15 Common Bug Bites And How To Identify Them

Before we can proceed further with how to identify bug bites, you should also keep in mind that the immune systems of different people will react differently to certain bug bites and stings. Thus, some people might not show any symptoms while others can suffer severe swelling, itching, or pain which can make bug bite identification challenging.

So, regardless of the bug bite while mild itchiness and pain are normal reactions to most types of bug bites, if you experience anything severe you should immediately attempt to contact a medical practitioner. All right, are you ready to learn how to do some insect bite identification?

If you notice any cluster bug bites then it could be a symptom of being bitten by a flea.  flea bites may begin within hours after you’re bitten, and the bites tend to appear in groups of three or four, either in clusters or a straight line. Scratching it can lead to a skin infection so you should attempt to soothe it instead.

How They Look:

Aside from the rashy bumps that itch, you can differentiate bed bug cluster insect bites from fleas due to the off-colored red bumps with slightly reddish halos. They tend to bite in warm places such as the knees and armpits but also your pets, so if your pets have fleas, you may also have fleas.

When To Seek Aid:

Although flea bites are very itchy and can transform into sores and rash, you should avoid scratching them as it can worsen the symptoms or lead to infection. Thus, you can consider soothing the wounds with aloe vera, calendula, or manuka honey.

Mites don't spread disease but their bites can easily itch and irritate the skin which can even make the most saintly guy in your office mad. This is often because mite bites not only irritate the skin but they cause a condition known as scabies which result in a skin rash that could easily be mistaken for acne and pimples. 

What They Look Like:

While scabies isn't your typical disease per se, rather it is an allergic reaction to the infestation of the skin from the microscopic mites living, reproducing, and then borrowing into your skin to lay the eggs. When the eggs hatch, the larva will feed on your skin which causes the rash as well as some visible thin lines where the minutes have borrowed.

When To Seek Aid:

Even after being exposed to mites, it can take up to 2 to 5 weeks for their symptoms to appear with their hallmark being an intensely itching rash that gets worse at night. Since it does sound similar to symptoms of fleas, we recommend consulting with your doctor to identify and administer to appropriate treatment as neither of these conditions will go away by themselves.

Unlike ants where you can probably feel them creeping and crawling or if not you'll still be able to feel their bites, however with the case of bedbugs, you will not only not feel them crawling but you won't also be able to feel any pain when being bitten as they also inject anesthetics making it difficult identify the bug bite.

How They Look:

They result in small red puffy bumps that often appear in lines or clusters and might only show up as late as 14 days after a bite occurs, you could easily mistake them for a mosquito bite but the prick of mosquitoes are unmistakable and they lack distinct red marks at their center. If you want to be more certain, check for bug droppings on your mattress.

When To Seek Aid:

Although their bites aren't painful and they don't spread disease like ticks do, eradicating bed bugs might require a professional exterminator. But that's not to say that bed bugs can't result in hives or a severe allergic reaction, if you notice a bite getting infected, visit a medical practitioner to disinfect the wounds.

A bite from a venomous spider like the black widow can be extremely dangerous in terms of the necrosis or the death of tissue that they can cause around the bitten area However, other than that they're not really serious since although they are venomous, the size ratio of humans to spiders are too big for the venom to be an issue.

How They Look:

Despite their scary name, they are not aggressive and will only bite in self-defense, plus they will do a dry bite without venom first to get you to back off. The best way for you to identify the bite is a combination of a growing wound with two puncture holes that have a white center.

When To Seek Aid:

You should seek medical aid if you feel a tightness in your chest, muscle pain, spasms, tremors, and chills as they are signs of more severe allergic symptoms which most people rarely encounter.

The brown recluse spider is venomous and typically lives in your home's dark and unused spaces, this can cause people to be bitten while cleaning and clearing out their homes of any cowebs such as the attic. Most people don't realize a brown recluse has bitten them until the bite starts being visible after an hour.

How They Look:

More often than not, a bug bite with a ring around it while still inside your home means a brown recluse as it can cause a purple area around the bite similar to a bullseye, furthermore the bite later becomes crusty and starts to scar through local tissue damage.

