It was a strange end of the year with very warm temperatures. All the leaves on our red oak in the front yard seemed to drop within two days. On a still warm Sunday, my husband and I put on our gloves and went out to rake up the endless pile of leaves. Seven bags later, we came back in starting to feel a bit itchy…..
The next day we woke up to find our upper body covered in small, red, itchy bites. It was not the usual chigger bites on the lower body in all the crevices and the never-ending itch was driving us crazy. What the heck? After some internet searching, something caught my eye. An article about mites that are found on oaks, especially pin oaks or red oaks with a lot of galls. The culprit seemed to be Pyemotes herfsi, otherwise known as the oak leaf gall mite or the more appropriate name in my opinion, oak leaf itch mite! At the end of the season, these tiny mites fall off the tree and land in the leaf litter. If you happen to be in their path, they just land and bite. They are also easily dispersed in the wind.
I spent endless hours rolling in leaves as a child and I had never encountered such a mite. An article published in November, 2015 on the Texas AgriLife Extension website provides some very interesting insights about this invisible mite that belongs to the Class Arachnida. Read more about it here: Oak leaf itch mite confirmed in Oklahoma – Insects in the City
It seems we might be encountering these mites more often now and DEET has questionable effect on these prolific critters. In the past week, there were several conversations online about leaves and mites. The other victims of the oak itch mite had gone to the ER where they were prescribed steroids, etc. We came across a novel way to handle the itch I thought I would pass along. Please note, this is not professional medical advice so use it at your own risk. Blowing warm air from a hair dryer at each bite for as long as you can stand seemed to work. We did it for about 3 minutes for each bite. It was the first time the itching had stopped in days, so we did not mind the red skin. The effects lasted several hours with the itch coming back a little less intense. I’m going to try it on chigger bites the next time I find myself in an itchy predicament. Stay itch-free out there! Don’t stand under oak trees with falling leaves for too long and avoid picking up the leaf litter for now. 😊
Sources: Pyemotes herfsi – Wikipedia, Oak Leaf Itch Mites, Oak leaf itch mite confirmed in Oklahoma – Insects in the City
