I created a new map for case reports of biting mites that I know of (Link here). Since I've been collecting the links to bird and rodent mite infestations around the world and also reviewing scientific literature about the mite species, I thought it would be instructive to place all of these infestations on a map to see what pattern would emerge. Some trends that have been recognized are that tropical rat mites are moving north along the West Coast of North America to Washington, Oregon, and British Colombia. Tropical rat mites have generally been quite abundant in California and Texas. Alameda County, California, has had a large number of incident reports as has the area around Seattle, Washington.
I know of four incidents that appear to be rodent mites (possibly tropical rat mites) in the Washington, DC area. For some reason there have been a number of infestations in Illinois by either bird or rodent mites. It is possible that mice are abundant in an area known for growing corn. Bird mites from Pigeons appear to be common in urban settings with a number of reports from New York City.
From the small sampling of Internet reports of these infestations, the largest concentration appears to be in the Eastern half of the United States and along the West Coast, while the prairies and Southwest have few cases, although there are cases nonetheless.
Chicken mites appear to be abundant in the Middle East and likely peak in the winter months as they do in Florida, the mites are able to reproduce more rapidly in cooler temperatures while the summer heat in these areas limits their numbers. A number of Tropical Rat Mite reports emanate from Germany, while bird mites are also found in Southern European cities and countryside.
In any case, bird and rodent mites are found throughout the temperate regions of the Americas and Europe, with rodent mite infestation reports coming from as far north as Scandinavia.
5 comments:
On the birdmitesorg yahoo group, one person pointed out that the mite pattern on the map is in lowland areas and in places that are humid and close to water. Another pointed out that these areas have the heaviest population densities. It is true that humans tend to live close to water and the further a place is from water, the less there are humans there. Perhaps the birds and rodents also congregate in these fertile areas for the same reasons humans do, and the mites survive best in the same conditions that humans, birds, and rodents survive, humid places close to water. So, it seems everyone is right, all of these like the same places and this makes infestations possible.
I recall back about ten years and then even earlier around 1990 people reporting rats at the Navy yard...that was before this problem was circulating. Imagine how bad it could be with rodent mites there now.
Don't know what kind of mites are here. Have not found vacant birds' nests. But--is it risky to have bird feeders at the far end of the property-about 125 feet. Sad, there were no birds here when we came and we invited them with our plantings. Tnx, catdog
I'm glad to see people in the pest control industry talking about this. The experts tell us not to get involved with pests that are microscopic and near impossible to identify. Yet we are going crazy with calls about mites that are so pervasive that it is ruining people's lives. Sometimes parasitosis is involved, but we are seeing patterns of behavior and descriptions of the epidemiology that are too similar to be ruled out. Where we are in California, it seems that dogs are acting as intermediate vectors from rats or birds to people, and that the mites are very comfortable feeding of us.
Many pest control organizations are offering 24/7 services to their clients and are all time ready to fight against bedbugs to provide an environment friendly living all around.
Hi We have the same bites long lines that are in straight or curves shapes all over. We do not know what pest this is and would like to know if anyone could help diagnose this pest. We think they are black specks and seem to be mainly black but also seen some red and bright blue ones sometimes as well. One result proved it was an Oribated Bird Mite, but harmless to man. This is not conclusive though we feel. and need to check with someone who can say this is what it is. They crawl inside your clothing and one can feel them all over. Please can anyone out there help? Thanks
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