When To Seek Aid:

Although similar to black widow, they're not lethal but often cause moderate to severe pain and itching at the site of the bite with the main threat being necrosis which should be stopped as soon as possible through medical aid.

In rare cases, you may also experience rhabdomyolysis, and kidney failure so seek medical care immediately especially if you encounter growing wounds.

Chiggers are a form of mite that use their saliva to liquefy and eat the skin, they normally occur on the ankles and behind the knees but can appear anywhere in areas where clothing closely meets the skin. Their bites cause the skins to harden which is an easy telltale sign of a former chigger bite site.

How They Look:

Since the chiggers are almost invisible to the naked eye, you will rarely be able to see them, instead, you will notice flat red patches or slightly raised bumps that are hard or have transformed into pustules once infected. Chiggers prefer ankles, wrists, thighs, groin, and waist so that's also another sign of chigger if it lacks the insect bite circle of a tick.

When To Seek Aid:

Contrary to popular belief, chiggers don’t burrow into your skin or suck blood so you should be fine as long as you don't have any of them still on your body since they won't spread any disease or parasites. However, that doesn't make their bites any itchy so you can simply apply any anti-itch remedies.

Just like the bees and the fleas, no one probably needs to explain what a mosquito or their bite looks like. Their bites are simply an itchy round and reddish or pink skin bumps which might be slightly itchy but is generally harmless and easily resolves itself in a matter of a few hours. 

What They Look Like:

Aside from being small, puffy, round bumps which are lighter or redder than the surrounding skin, you can differentiate bites caused by mosquitoes and those caused by beg bucks due to the lack of a small red dot in the enter as well as not being a part of a cluster since most mosquitoes are satiated with a single bite. 

When To Seek Aid:

Most mosquito bites are generally painless and harmless, while some people can develop Skeeter syndrome which results in swollen welts, the main threat you need to watch out for is a fever or flu-like symptoms after a bite since some mosquitoes carry diseases like West Nile Virus, Zika, Malaria, etc so you should contact your doctor immediately if this is the case.

Yes, you heard that right, some flies bite such as the horse and deer flies and they mostly target the animals in their respective names. However, being a human unfortunately doesn't give you a free pass and you may end up as victims of some of those meat-eating flies. 

How They Look:

Since they also inject anticoagulants while bitting, their bites are not only painful but have a propensity to bleed aside from swelling and being irritating. These bleeding bites that strip you of your skin and end up swelling are a telltale sign of any biting fly. 

When To Seek Aid:

We're not going to lie, those fly bites are going to hurt so they will hardly go unnoticed and you should easily be able to notice a fly. Although most of their bites are innocuous, in rare cases, people can catch tularemia or blackfly fever thus it's better to err on the side of caution and visit your doctor when it comes to these flies.

Kissing bugs or if you haven't heard that name, assassin bugs should especially be taken seriously because, unlike their humble and docile saintly praying mantis cousins, not only do kissing bugs bite but they can also pass on the parasites that cause Chagas disease which could easily be mistaken for a fever.

What They Look Like:

Kissing bugs tend to only come out at night and often bite you near the face or the mouth hence, their name. These bites look like any other insects' so a common telltale sign is either a cluster of bites together in one spot or a swollen eyelid if bitten near the eye area. 

When To Seek Aid:

Most people may only experience sensitivity with some occasional localized severe allergic reactions to their saliva. However, if you experience any associated fever after being bitten near the facial area or with swollen eyelids, make sure to seek medical care to prevent Chagas disease from causing any further complications.

Lice bites are not nice but I don't think you need me to tell you that, even if you have never encountered lice they're pretty infamous so they don't need any particular help being identified such as having tiny red bumps on shoulders, neck, but most of all scalp. However, the itching doesn't occur immediately and can take up to four weeks.

What They Look Like:

These pests live too close to the human body for comfort and must always be taken seriously, although their bites are pretty small, they end up growing due to your body's reaction. If you clean and groom yourself regularly, you might even see tiny lice eggs on parts of your body before you get to see evidence of their bites.

