OK, this thing has bitten me twice now

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

It's a tiny black shiny thing - shorter than a matchhead & ¼ the width

It hurts when it bites, & the bite later itches like mad & swells up, with a hard white inner ring & a much larger pink outer, which lasts for several days

First time I blew it away (because it looked like nothing) just as it bit

Second time I swiped at it with a gardening glove on & would like to think I squished it but fear I missed it

Any idea what it is? (I'm in Lancashire)

[DoItTooJulia]

Oh, I think I have been bitten by one of these, so watching with interest.

I thought it was an ant of some kind? The bite was awful. It's still there 4 weeks later although it's just a little scab now.

I got it while weeding the veg patch, stupidly, in flip flops. Got the back of my ankle/foot. Try aloe Vera or lavender oil to soothe. I iced mine as well, it was so hot!

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

Mine didn't look like an ant - it was a uniform shape, no head/thorax/abdomen, just pointed both ends. Pretty sure it's a type of beetle rather than a fly or any other insect

The first one landed on my hand when I was outside not doing anything

Second one I was clearing some tall nettles/docks/other weeds, & pruning some small branches from a random tree-weed that grows just outside out back wall.

There is a thing called a flea beetle which sounds like it but officially doesn't bite humans

Google hasn't found me anything it might be

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

I usedh one of those zap-it electronic things when it first got me yesterday but it's still flared up today (I think they're only for mossies really)

Also an ammonia after-bite thing which does relieve the itching

I'll try icing it, thanks

[wowfudge]

I'm concerned that the rings on your skin round the bite sound very similar to a tick bite.

[Selks]

Sounds like a tick

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

I have seen a tick, & this wasn't anything like that.

Tiny slender shiny black thing - ticks are sort of round, & they bury their heads in you, don't they? (& once buried you can't just blow them away?)

[DoItTooJulia]

Put a picture of your bite up, we could compare!

[traviata]

black fly, sometimes called Blandford fly?

flower bug - see the nymph picture?

[kelda]

Could be a tick. The bite sounds like a bulleye rash, which needs to be seen by a doctor. Ticks get bigger the more they drink, so they could be slender to begin with. Really, see a doctor, there could be a risk of Lyme disease, which is becoming more common.

[wowfudge]

I'm with Kelda - see a doctor because your health is more important. The thing you saw could be coincidental rather than the actual culprit. Just not worth the risk of leaving it imo. You could have an infection in the bite, such as cellulitis.

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

This was the original bite on my hand - it didn't get any bigger than this but was very itchy at intervals until it subsided

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

This is the current bite from yesterday

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

This is today - it has got bigger & is red but I've been scratching a lot since I woke up.

I'll draw a line round it & keep an eye on it today. There is a walk-in centre 10 miles away open until 8.30pm

The little black shiny thing is definitely what bit me both times - I saw it & felt the bite.

[DoItTooJulia]

How is it now? Mine looked like that. I think it was the same thing that bit me. I just assumed it was a weird little ant.

I've looked at the flea beetle thing and it was a bit like that but I didn't notice any legs at all come to think of it. I saw it and felt it bite too.

Hope you're ok. Itchy as hell.

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

Thanks, Julia

Definitely gone down a bit, though still swollen & has a lovely crunchy orange scab. Not hot though & pink rather than red. Itchiness bubbling under...

The one on my hand (2 weeks old) has a circle of smooth skin around a tiny scab where the actual bite was. It was definitely a kind of beetle & must be able to fly as it got my hand about 3' off the ground. The little bastard

[DoItTooJulia]

See, even your old scab sounds like mine.

Has it had a really dark, deep pinhole middle?

And still we don't know what it is. I didn't see where the one that bit me went after I swatted it off.

[WynkenBlynkenandNod]

I've been bitten on my arm by what I assumed was a mosquito, though didn't see anything. Friend was saying today to be careful with the bites and I think this evening I have a temperature so was Googling.

Came across the Blandford Fly, could that be your culprit ?

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

I did wonder about the Blandford fly & looked it up, Wynken, but a) I'm a long way north & b) what bit me didn't look like a fly

I keep googling & can't see anything remotely like it!

[DoItTooJulia]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2112872-Biting-beetles-in-the-raspberries?msgid=47826870#47826870

[Gatekeeper]

I'm in the north-east and was bitten yesterday by a Flower bug which cam eup the same as yours OP.


Worse ones are 'chiggers' aka Berry bugs/harvest mites etc that go for me in August.I was in agony last year as I was covered in bites and all were intensely itchy for about ten days. Not looking forward to that again

[Gatekeeper]

Gawd...I am itching at the thought

[WowOoo]

I was bitten by one of these buggers once:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil's_coach_horse_beetle

I was actually wearing gloves and somehow it sneaked into one and got me on my wrist. Probably not your beetle, but I was surprised that they can bite.

[WowOoo]

The Devil's Coach Horse is massive compared to your bug!
I want to see a photo when you find it so I can keep my eye out for it.

Hope your arm stops hurting soon, by the way.