Short description: Species of insects similar to ticks. Why are some types of insects confused with dangerous parasites? Bedbug, bloodsucker, spider, false scorpion, which makes these species look like ticks. The main differences by which you can recognize a tick dangerous to humans.
There are a huge number of insect species that are known to science, and an ordinary person does not even know about the existence of most of them. There are insect species that have some similarities with the well-known mites, from which we try to defend ourselves in every possible way.
Such external similarities often lead to the fact that we are completely harmless insects that are unable to harm humans, we mistake them for dangerous parasites. In addition, when it is necessary to use specialized preparations for parasites, the wrong means are chosen, which do not bring any effect. Next, we will find out what insects, beetles, insects look like ticks and what are their differences.
How to determine if fleas are bred at home. What flea bites look like
To determine if there are fleas in the house. General characteristics of fleas:
- Color: reddish brown
- Size: 1 mm - 5 mm in length, depending on the type
- Shape: oval
- Moves: jumping
- Food: blood
- Do they carry diseases: yes
- Insects with complete transformation
Fleas are very small in size, feed on blood, do not have wings, and move by jumping. Insects are usually found in 1-2 floors of apartment buildings or basements.
The room can be entered with animals, on clothes from a walk, from neighbors, from the basement.
Book false scorpion
These individuals are also arachnids. Unlike a tick, this beetle is beneficial to humans. These 2 representatives of arachnids have some similarities, but there are also obvious differences, thanks to which we will not confuse these completely different species.
These arthropods grow up to 4mm in length. The color of the body is brown or brownish brown. They have 8 legs, the oral apparatus is arranged in the form of a pair of claws. Regarding the eyes, that is, the species in which they are absent, but there are also eyes, but the vision is very weak. Compensates vision of sensitive receptors.
These beetles can choose completely different places as their home. Some make their way into living quarters, old buildings, attics, abandoned buildings, where they can live peacefully and are not bothered by a person. Some individuals choose hives, nests, sheds, rooms with animals, booths, etc. as their home.
The choice of habitat is due to the fact that there is always food in such places. And their diet consists of small pests, in addition, they destroy bed bugs, microscopic bugs that spoil books and other pests that give people great trouble.
So, we figured out the main insects, which are often mistaken for dangerous ticks. In fact, knowing the main differences, you can easily understand which representatives you had to face.
What flea bites look like.
Flea bite characteristics:
- look like a cluster of mosquito bites.
- look like a point with a red (dark) center.
- bites are randomly placed on the body.
- the pimple from the bite turns red for about an hour.
- very severe itching
- in some cases, a flea bite can progress to an open wound.
Flea bite
This is what flea bites look like.
Symptoms and types of tick bites
The moment of suction of an ixodid tick often goes unnoticed, since it is painless. After a while, the site of the lesion swells, turns red, itching and pain begins. Symptoms may last for several days. The most attractive body parts for parasites in descending order:
- Ears and behind the ears;
- Neck, armpits;
- Loins and abdomen;
- Groin.
The most characteristic type of insect bite occurs when infected with Lyme disease: erythema in the form of a large spot up to 10-20 cm in diameter. Soon the edge of the spot becomes overgrown with a noticeable red outline, and its center turns white or blue. After a day, the erythema crusts, and after 2 weeks the visible symptoms disappear. 1-2 hours after the parasite sucks, the following sensations arise:
- Temperature increase;
- Weakness;
- Soreness of the joints;
- Heart palpitations;
- Itching;
- Swollen lymph nodes, etc.
These signs are most pronounced in children and the elderly, suffering from any diseases.
How to find out if there are bed bugs at home.
Bed bugs are human parasites. They feed on blood. Unlike fleas, bugs usually bite at night around 3-5 a.m. General characteristics of bedbugs:
- Reddish brown color.
- 1 mm - 5 mm long.
- Flat and adults look like a seed from an apple.
- Unlike fleas, bugs do not jump.
- Bedbugs move quickly enough up to 1 meter per minute.
- If you notice a flea and want to crush it, it will most likely jump back, but there is a chance of crushing a bug, although you also need to make an effort to catch it.
- Bedbugs, unlike fleas, do not jump, do not fly.
