Other Bites & Stings

A midge is a tiny, non-biting fly that resembles a mosquito. Although they are harmless, they are drawn to light and can swarm in annoyingly large numbers.

Whether you're collecting insects or trying to avoid them, it's worth knowing what attracts them. From ants to beetles, many insects are drawn to various types of food, chemicals, and light.

Stinging nettles are herbaceous annual or perennial plants found in various climates throughout the world and frequently in North America. The leaves of the stinging nettles are covered with silky...

Removing dead skin or dead tissue from a wound is part of the process of cleaning it, and is absolutely vital in order for the wound to heal. Cleansing a wound of dead skin or necrotic tissue,...

Sea urchins protect themselves with long, sharp spines. These can easily penetrate human skin and break off, releasing toxins into the body. These wounds can be very painful and will require...

Sting rays are a cartilaginous fish common in tropical and subtropical waters around the world. Closely related to sharks, sting rays have long, flexible tails that hold venom-filled barbs used to...

When you get a cut, scrape, or burn, there is always a chance that it could become infected if it is not cleaned as soon as possible. Having isopropyl alcohol handy will kill all of the germs and...

Lice are bloodsucking parasites that can infest humans and animals. Humans are susceptible to infestations involving several different types of lice, including head lice, body lice and pubic lice....

Anyone who has been bitten by chiggers or scabies knows they cause intense itching and discomfort. Chiggers and scabies, however, are two distinct types of mites. They attack humans and animals...

Diatomaceous earth is an all-natural, 100% organic product made from the microscopic remains of tiny fossilized, hard-shelled, algae-like water plants. These tiny water plants have been an...

Bubble CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) is a procedure that doctors use to help promote breathing in premature newborns. The key to the procedure is the bubbles, which are created in a...

If you walk barefoot through your yard, you will know instantly if you come into contact with a stinging nettle plant. Stinging nettles have small, hair-like stingers on their leaves, and when...

According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Ascaris lumbricoides alone accounts for 1.4 billion roundworm infections throughout the world. Understanding how roundworms...

Scrapes---a spot where your skin has been damaged or rubbed off---come from all types of injuries. Scrapes usually bleed a small amount when you first receive them and then heal slowly as new skin...

Scabies and chigger bites are both painful conditions caused by microscopic mites. Scabies is an itchy skin condition resulting from contact with eight-legged mites and is usually spread quickly...

Human bite wounds that puncture the skin can lead to serious infections, scarring and damage to tendons and joints. Bite wounds occur during physical altercations where an individual cuts their...

Scabies is a skin condition caused by small mites known as Sarcoptes scabies. Body lice are small, wingless, gray insects that live on human hair and skin. Both cause acute itching, redness and...

Scorpions, which are an order of arachnids, use venom to incapacitate prey and ward off potential predators. Perhaps 20 of the more than 1,050 species worldwide possess toxins of sufficient...

Lice infestations can temporarily take over your house. Although lice live on people, they can jump from a person into various places in your home such as a pillow or your carpet. Although lice...

Poison oak is a shrub-shaped plant common in the United States. The plant contains an oil based chemical called urushiol, which will result in redness, welts, swelling, burning and itching when in...

Once thought to have been eradicated 50 years ago, bedbugs are making a comeback. These tiny insects feed on the blood of humans and animals. Bedbugs were all but wiped out by the pesticide DDT....

Catfish are large, bottom-dwelling fish that can be found all over the world in freshwater or marine habitats. Catfish are known for their trademark large mouths and whiskers. In addition to these...

A yellow jacket sting falls into the category of insect bites referred to as hymenoptera, which includes stings or bites from bees, ants, hornets and wasps (yellow jackets). The hymenoptera sting...

Sea lice is a term commonly used to describe Swimmer's itch (also known as sea bather's eruption or Cercarial Dermatitis). Actual sea lice are parasite bugs that affect fish and sea lice describes...

Lindane is used to cure lice and scabies. Also known as Benzene hexachloride or Gamma hexachlorocyclohexane, Lindane is only prescribed if you have tried other medications and they have not...

