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17 wrz 2024 · After searching for answers from our K-State entomologists, we suspected a small mite called a hay itch mite. Sometime later, the oak leaf itch mite, Pyemotes herfsi, was deemed to be responsible for the widespread outbreaks of itching bites in various Midwestern communities.
- Extension Entomology
Oak leaf itch mites emerge from the galls and fall from oak...
- Extension Entomology
3 lis 2016 · Oak leaf itch mites emerge from the galls and fall from oak trees (primarily pin oak) from late July through fall. As many as 370,000 mites per day can fall from oak trees (yikes!). The mites bite anyone under oak trees with bite marks appearing 10 to 16 hours after exposure.
25 wrz 2024 · People have not forgotten the 2016 outbreak of oak leaf itch mites. This itch mite is the pest that caused your friends and neighbors to hibernate indoors until a hard freeze brought the apocalypse to an end.
Pyemotes herfsi, also known as the oak leaf gall mite or itch mite, is an ectoparasitic mite identified in Europe and subsequently found in India, Asia, and the United States. The mite parasitizes a variety of insect hosts and bites humans, causing red, itchy, and painful wheals (welts).
In the last few years, many Kansans have experienced the pain and discomfort of an oak leaf itch mite bite. The question we receive most on our response line is if anyone knows if they will return again this fall.
The first recognition of this mite in the U. S. occurred in Kansas in the autumn of 2004 where it was estimated to have affected around 19,000 people. Since then it has been reported from Illinois, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and in 2007, Pennsylvania (Lancaster County).
There have been four major infestations of the oak leaf itch mite in Kansas: 2004, 2009, 2015, and 2016. The oak leaf itch mite is associated with the oak marginal leaf fold gall (Figure 1), which is produced by a midge gall-maker. (Macrodiplosis erubescens).