- Bed bugs feed at night, if there are a lot of bugs they can bite during the day, there are also tropical bugs that bite around the clock.
- They enter the house in various ways: with things, from neighbors on the site, you can see an article about this
Deer bloodsucker
We owe the rumors of flying ticks to an insect called deer bloodsucker. Like any tick-like beetle, they can be distinguished by their three pairs of limbs. Ticks have four of them, because they belong to the arachnid class. And the deer bloodsucker also gives out wings, although you can see some similarities with the taiga tick in this enlarged photo.
What else do you need to know about this insect, and why else can it be considered a tick? The fact is that the deer bloodsucker - which is clear from the name - is also a blood-sucking parasite. True, it chooses mainly large animals for its victims (its alternative name is the elk tick), and attacks people if it does not find a more suitable prey for a long time. It can get entangled in hair, in loose clothing, clings tenaciously to the skin, so you can't wipe it off like a fly, this insect does not feel danger from sudden human movements.
The danger of a deer bloodsucker, like any insect that feeds on blood, is that when bitten it can inject a pathogenic virus into the blood. These can be the same fevers as with a tick bite, such as Lyme disease.
The plus is that the bite of this insect cannot go unnoticed - it causes itching, burning, pain. All these unpleasant sensations work as a very useful signal, make it possible to detect danger in time.
Features of a bug bite
Some features of bedbug bites:
- Bed bug bites are flat and red.
- Bites often appear in tracks of 3 to 5 bites in a row.
- Bites take a long time to heal.
- Itching appears gradually.
- If an adult bites, then it injects an anesthetic, so the insect is difficult to notice after the bite.
- If small bugs bite, then the bite is felt immediately.
- They bite at night.
This is what bedbug bites look like.
Bedbug bites
Varieties of cockroaches
At home, there are several types of cockroaches that differ in appearance, but have similar habits and breeding cycle.
Red cockroach
The most famous and widespread insect in apartments on the territory of our country. In relation to him, at the philistine level, the term "Prusak" is used. There is a myth that this species is an alien and came to Russia from Prussia - a historical state, whose territories are now part of Germany. In fact, the homeland of red cockroaches is southern Asia. From there the insect was brought to us and to Europe.
Red cockroaches reach a length of 15 millimeters, have a light brown tint with two dark stripes on the front chest, wings. The narrow body of the insect ends with a wedge-shaped (males) or wide (females) abdomen.
Adults do not lay eggs, but carry them in themselves. 1 month after fertilization, larvae are born that outwardly differ from full-fledged cockroaches only in size, lack of wings and color (darker).
Black beetle
Traditional Sinanthropus in Russia and Europe. He lives in apartments and houses, in natural conditions not far from large landfills. Adults reach a length of 30 millimeters. Cockroaches of this species have a dark uniform color with a metallic sheen, short, hard pseudo-wings.
Since the middle of the 20th century, the population of household pests has been rapidly declining - their habitat is gradually occupied by mobile and less fastidious “Prussians”, which reproduce faster than their “brothers”.
Other household pests
In addition to black and red cockroaches, the following insects are found in the southern and central regions of Russia:
- Furniture cockroach... It has a bright red color, transparent wings and transverse brown stripes on the outside of the body. It feeds on starch-based glue. The insect makes nests under the wallpaper, in books, dressers;
- Central Asian cockroach... It has a shiny, scaly, two-colored shell. The head is golden and the back is dark. Leads an exclusively nocturnal lifestyle and settles under wooden floors, parquet;
- Egyptian cockroach. The insect has a short black rounded body. Outwardly it looks like a beetle. Omnivorous, lives in apartments, private houses, barns and agricultural buildings.
How to determine who is biting a bug or a flea?
Visually inspect the place of the bite on the body, you can determine by 90% who bit you. If it seems that unknown insects are biting, note the following signs, which can give out an "intruder" ... Bedbugs
- traces of blood, feces on sleeping places
- discarded skins
- bite at night, in a sleeping place
- bugs do not bite immediately, but a few days after they appear
- the bites begin to itch gradually
- flat bites
- bed bugs are not carriers of diseases
- allergic reactions from bites
Fleas
- bite sites on the legs
- bite when you sit on the carpet, floor
- pets have itching
- when fleas enter the house, they immediately begin to bite
- after bites, itching immediately appears
- swelling quickly appears at the site of the bite
- fleas are carriers of diseases
Where do ticks live and where do they come from?