Mites can be a pain, literally. Mites feed off their hosts, typically rats or birds, biting them and sucking their blood. Biting mites can cause irritation and discomfort for both pet and humans...

Scabies is a skin infection caused by the scabies mite, technically Sarcoptes scabiei, burrowing in the skin. A scabies infection is highly infectious even before any symptoms of the scabies rash...

Pinworms are the most common roundworm infection. Pinworms are highly infectious, and they can live off a host for up to two weeks. Pinworms generally infect humans, then begin their life cycle...

Hookworm is a generic name for a small group of parasites that latch onto the intestines of their victims through hook-like appendages near their mouths. Millions of people worldwide become...

Oak spider mites, or Oligonychus bicolor, are tiny reddish-brown mites that primarily causes major leaf bronzing in the bottom leaves of oak trees. They lay their eggs, which look like red...

Tapeworms rarely cause symptoms within their human or animal hosts. Most of the time, those who are host to a tapeworm don't even know they are infected, unless the parasite grows too large. At...

The life expectancy of body lice is an average of 30-40 days. Body lice typically attach themselves to clothes or human hair and then transfer to the human body to feed. Body lice are slightly...

Scabies is a skin condition that can be treated by prescribed oral medications, lotions and creams. This rash consists of intense itching and painful blisters.

Itchy bites, often a result of an attack by a mosquito, can be among the most unpleasant and lingering forms of itchy skin. It happens because these blood-feeding insects inject an anti-coagulant...

Chiggers are a tiny red mite (sometimes called red bugs) that leave very itchy bites---commonly on the ankles, although bites show up elsewhere, too. Contrary to popular belief, chiggers do not...

Scorpions are members of the arachnid family and are closely related to spiders. Like their better- known cousins, they use their venom to kill or paralyze their prey. It is costly, in terms of...

Chigger bites are the bane of outdoor campers and backyard barbecue afficionados. This wee pest--less than 1/150th of an inch in diameter--is the larval form of the Trombiculidae mite. Contrary to...

Trypanosoma brucei, or T. Brucei is a species of parasite that lives within a mammal's bloodstream and is known to cause several neurologic conditions, most notably, African sleeping sickness. ...

The stem and leaves of the stinging nettle plant possess tiny defensive quills. When touched, these quills inject toxins into the skin. While uncomfortable, the side effects are generally mild.

Sea urchins live on the bottoms of shallow oceans all over the world. Some urchins are flat and others are round, but all are covered with long spikes that they can imbed into the skin of other...

Sea urchins are beautiful creatures that live on the sea floor under shallow ocean waters. Although fun to look at, humans should never touch or move sea urchins. Unfortunately, it is possible for...

Head lice are very small insects that live on the scalp, which is also where they lay their eggs. They survive longer when on the scalp, but how long can head lice live without body contact?

A mite that can lay twenty-five eggs on a single human hair follicle, live from fourteen to eighteen days, and is prevalent among humans may sound like an epidemic. However, because mites do not...

Ancient Hawaiians made use of all the plants in their homeland. Some were used as food, some as medicine, some for building, cordage and fiber. The plants they used for medicine are called the...

Lice begin their lives as nits. These are the eggs laid by the female louse in a host's hair. In her lifetime, which is about a month long, the average female will produce more than 100 nits. It's...

Skin mites are a group of microscopic organisms that burrow into a mammal's skin. For humans, most skin mites are not a problem. A few, however, are easily transmitted and spread. In most cases,...

Scorpion stings are a major health concern in underdeveloped countries. In Mexico, scorpion stings account for about a thousand deaths per year, whereas in the United States only a handful or...

Mites are tiny creatures (less than a millimeter long) that look somewhat like insects. However, they occupy the Arachnida class of the Arthropod phylum along with spiders and ticks. Most mite...

Onchocerciasis disease is more commonly known as river blindness. Onchocerciasis is the result of an infection by Onchocerca volvulus, which is a parasitic worm. The parasite is introduced into...

Herpes B is a virus that is common among primates. The disease manifests itself as lesions on the skin. Herpes B is generally not considered a human disease, but, in rare cases, humans have been...