Blame It On the Cicadas!

Are we having fun yet?

A week ago, my husband showed me two spots on his legs that were red and itchy. They didn't resemble mosquito bites, but he had been working in the yard a lot, so I figured it was outdoors-related. The next morning, I notice a strange red patch on the crook of my arm, and as the day progressed, it itched like you would not believe. We had had poison ivy a few summers ago, but the only yard work I've done recently is pick up sticks in the yard and lots of watering.

Well, by Friday morning, I had a spot on the back of my neck, two red patches on my stomach, and what looked to be a bullseye the size of a half dollar coin on my other arm. I was officially freaking out. My husband also had five spots in random places. We both looked at each other and said, "Bedbugs?" He had been in NYC for a few days in July, and my son had recently returned from 10 weeks living in Europe.

We tore apart our bed, took the mattress off the box springs and inspected every square inch. Nothing. I washed everything I could in hot water. Checked the kids' beds, just to be sure, even though they had no symptoms.

He and I woke up Saturday morning with a new spot on each of us. You can imagine how much we scoured the internet, looking for an answer! Ticks, spiders, fleas? The confounding part was that none of my spots looked exactly the same, and neither did his. As a test, I slept in the guestroom Saturday night. Woke up Sunday morning with another spot on my arm! WTF????

I couldn't think of anything new we were using in terms of laundry detergent, soap, shower gel, etc. At this point, I was considering a food allergy, but it really didn't make sense that we would both have a reaction at the same time. Plus, our kids were eating what we were.

Monday morning, my husband calls me from work and said he had another spot and he was worried we had ringworm or something such as that, so he was going to the dermatologist. Oh good, now I don't have to! LOL! I waited by the phone, half expecting that the doctor really wouldn't have a solid conclusion.

Apparently, we were his third similar case of the day. The verdict? Oak mites, a microscopic bug that lives in oak trees. We were being bitten while on our daily 3.5 mile walk around the neighborhood. They don't survive indoors, but will land on your clothes and crawl inside, which explains why we both had them on our chests and backs. There's nothing you can do to prevent them, besides staying indoors. Insect repellent does not work.

But why had I never heard of oak mites before? I have lived amongst oak trees my whole life. That's when I decided it was the fault of those damn cicadas that invaded us earlier in the summer. My husband found that to be a humorous suggestion, until this morning, when oak mites landed in the news:

For that you can blame the 17-year Cicada that hatched in June. You see, Oak Mites feed on insect larvae that inhabit Oak trees. Cicadas prefer oak trees in which to lay their thousands of eggs. And this year, that meant millions of the periodic cicadas and their newly hatched young served up on a dinner plate for the hungry mites.

Meanwhile, I will continue to drink Benadryl and apply cortisone cream.