The range of ixodid ticks is quite diverse, which indicates a high degree of adaptability to various living conditions. Some species prefer forest and shrubs, others have adapted in the steppe zone, others live in mountainous areas, etc. There are even species that have chosen various buildings and premises as their habitat. By the type of parasitism, ixodid ticks are divided into grazing (laying eggs on the surface of the ground) and burrowing (leaving eggs in holes and nests of animals and birds).
The pasture type is divided into 3 groups: with one owner, two or three. Most of them lie in wait for the owner, being in the upper part of the grass.The duration of tick bloodsucking at different stages of development is different: larvae suck blood from 3 to 5 days, nymphs from 3 to 8 days, adults (adults and the most voracious individuals) - from 6 to 12 days.
Ixodid ticks hold the record for fertility of the entire type of arthropod, and are capable of laying several thousand eggs. The development cycle until the adult state of the northern species is 2-4 years, of the southern ones - 1 year. Insects are able to tolerate negative temperatures, do without feeding for a long time.
How to tell if a tick bites you.
The mite is another pest that can be found in your home. Ticks are carriers of dangerous diseases.
Ticks are classified as arachnids. Ticks, like bugs, are parasites; they feed on the blood of birds and mammals.
There are three main families of ticks: Ixodid ticks, Argas ticks, and Nuttalliellidae.
There are over 700 species of ixodid ticks.
There are about 200 species of argas mites. These mites generally prefer to feed on bird blood over human blood.
And ticks Nuttalliellidae, have only one species, is found in southern Africa.
Bed bugs and ticks both feed on blood, but that's where the similarities end.
Bedbugs are smaller and ticks are larger. The red bite has a rounded spot on the surface of the skin, the shape is rarely oval or with jagged edges
Brief description of the tick
When viewed through a magnifying glass, the mite looks like a crustacean. By carefully examining the limbs, you can notice the similarity with a spider. Experts classify this creature as a subclass of arthropods, a class of arachnids.
Interesting!
In everyday life, people are used to calling parasites insects, but this statement is incorrect. If you answer the question, whether a tick is an insect or an arachnid, the parasite is confidently classified as a spider. The genus has about 54 thousand representatives, of which 144 are fossils. The most amazing thing is that a tick is an animal, which many do not even know about.
Body length from 0.2 mm to 5 mm. The body is divided into two parts or one piece. It has a convex shape. The larvae are six-legged, the adults have 4 pairs of paws. The color is gray, brown, brown, red.
Mite
The tick lives in the wild, loves deciduous trees, shrubs, tall grass. It attacks mainly animals, but can hide on the human body. It bites the neck, back, shoulders, rarely - stomach, legs, arms.
What to do if insects don't go away
In case carpet bugs remain a problem in your home, there are other great ways to get rid of these bugs without going to a pest control specialist or using pesticides. Below are the main ways.
Use peppermint oil
Are mosquitoes, ants, or even spiders a nuisance to your home? Peppermint will not only get rid of these insects, but also give your home a pleasant scent thanks to its sweet scent. Add eight drops of natural peppermint oil to a glass of water, pour into a spray bottle, shake, then spray around vents, doorways, and windows.
Use diatomaceous earth
Diatomaceous earth is made from unicellular algae that have been petrified and crushed. If your home is invaded by smelly insects, flies, bed bugs, beetles and spiders; diatomaceous earth will help you. It is not harmful to humans, but fatal to the small black hard-shelled beetles inside the house. It only takes 48 hours after the exoskeleton of this black carpet beetle comes into contact with it for the insects to dehydrate and die.
Take them out of the house
If you find that red spiders are a nuisance and want to get rid of them, use a vacuum cleaner. Then, throw the bag into an outdoor trash can away from home. They can and will crawl back out of the bag if left indoors.
Or place sticky traps on windowsills, other places where you find large clumps of clover mites. As soon as they get inside, they attack houseplants, because this is their food source. Be sure to get rid of the red little spiders, otherwise your plants will die.
