BUGS

THERE ARE BUGS THAT FEED ON HUMANS
By Pierre Mouchette | Bits-n-Pieces

​Yes, many insects and external parasites feed on us while we sleep, work and play.  This article will explain how to get rid of these pests.  The most notorious are: 

Insects

• Bed Bugs – are parasitic insects that feed exclusively on the blood of humans and other warm-blooded organisms.  Like mosquitoes, they are attracted to carbon dioxide.  While we sleep, the carbon dioxide we exhale pulls them out of their daytime hiding places.  Bed bugs can cause skin rashes.
  
  
• Fleas – suck blood from their hosts (mammals and birds).  Their saliva helps dissolve skin so that they can suck blood more readily.  Fleas can stay in their cocoon for up to six months or until it emerges after being stimulated by some touch.  Fleas are a disease vector.
  
  
• Flies - transmit parasites, diseases, and skin infections to humans.  These flies include the Tsetse fly (transmits parasites to humans, which cause African sleeping sickness); Deer fly (transmits bacteria and the bacterial disease rabbit fever, and the parasitic Loa loa or eye worm); and the Sand-fly (transmits a disfiguring skin infection).
  
  
• Lice – there are three types of lice: head lice (found on the scalp, neck, and behind the ears), body lice (they are the only ones known to spread disease), and pubic area lice (often called crabs).  Lice are spread by close contact with another person since they can only move by crawling.  While lice typically feed on skin, they can also feed on blood and other skin secretions.
  
  
• Mosquitoes – can locate their target by sight, infrared radiation, lactic acid (perspiration), and carbon dioxide (emitted by the host).  They can do the preceding at distances up to 100 feet!  The bite is from the female, who can drink blood at least her body weight.  Some species transmit Malaria, Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, and West Nile virus.

 
External Parasites

• Mites – have mouth parts adapted to feeding on the dead skin cells of humans.  Mites cause an infection known as scabies by laying their eggs under the top layer of the skin.  Mites, like other arthropods, shed their exoskeleton.  This external covering can become airborne and, when inhaled by those sensitive to it, cause an allergic reaction.
  
  
• Ticks – there are over 800 species of ticks, but only two families of ticks are known to transmit disease or illness to humans.  These ticks are vectors for humans and animals.  Ticks embed themselves in the skin and can be very difficult to remove.  Signs of diseases include itching, burning, redness or red spots, and localized pain.  Symptoms may include fever, shortness of breath, vomiting, headache, confusion, and palpitations.  Diseases transmitted include Lyme disease, Q fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Colorado tick fever.

 
Note:  a bug is an insect, but an insect is not necessarily a bug!