what do they look like?  Thanks, Sue


----------



## Sea Six

susgar said:
			
		

> what do they look like?



If you see a bug, it's not a no-see-um.  You'll know when you find them when you feel the bites on you legs!


----------



## pcgirl54

*No-see ums*

susgar
You do not see  but you will feel the after effects from the bites. You cannot stop itching,there is no relief. My legs looked horrid and I then realized what must have happened and why the name says it all.....


----------



## STEVIE

HOW DO YOU TREAT IT?  Does a rash appear where you were bitten?


----------



## Sea Six

Don't worry too much about this.  The bites start around sunset.  If you feel yourself getting bitten, just get off the beach.  The funny thing is there are so few beaches that have these bugs.  I've been all over the west coast (and east coast) and never had a problem except on Captiva Island.  If you go out around dusk, just spread a good repellant on your legs. There's no way to know in advance if you may get attacked! 

PS: These things are much like mosquitoes in most places.  You don't notice the bugs - just the damn bites!  When you feel yourself being eaten alive, just go somehwere else.  They are no big deal if you just get out of their way.


----------



## Jimster

*bites*

I had the same reaction while on Jeykl Island in Southern Georgia.  It's quite a painful experience.  Obviously, some people are more sensitive to them than others.  In my case, if I am with a group, I am always the one bitten.  They raise large welts on me and cause me to itch incessantly.  About the only relief I get is with something with benzocaine (solarcaine has benzocaine as an example).  The benzocaine actually freezes the skin to pain and thereby relieves the itching.  It is my understanding these insects are really sand fleas.


----------



## Neesie

Is this the same as "chiggers"?


----------



## Dave M

From Wikipedia:





> *No-see-ums*, (Leptoconops torrens), are small biting flies in the family Ceratopogonidae. Adults are black and tiny, about 1/16 inch long, and are small enough to pass through window screens.
> 
> These flies are ferocious biters with a seemingly insatiable thirst for blood. As with mosquito, only the females bite. Males either do not feed or only feed on nectar or honeydew secreted by aphids and scale insects. No-see-ums will bite humans, domestic and wild animals and birds. They have short mouthparts and feed by injecting saliva into the skin, which causes blood to pool just under the skin surface. The bite is generally painless, but usually results in a small flat red spot that within 12 hours becomes excruciatingly itchy. In sensitive individuals a single bite can result in a swollen itchy spot 1-2 inches in diameter. Scratching No-see-um bites can double the length of time they require to disappear and can lead to infected sores.



From another site:





> There are *chiggers* and then there are chiggers. One kind causes itching and the other causes pain, but they both get under your skin.
> 
> The English language applies the name chigger to two quite distinct species of insect that share the common quality of being very small and burrowing into the skin. Widespread throughout the United States is a tiny red mite, Trombicula irritans, that sits on plants waiting for humans or other animals to show it some skin. It's only about one-fiftieth of an inch across, and it takes four to eight hours for its feeding to create an itch, so by the time you notice it the mite may be already gone. There's nothing to do but wash the bite and try to avoid scratching it.
> 
> A more painful kind of chigger is a flea, Tunga penetrans, which is at home in the tropics. In the United States, it is found mainly in the Southeast. The female looks for bare human feet and hops on between the toes or under the toe-nails. She cuts open the skin, burrows most of the way in, feeds, and lays eggs. Three or four days later the eggs hatch and new fleas are born. These chiggers go through a complete life cycle in about seventeen days, so a minor nuisance can soon become a major invasion. The engorged chigger makes her habitat very painful for its owner, and her activity can lead to secondary infections like tetanus and gangrene. But she can be killed with ethyl chloride spray.


----------



## carolbol

I left Vero Beach last week. No flies, beach beautiful.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn Beach Side on our way over to OP in  West Palm Beach.  We are at OP now.
We were at Vero Beach on 8/25/06.


----------



## Jim Bryan

Can happen on any Florida Beach. They look like very small black dots. Skin so soft works.


----------

