Cicada emergence may be linked to rash of mite bites

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Just when you thought it was safe to go outside after the cicadas died off, there are pockets of people getting mysterious bug bites.

Katy Costello said several of her neighbors in west suburban Elmhurst have been complaining of itchy pink welts on their skin.

Her family noticed them last week, after they were sitting outside on their back patio.

Costello said she initially thought they were spider bites but a local Facebook group showed others suffering as well from what they suspect are mites.

Cicada expert Dr. Gene Kritsky from Mount St Joseph University thinks so too.

He said itch mites are drawn to the spots in oak trees where female cicadas have laid their eggs.

“If you're sitting under the oak tree and it's loaded with cicada egg nests, there are going to be quite a few mites up in those nests then start dropping down on you,” Kritsky said.

He says after the cicada nymphs fall from the trees, the mites follow.

Kritsky learned about this after the Brood 13 emergence here 17 years ago, and one the next year when people in Cincinnati complained of chigger-like bites and welts after Brood 14 emerged there.

The state public health department wrote about a breakout of rashes or bites in the Chicago area in 2007.

Kritsky says the mites are likely to stick around through the end of the month.

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