How to Identify and Control Chiggers (2024)

If you, family members, or pets have itchy bites lasting several days but don't remember seeing an insect, they could be chigger bites. Chiggers are immature mites that can lurk in your backyard in tall grass, weed patches, and damp spots underneath trees. They are also found in areas with brush or thicket combined with moisture, like along stream banks. A common misconception is that chiggers burrow under the skin, but the itchy red spots are actually an allergic reaction to the saliva of the tiny pests.

Here's how to get rid of chiggers from your body, control them on your property, and prevent bites from occurring.

What Are Chiggers?

Chiggers, also known as red bugs, harvest lice, or harvest mites, are the larvae of certain mites of the Trombiculidae family. Like spiders and ticks, chiggers are arachnids—but extremely small ones. Adults get to about 1/60 inch in size. The red-colored larvae of chiggers are so small—only 1/120 to 1/150 of an inch—that you can barely see them.

There are dozens of genera within their family, and hundreds of species, but the chiggers in your landscape are limited to those species native to your region. They live all over the world but are most problematic in the American South, Southeast, and Midwest.In North America, most chiggers are from the Trombicula genus, especially the T. alfreddugesi species. The species native to North America generally do not spread diseases.

Chiggers are most active in the late spring to early fall but can be found all year in warmer areas since their activity mostly depends on the temperature. Chiggers are most active when the ground temperature is between 77 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit.

How to Identify Chigger Bites

You can not spot chiggers with the naked eye (you will need a microscope to see the pests), but you can see their bites. They appear as clusters of dark-red, raised bumps. Chiggers tend to bite in spots where your skin and clothes rub together, such as waistbands and the elastic tops of socks, or where the skin folds, like behind the knees, in the groin area, and around the waist. So if your bites are in these spots, they could very likely be from chiggers.

Note: Chiggers do not burrow into skin, despite popular belief, they just bite and latch onto the skin, causing a reaction with their saliva.

How to Remove Chiggers on People

If you've been outside and think you've been exposed to chiggers, shower immediately with soap when you get back indoors. They can live on human skin for up to four days but don't attach right away. However, they do not usually last longer than one to two days since their bite causes people to scratch and rub them off their skin. Here is how to handle them on your clothing:

1. Remove your chigger-infested clothing and immediately put it in a washing machine.
2. Wash them on a cycle using hot water and detergent.
3. Use a hot drying cycle once the wash is finished.

How to Get Rid of Chiggers in Your Yard

Control the Environment

You can control chiggers by making your yard less attractive for them—chiggers like moist areas with dense vegetation. Prune your trees and shrubs to let in more sunlight and decrease humidity. Regularly mow your lawn closely around trees, shrubs, and edges between garden beds and woody or naturalized areas. Remove piles of debris and brush to discourage rodents and small mammals from settling in your yard, as they are the primary hosts for chiggers.

Change Your Habits

Controlling chiggers does not mean that everything has to be manicured. You can still have your pollinator gardens, meadow-style beds, and other naturalized landscapes so long as you take appropriate protective measures.

If you are a gardener who can not avoid brushing against vegetation, wear protective clothing when working in tall grass, overgrown areas, and brush. Wear long sleeves and pants, tuck your pants into your socks, wear work boots, and tuck your sleeves into gardening gloves.

Also, treat your clothing with insect repellents containing DEET. You can also try DEET-free alternatives, but check the label to see if the product effectively repels chiggers.

Use Insecticides

Unless you have a place in your yard infested with chiggers for consecutive years, spraying insecticides is not usually a good solution. Broad-spectrum insecticides also kill beneficial insects and should only be the last resort.

Spray products containing bifenthrin, carbaryl, cyhalothrin, or permethrin for a one-time application in late April through mid-June when the chiggers hatch. Like with all chemicals, read the label carefully. Spraying the entire lawn is not effective, instead focus on areas that chiggers, like unkempt areas, low-growing vegetation, and tall grass.

How to Prevent Chiggers

You can significantly reduce chigger populations with a few simple measures:

• Trim things down: Eliminate brush and long grass to foster sun exposure. Good sun exposure to all areas of your landscape will dramatically reduce the number of chiggers.
• Remove debris: Dispose of loose branches and leaves on your property to keep chiggers at bay (they love to settle in shady and moist places) and keep them from making a home in your yard.
• Control host pests: Remove debris from your property to keep small animals (the primary host for chiggers) from settling in your yard. Also, relocate or get rid of any other spots where they might nest as well as food and water sources like trash cans and bird baths.
• Use DEET spray: Spray your clothing with an insect repellent containing DEET before you hit the garden. Focus on spraying exposed skin and the openings of your clothing.
• Wear protective clothing outside: Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants, and tuck the ends of your shirt and pants into your socks and gloves to seal off your skin as much as possible.