WHAT IS A REDBUG or CHIGGER?
(Family Trombidiidae) A redbug is actually a baby mite. It is only 1/50 inch long and very hard to see. Mites are a type of arachnid (spider). The grown-up mites do not bite people; they eat insects and insect eggs. The mother redbug will lay about 400 eggs in a damp spot on the ground. This is usually a place with lots of sticks, moss, and shrubs. When the eggs hatch, the babies crawl up on the sticks and the moss. When an animal walks by, they jump on. Redbugs will bite all mammals (including people), birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Redbugs do not burrow into your skin. They attach to your skin in places where your clothing is tight, like your ankles, waist, knees, and armpits. After they are attached, they inject saliva (spit) into your skin. This spit dissolves a little bit of your skin, and they drink up the liquid. So, redbugs DO NOT DRINK BLOOD. After about three days, the redbug is full. It drops off and grows into a nymph (a teenage mite). The itching caused by redbugs is an
