Bug bites -- how do you know which bug to blame?

Without question, one of the most difficult mysteries to solve as a pest detective involves a customer complaining about itching, scratching or some mystery bites. Adding to that difficulty is warm weather.

More time spent outdoors always increases the likelihood of getting bitten by a summertime pest. When the weather factor can be removed from the equation, it's back to square one and the list of usual suspects: fleas, bedbugs and bird mites. Today we will start exploring this motley crew and their possible alibis.

Fleas are permanent parasites on our dogs and cats, never leaving their primary feeding spot of their own free will. After feeding, females mate and drop their eggs into carpeting, furniture and essentially anywhere the pet frequents.

After going through complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, adult) newly hatched adults typically re-infest the pets. A vicious cycle.

Under ideal conditions of 70 degrees and 70 percent relative humidity, this egg to adult development can occur in 21 days. Cooler, less humid weather can stretch this time period to months.

Flea infestations become very obvious under a few scenarios. Either a structure is vacated by all pets, or an imbalance happens between the number of pets and the number of fleas. For example, one of numerous pets is no longer in the home.

When pets are barred from their favorite resting places, newly hatching pupae seek a host. For example, three pets worth of fleas now only have two hosts to feed upon. Adult fleas then show themselves quite readily. An animal handles its own level of fleas, readily seen by inspecting the pet.

While small and flat, these jumping pariahs are very visible and easily felt upon your ankles and legs. It is not likely that a flea infestation would go unnoticed. These suspects can be taken off the most wanted list of mystery bites.

With the bedbug resurgence in recent years, all mystery bites seem to have the default blame fall in their laps, though they don’t really have laps. Capable of creating an overwhelming tidal wave of fear and paranoia, bedbug infestations are really no mystery. At least in the discovery of their presence.

Many people are stymied as to how an infestation started. Simply, they are hitchhikers. They are carried in on clothing, personal possessions, furniture, etc. Or they may have been shared by a neighbor in close proximity. Regardless as to their source of origin, their detection is routine.

They are living creatures, eating and defecating, rowing and molting, leaving their shed skins. They need and want blood and are attracted by our carbon dioxide emission. So we start our investigation where we spend most of our time, in our beds and our favorite furniture.

Checking along seams, inside pleats and nearby cracks and crevices, their evidence becomes apparent; insects, eggs, cast skins. Disgust grows in direct proportion to the size of the infestation.

Bedbug bites are a mystery, at least to the uninformed. Like fleas and other biting insects, human reactions vary from nothing to full blown welts. The visible symptoms are an allergic reaction to substances injected prior to the insect bite.

NEXT WEEK: More mystery bug bites and other causes of human maladies.

Henry Fox is the owner of Henry N. Fox Professional Pest Management. You can ask him questions at letstalkbugs@gmail.com.