When To Seek Aid:

All lice bites are irritating and can feel like something is moving or tickling in the hair but that's not all the lice problems you could encounter. Lice that reside in your pubic hair are an entirely different species and can cause blue-gray spots and lymphatic node swelling so you should contact your doctor immediately.

Most ant bites are rarely a serious matter and can be allowed to heal by themselves, however, some types such as fire ants can cause severe pain and a red spot. Also, their hives can cause fluid-filled pustules that can last for a few weeks, so you should learn to differentiate between harmless and malignant ant bites.

How They Look:

Most ants aren't aggressive and only sting in self-defense which causes small swelling dots, however being bitten by fire ants is a different story altogether considering their natural propensity to aggression and often results in a pimple-like pustule.

When To Seek Aid:

Fire ant stings are very painful due to the potency of their venom, and since they don’t lose stingers like bees when they attack, even a single one of them will end up causing multiple wounds. Here's what you can do for ant bites, but if the pain and inflammation last for multiple days or even weeks, you should check in with your doctor.

Nobody is a stranger to a bee sting, they result in immediate sharp pain which evolves into a red skin bump or swelling, however, it is usually resolved in a few days. Most people have moderate swelling reactions but having a bee sting in the past may increase your chances of future anaphylaxis by 25-65% so it's still best to be wary of them.

How They Look:

Although bee stings can vary from person to person and the insect itself may be confused with wasps or hornets, you can be unmistakably certain of bee stings since aside from having either a light spot or a large swelling welt, their barbed stinger is often still attached and ready to keep pumping more venom which can be removed to prevent further symptoms.

When To Seek Aid:

All insect stings can be life-threatening including bees if they cause anaphylaxis, thus keep monitoring your symptoms. Call the emergency services if you notice signs of anaphylaxis, otherwise, you can simply apply home remedies to help subside the symptoms, here are some things that you can put on a bee sting.

While most people might not think of scorpions as bugs, they are eight-legged arachnids which basically makes them a particularly large spider with pincers and a venomous tail stinger. You can find 90 species of scorpions along the West Coast and 5 of them near the East Coast with varying strengths of venom. 

What They Look Like:

Since scorpions are likely to hide under boxes or in shoes, they can go unnoticed before and after stinging. With intense pain, tingling, and numbness in the area stung by scorpion, it quickly becomes red and swollen within minutes. 

When To Seek Aid:

Most scorpions aren't very venomous so you should monitor your symptoms in the hopes that they can simply go away. However, if the scorpion species had potent venom you may develop breathing difficulties, drooling, increased heart rate, and muscle spasms in which case you should contact the emergency medical services immediately.

Ticks like fleas and mites can be hard to spot and can be undetected for several days since they inject anesthetic into your skin. This also means they won't cause the painful sensation of biting and will stay undisturbed until the area starts feeling itchy for whatever reason as the body's reaction to a tick bite. 

What They Look Like:

Since ticks can linger onto your body for 3-6 days, the best way to identify a tick bite is to find one of the insects still attached to you, but otherwise, if they're already gone, they will still leave a red spot on your body that's about the size of a dime. This isn't always exhibited so your best bet is to check if you have a bullseye rash near the bitten area.

When To Seek Aid:

Tick bites are dangerous since they can transmit several diseases to humans such as Lyme disease, babesiosis, rocky mountain fever, etc. Most of these diseases can be fatal and exhibit the bullseye or any other form of rash so visit your local hospital if you're feeling sick and find a rash or an insect bite on yourself.

Wasps typically build their nests in tree hollows or in any undisturbed spots near your homes, barns, or attics which places you in pretty close proximity to them, If that wasn't the worst part for you then it would be that wasps can become aggressive if you wander too close to their nests, unlike the bees. 

What They Look Like:

Fortunately, most people don't seem to have wasp sting allergies and recover quickly without complications aside from the initial sharp pain. Others may notice redness, swelling, itching, and burning as well as a raised welt around the area stung by a wasp with a tiny white mark in the middle which should recede within several hours.

When To Seek Aid:

If you aren't severely allergic to their alkaline venom, you can easily focus on neutralizing it by applying some lemon juice to the bitten area. However, if you suffer from symptoms of anaphylactic shock, make sure to administer an Epipen while contacting the emergency services.