I seem to get bitten when working near the rear of my lottie, mostly mozzie bites at dusk, but once by a horsefly, so in summer avoided working there then. It is overshadowed by a tall Leylandii or similar. This last week or so, just when I thought it was safe to go back, started to sort out the stuff behind my shed, sited under the overhang from the tree. Bitten again, mozzie hites on my calves and thighs. they must have flown up my trouser legs and one horsefly bite just above my belt line. Can't work out how it managed it, tight belt, t-shirt tucked under jeans, jumper over jeans and jacket over that. I thought the biting things would be dormant by now, obviously not. considering safety precautions. (bike clips, DEET, citronella candles) Any further tips gratefully received.
Could it be ants?
See if you can get sticky traps (pest control will have them) and see if you can catch a few
Are you sure it is happening at the allotment? And not during the night when you are in bed with insects coming in through the open window. But we only discover the bites during the following day .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculosis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculosis)
I get what I think are chigger bites in the summer, though not usually at this time of year. They don't start to itch until the next day usually.
Ant bites hurt at the time.
I know what is biting, though in the case of the latest horsefly I don't know how it got there. Went down today, rubber bands round ankles, cuffs tightly fastened and ok so far. It was more if anyone had any tips for persuading them to move on, or least not to bite me.
Been bitten by ants in the past, as pumpkinlover says you quite definitely feel them at the time. Thanks for the input though.
lemon shower gel works and i keep some in the shed and wash my hands in before i start seems to work here on the sunshine coast
Insect repellent spray and an anti-histamine for me before I work in our veggie plot. Cortisone cream in my pocket.
There are barns and paddocks full of beef cattle just behind and our other neighbour has 3 horses. Loads of horse flies! Occasional mozzies and other invisible biting things too and some or all of them seem to be hungry nearly all year.
Reluctant as I am to add to your worries, you probably also get stable flies. Smaller than horse flies, more like house fly in size, nasty bite and very persistent when hungry. There's a lot of nasty little critters out there!
Those too - and the perishers fly in th ehouse too and leave drops of digested blood all over windowframes and surfaces. Bloody irritating, literally.