07-13-2020, 03:46 AM
I went to the beach today. Richardson's. It was lovely as usual. But anyway after swimming today and sitting on the sand near the water I felt a stinging pain on my calf. I looked down and saw a small bug. Mosquito sized. I swatted it. A little while later I felt it again. Another bug and it got me on the arm and on the leg again. Each bite hurt. Unlike a mosquito bite where you usually don't even notice the initial bite. An initial sting and then an itch and burn not as intense as fireants but different feeling from mosquito. I think we have two or three types of mosquito here and I'm familiar with them. I'm longtime kama'aina. I examined the second one I swatted and it looked more like a flying ant than a mosquito. About an eighth of an inch and black with wings and head-parts larger than a mosquito and it had a proboscis. Earlier I noticed the bug parting the hairs on my shaggy leg after landing there, to get to the skin, then lean down in for a bite. Flying ants don't do that. And It's eyes were bigger than an ant's but the body was slender unlike common little flies.
I brought it over to the lifeguard and asked. He didn't recognize it and hadn't experienced a bite from it and hadn't heard other complaints.
I remember the feeling of the bite from a few weeks earlier when I visited the same place but just figured I'm getting used to the fireant bites and it was less than usual itch and burn but still a bite from something.
I'm a bit of a bug-geek ever since I was a kid so part of me was fascinated and l researched possibilities. The closest thing fitting the description was:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandfly
I researched further and saw there were 700 or more types of these buggers but it looked like this one in the wikipedia pic.
This link about invasives in Hawaii suggests they are already here but the one in this pic has a fat body. Unlike the type that bit me:
https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/species/biting-flies/
A little concerning if my suspicion is true because apparently they carry a different nasty disease or two. Hope I'm wrong but my eyes are good and I've never seen that bug before today. I Will try to bring it to the university if I get another.
Anyone experienced anything like this?
I brought it over to the lifeguard and asked. He didn't recognize it and hadn't experienced a bite from it and hadn't heard other complaints.
I remember the feeling of the bite from a few weeks earlier when I visited the same place but just figured I'm getting used to the fireant bites and it was less than usual itch and burn but still a bite from something.
I'm a bit of a bug-geek ever since I was a kid so part of me was fascinated and l researched possibilities. The closest thing fitting the description was:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandfly
I researched further and saw there were 700 or more types of these buggers but it looked like this one in the wikipedia pic.
This link about invasives in Hawaii suggests they are already here but the one in this pic has a fat body. Unlike the type that bit me:
https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/species/biting-flies/
A little concerning if my suspicion is true because apparently they carry a different nasty disease or two. Hope I'm wrong but my eyes are good and I've never seen that bug before today. I Will try to bring it to the university if I get another.
Anyone experienced anything like this?