CHAPTER XITT 



SOME ANNOYING PESTS OF MAN 



THERE are some small insects and closely related an- 

 imals, certain mites, that attack man and cause him 

 much annoyance and sometimes serious discomfort. 

 Some of these pests come no nearer the home than the 

 lawns and fields adjacent to the house, while others 

 come to the porches and often into the rooms where 

 they exhibit wonderful persistence in biting and worry- 

 ing the inmates. Chief among these are the redbugs, 

 punkies, and black-flies. 



HARVEST MITES, "REDBUGS," OR "CHIGGERS" 



Trombidium sp. 



During a residence of eleven years in the Southern states 

 the writer has had ample opportunity to become ac- 

 quainted in a very realistic way with redbugs or chiggers. 

 It would, however, convey a wrong impression if we did 

 not hasten to say that redbugs are not confined, by any 

 means, to the southern part of the United States, but they 

 occur as far north as Minnesota and east to the Atlantic 

 as far up the coast as New Jersey. Harvest mites are 

 also common in England and Scotland, where they are 

 known as the harvest mite and "gooseberry bug." In 

 France they are known as the "rouget" and "red flea" 

 and are sometimes so abundant in grass-lands that they 

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