Feeding frenzies

You're not likely to survive a Southeast Missouri summer without a bug bite or two. Or 50.

From mosquitoes to ticks to chiggers, nearly everyone has a home remedy for preventing bites or dealing with the itchy side effects. Some of the remedies have a basis in medical truth, while others are a little less reliable.

Here's the scoop on what really works to prevent and treat bites, based on the advice of a local physician who specializes in tick-borne diseases and an entomologist at Southeast Missouri State University.

Chiggers

What they are: Technically, chiggers aren't even insects. They're the juvenile (or larval) form of a mite. This particular type of mite is the only kind that feeds on vertebrate animals in their childhood.

The myths: If you grew up in rural Southeast Missouri, you probably know the old stand-bys when it comes to killing chiggers: smother them with nail polish; bathe in bleach or salt water.

The problem with those solutions, said Dr. Diane Wood, an aquatic entomologist and professor at Southeast Missouri State University, is the insect is already gone by the time you notice symptoms.

Chiggers do not bury themselves beneath a person's skin, nor do they drink blood -- two of the biggest misconceptions out there.

"The itching people experience is the body's immune system responding to enzymes in the chigger's saliva. When an individual is itching, by that point the chigger has already fed and crawled off of them," said Wood.

Wood said chiggers live in grass and other vegetation, so they can be picked up in your yard.

Repellents and treatments: Wood recommends antihistamines and cortisone creams to soothe the itch. While nail polish does not smother the insect, as many believe, it does contain a drying agent that may alleviate swelling and itching for some people.

Ticks

Tick

What they are: Missouri's most common ticks are the lone star tick, American dog tick and deer tick, also known as the black-legged tick. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, ticks are most often found in woods, tall grass, weeds and brushy areas. They are not usually found in well-maintained lawns. Like chiggers, ticks are not truly insects. They're more closely related to spiders.

The myths: Ticks do not drop from trees or jump from nearby bushes onto people. In fact, they don't jump or climb very high, period. Smothering ticks with petroleum jelly, killing them with gasoline or burning them off with matches are not the best ways to remove them.

"With ticks, duration of attachment is critical," said Dr. Ed Masters, a Cape Girardeau physician who specializes in tick-borne diseases. "It takes sometimes a day or more for germs to get from the belly of a tick into you." He said if you can remove the ticks, and check every 24 hours or less for new ones, you can tremendously reduce risk of any tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Masters advised against irritating or trying to smother the tick because it could lead to the tick vomiting the contents of its stomach -- which contain germs that cause tick-borne diseases -- into your bloodstream.

He recommends keeping ticks in a plastic baggie with a blade of grass for 30 days after you've been bitten, just in case symptoms arise.

"If you do get ill, and you happen to have the tick that bit you, we can test the tick for what diseases may have been transmitted and get a leg up on treatments," Masters said.

The most effective method is probably the simplest: Use a pair of tweezers or your fingers, pulling gently to avoid leaving the insect's head attached.

Repellents and treatments: Insect repellent containing DEET generally works well for repelling ticks and chiggers, but should not be applied directly to skin, Wood said. She recommends wearing white, so that ticks become immediately visible, and tucking pants into socks.

Wood uses sulfur powder, which can be purchased at a pharmacy, as a repellant for both ticks and chiggers. She puts the powder in a sock, ties a knot at the top and then places that into a second sock, which she then hits against her pants legs to distribute the sulfur.

"It works really well in my experience for keeping chiggers and ticks off and you don't have to deal with other nasty chemicals," she said.

Mosquitoes

Mosquito

What they are: There more than 130 species of mosquitoes in the United States. According to Masters, these insects kill 2 million people worldwide each year with diseases such as West Nile virus, malaria and encephalitis.

The myths: Not all mosquitoes bite. Female mosquitoes are the ones to worry about; males do not bite. Masters said mosquitoes that feed at dawn and dusk have been found to carry the most diseases. He believes mosquitoes have color preferences, such as red.

Repellents and treatments: Wood said the best way to reduce the mosquito population around your home is to eliminate water sources.

"Mosquitoes are going to be present. You can't get rid of them, but you can control the population," Wood said. Citronella candles work well as a repellant, but only in a limited range. Wood said she has found other repelling methods, such as bug zappers and sonic wave technology to be ineffective.