The weather in Washington is finally warming up, which means more people are seeking outdoor adventures to soak in the sun.
But Washingtonians aren’t the only ones getting out now that it’s warm.
Biting insects are also beginning to make their appearance.
Scott Phillips, executive and medical director at the Washington Poison Center, said in an interview that there may be more biting insect activity this year since the Evergreen State experienced a mild winter.
Here are the kinds of common biting insects in Washington and how to repel and prevent getting bit by them.
Types of biting insects in WA
There are three common biting insects in Washington: mosquitoes, biting flies and ticks.
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Phillips said each of these insects live in different kinds of environments including tall grassy areas.
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes prefer to live near areas with tall grass and standing water.
Phillips recommends that people get rid of any standing water and keep their homes and yards tidy in order to avoid having a mosquito problem.
Although mosquito bites can be uncomfortable, there isn’t the risk of being infected with any significant illness.
“Most mosquito bites in our area just cause local irritation and small red bumps,” Phillips said. “If you scratch those areas enough, you can get infections in the skin, so those are really the risks. It’s not like the southeastern part of the United States where there’s significant illnesses that go with with mosquitoes sometimes or Africa or parts of Asia. We we don’t have those types of illnesses here.”
Biting flies
Similar to mosquitoes, biting flies also cause local irritation and red bumps on the skin which can become infected if itched enough.
Phillips said there are different types of biting flies and each like to live in different environments.
“There’s different kinds of flies and they can live in different areas, but they tend to like grassy areas. There are some that like to be in sandy areas that you might see on the beaches, some like to be around animals and livestock,” Phillips said.
Ticks
Ticks won’t only stand to be a problem for your four-legged friends, they can also latch on to you.
Phillips said ticks tend to live close to their hosts, usually in tall grassy environments and will jump to latch on to their desired host.
“One of the characteristics of them is they like to be near their host,” Phillips said. “They like to be near dogs or deer or things like that because they’ll they travel with them, and particularly if you’re off hiking, ticks are common along game trails where game animals and all animals might be walking and hiking along.”
Although uncommon, ticks can carry tick-borne illnesses such as anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tick-borne relapsing fever, and tick paralysis and tularemia, according to the Washington Department of Health.
Phillips recommends checking yourself, children and pets for ticks before entering your home. There are different ways to get ticks to release easily including agitating them and covering the tick in petroleum jelly to reduce airflow.
If the ticks are embedded into the skin and are not releasing, Phillips suggests carefully using medical tweezers to remove them.
“You have to be careful if they’re attached. We don’t want to squeeze any of the bacteria that may live inside of the ticks, we don’t want to squeeze that into the body of the person,” Phillips said. “You have to be really cautious how you remove them, so if it’s really embedded and not coming out easily, you should go to urgent care or hospital and have them do it.”
Types of repellent
The best way to help prevent bug bites this summer is to cover up, use DEET and permethrin, an insecticide, as added protective measures against biting insects, Phillips said.
DEET is the active ingredient in repellent products that has been around since the 1950s and is safe to use.
“DEET has been around since World War II and has been available to the public since 1957, so you know, we have decades and decades and decades of experience with that substance and you know how it can harm people, under what circumstances and the same is true for many of the other things,” Phillips said. “I look at DEET as being fairly safe when you follow the directions and you do it in a safe manner.”
According to the Washington Poison Center, DEET is considered the gold standard for insect repellents and has not been found to cause environmental damage or health damage.
Phillips said treating clothes with permethrin or buying clothes that are infused with permethrin can also help kill any insects that may land on you while outdoors.
DEET can be applied directly to exposed skin according to the directions on the label, but permethrin should only be used on clothes.
Phillips also says that there are organic or plant-based products such as oil of lemon eucalyptus that can be used as repellents, but these options are not as potent.
“They have shown they have some repellent effect, but they may not be as potent as deed would be, and you know they’re not an insecticide like permethrin, so they don’t kill insects they just sort of repel them,” Phillips said.
