Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Ferocious Biting Insects
When I moved to the area two years ago, I was clearing my overgrown garden and was bitten by very small fly like insects, which was followed by severe swelling and itching.
After a hiatus last year, they're back. Apparently our warm, muggy and wet summer has created a 'perfect storm' for biting insects, and I'd have to agree.
So far, I've been bitten around half a dozen times. Where I hadn't noticed them before they had their fix, on my arm, leg and foot, the swelling is impressive, the itching has been phenomenal. This time I wasn't gardening, just sitting out in my garden and for the first time I was bitten elsewhere - in Fairland Park.
Fortunately at the weekend I was able to catch a few and I'm posting them to Haringey's Pest Control Team for identification. I've attached a poor photo of a few of them.
I've heard from someone else that a child was bitten in the leg and couldn't attend school as the swelling was so bad. Has anyone else been bitten?
Tags for Forum Posts: insect bites
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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If people reading this thread hadn't seen it, they may like to speed read the discussion back in August 2012.
In that I posted a reply which I got from Eubert Malcolm of the Council's Environment Department with some helpful information.
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Permalink Reply by Pete on
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Thanks Alan - I didn't realise there were so many things in the UK that could give a nasty bite !
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Permalink Reply by GillianM on
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Nick - do these insects' wings stand out straight from their body when they're not flying? Had an insect like that in the kitchen for a few days - it was quite peculiar looking and a bit like your photo. My boys have had some quite nasty night time bites, but no more than last summer.
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A few of our group got bitten at Epping Forest recently; the adults came off worse and reported a stinging/biting which was quite painful at the time.
I tend to react badly to mozzies etc so like TBD tend to take anti histamines beforehand if I know I am going to an area where I am likely to be bitten.
Ime, citronella spray (or even vinegar like the Greeks use) helps prevent being bitten and use Anthisan once you have been bitten.
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I was in a friends garden in Arkley,one of the guests there got bitten,she thought it was a wasp like sting.
She was given cream and small swelling went down
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Permalink Reply by Mark Smith on
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I'm a bit late to this thread cos I've been away, but these are Blandford flies (Simulium postcatum), which are non-native but have been becoming more common over the last few years. I have had to wear insect repellent when playing football on the astroturf at Parkview Academy in the summer over the last couple of years or suffer the same fate.
Plenty of information about them on Google: Blandford fly
This is the best stuff for warding them away, and as an added bonus it also moisturises you and stops you smelling quite so bad: Skin So Soft
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I speculated the bites were caused by the Blandford fly in the thread 2 years ago but I wasn't so sure. I'm still not certain as the images I've seen, although magnified, don't appear to be an exact match. However, there are a number of news stories recently on the Blandford fly, so who knows. I still haven't had any reply from the Pest Control Team, and will try and call them tomorrow.
Thanks for reminding me about skin so soft, I researched this when first bitten but forgot about it.
It has been 8 days and the swelling still hasn't completely subsided from my most recent bite.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Sounds nasty. The things that live in my garden and that started this off two years ago certainly don't look like Blandford flies. They're completely white, like they've been dipped in white paint.
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There are a lot of white flies about. While they do more damage to your plants than your person, they can occasionally bite, but you shouldn't get a reaction like the ones described unless you are allergic. I think they may be a bit of a red (white?) herring.
The ones that bit me were definitely a type of black fly, but are quite difficult to spot, so maybe the fact that the white flies are so much more visible means they are being wrongly blamed.
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The ones in my garden certainly bite. They're not white flies. Whilst they may seem fishy to you, make no bones about it, they do bite us worse than mosquitos. It's why I started this whole topic two years ago.
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I haven't seen these. I can see from the previous thread that these ones are "no bigger than a sesame seed", but I assume that's still bigger than a white fly.
The ones in the photo at the start of this thread are black though, so it seems that we have two distinct culprits here.
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I wonder if these instances are connected with the considerable amount of slow-flowing waters in the neighbourhood, which offer the perfect breeding ground for these nasty little buggers....
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