The chiggers were out in force in Arizona this year, I'm still scratching those infernal bite marks. I took this with the Canon MPE 65mm macro at 5X with flash, it's been heavily cropped as well. These Trombiculid mite larvae are approximately 0.2mm long. Oh, that's my leg. One of dozens of bites I received.
@lynnb@eyesofbetsie@kerristephens Chiggers are the larval form of mites in the family Trombiculidae, the genus of main concern is Eutrombicula. They hang out in grassy areas and climb on when you walk by, once on you they seek out a warm and snug spot to settle in and feed. Usually at the base of a follicle, after inserting their mouthparts they inject digestive enzymes and induce a host immune response that causes surrounding tissues to harden and form a feeding tub called a stylostome. This causes an extreme immune response in humans that results in itching redness and a small pustule at the bite site. Itching can be extremely maddening and last up to 10 days or more. In Southeast Asia they can transmit Orientia tsutsugamushi, an intracellular bacteria causing scrub typhus. No diseases are known to be transmitted by them in the US.
