Do you feel bites on rainy days when you are outside? Do Chiggers Come Out in the Rain?
Why do chiggers prefer rainy or damp days? What is the perfect environment for chiggers and when are they most active?
In this article, we’ll find out if Chiggers come out in the rain.
Do Chiggers Come Out in the Rain?
Yes. The rain is a perfect time for chiggers who enjoy wet and moist environments. They prefer shade and wetness to prevent drying out from the sun.
Damp, low-lying areas like marshes, creek beds and meadows are perfect wet spots that get frequent rain.
This allows for perfect soil conditions and lots of vegetation where chiggers prefer to live or wait for a potential host to feed off their skin.
Why Do Chigger Prefer Rain?
Chigger prefer areas that are:
- wet
- warm
- rainy
- humid
- shady
- low-lying
- dense in vegetation
- high traffic areas with potential hosts
The rain creates a perfect setup for chiggers who are looking to hop aboard a potential host that is looking for shelter.
Tall grasses, shrubs, bushes and shaded areas to get cover from the rain may contain chiggers who are posturing for the chance to jump on and feed off skin.
Rain also provides rich nutrients for adults chiggers to eat isopods, mosquito larvae, eggs from springtails and plenty of decayed or wet plant matter.
What Time of Day are Chiggers Most Active?
Chigger activity is most common in the afternoons on hot, humid and damp days. If you are out in nature during this time, it’s important to keep moving. If you are sitting or lying down directly on a tree stump or soil, rocks and any other natural material, it is easy for a chigger to land on you.
Chiggers enjoy midday temperatures that are above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. During this time the ground temperature is even higher. Anywhere between 77 to 86 degrees of heat coming off the soil is a perfect opportunity for chiggers to make a move.
They tend to wait in a posturing position to jump onto a host. Chiggers like hot climates and prefer to stay in shady spots to prevent the sun from drying out their bodies.
What Environment Do Chiggers Like?
Chiggers like to live outside and do not wish to infest your home. Rainy days create enough shaded environments where the soil is dense, wet, moist and damp.
A chigger passes through four stages in their life cycle from egg, larva, nymph to adult. Adult Chiggers are able to survive colder environment inside the soil.
Chiggers prefer warm days in the spring and hot, humid, moist summer weather. During the spring, females are able to deposit their eggs in the litter of leaves or in the damp soil.
It is the chigger larvae who need to find a host in order to ingest their skin cells after liquefying it with digestive enzymes.
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Where Do Chiggers Mainly Live?
Chiggers can be found in almost every country in the world. They prefer grassy areas, marshes, forests, meadows, and creek banks. Chiggers can even be found on your lawn.
Chiggers enjoy rainy days that create damp weather conditions. Chiggers are also found near lakes and streams. They tend to enjoy shaded spots on sunny days while waiting for a potential host to pass by.
Adult chiggers prefer to live in areas where the soil is rich in vegetation with dead insect matter. They prefer to enjoy eating eggs of springtails or mosquitos, but also ingest decayed plant matter.
How Do You Stop Chiggers on Rainy Days?
It’s hard to go out on a rainy day and be still underneath some cover while trying to protect yourself from chiggers. If it is raining outside in chigger hotspots, you must keep moving.
- Do not sit directly on any surface where chiggers naturally posture and wait for a host to attach themselves to.
- Use insect repellent spray such as Permethrin or any type of spray that contains Deet.
- Wear long sleeves and pants that are tucked into your waistline and the legs of pants tucked into socks.
- It’s best to treat your clothes before you put them on with Permethrin.
- Stay away from areas where the grass is tall with heavy brush.
- Remain in the center of trails and avoid brushing against any dense vegetation that are on the edges of the pathway.
Why Am I Being Bitten On Rainy Days?
If you cannot spot what is biting you, it might be a super tiny chigger. They are not bloodsuckers like ticks, but they are much smaller and harder to notice. They prefer warm blooded animals and do not differentiate between any type of mammal or vertebrate.
Your pets and your own skin are perfect grounds for chiggers to inject digestive enzymes in order to ingest your skin cells. If your dog or cat has flea and tick treatment on them, it will also support repelling chiggers as well.
If you don’t know why your pet is itching a lot or your own skin is turning into red bumps, you may have been bitten by chiggers. It is only the larval chiggers that are biting you.
A nymph or adults advances through the stages in their life cycle where they focus more on ingesting insect and plant matter in the soil or on its surface.
Conclusion
Chiggers like rainy days because it softens the soil where they get most of their meals in their nymph or adult stages. A larval chigger is looking for animals to hide or seek shelter from the rain.
They may rest under trees, brushes and dense vegetation where chiggers lurk and wait for a warm body to begin feasting of their skin. Rainy, moist and damp conditions on warm days are preferred by chiggers.
If you are caught under the rain, keep moving and keep your skin covered with rain gear or make sure your clothes are treated with insect repellent.
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