chigger

Dictionary: chig·ger   (chĭg'ər)

1. Any of various small, six-legged larvae of mites of the family Trombiculidae, parasitic on insects, humans, and other vertebrates. The chigger's bite produces a wheal that is usually accompanied by severe itching. Also called chigoe, harvest bug; Also called harvest mite, jigger; Also called red bug.
2. See chigoe (sense 1).

[Alteration of CHIGOE.]

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.

The name chigger, which has been used in English since 1756 (deriving from chigoe, 1691), has two possible languages of origin, both spoken in tropical areas where the chigger of the second kind thrives. One possible source is Kalihna or Galibi, a Cariban language of Guyana and Suriname in South America. The other source, at least equally likely, is Wolof, a language of the Niger-Congo family spoken by more than two and a half million people in Senegal on the far western coast of Africa. Africans brought to America would have brought the name. Wolof has also given the names of two monkeys to English, potto (1705) and galago (1848), and is a possible language of origin for banana (1597).

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The six-legged larva of mites of the family Trombiculidae. See trombicula, trombiculosis. Some species are vectors of the rickettsiae of scrub typhus of humans. Called also chigger mite, harvest mite and red bug.

for the "Red Bug" car see Smith Flyer

red bugs, cotton stainers
Firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hemiptera Suborder: Heteroptera Infraorder: Pentatomomorpha Superfamily: Pyrrhocoroidea Family: Pyrrhocoridae
Genera
Dysdercus Pyrrhocoris

Pyrrhocoridae is a family of insects with more than 300 species world-wide. A common species in parts of Europe is the firebug. They are part of the order Hemiptera which are also known as the 'true bugs'. A few are important crop pests. They are called cotton stainers because their red bodies get crushed along with the cotton they eat when it is harvested, and these stains are difficult to remove. Their feeding mechanism also cuts the fibres and hence affects the growth of the cotton ball. They caused massive problems in the United States during the industrial revolution.

External links

• Dysdercus suturellus, cotton strainer on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site

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