The Brood X cicadas may be gone but their presence is still being felt!

The Brood X cicadas may be gone but their presence is still being felt—literally! Mysterious bites that cause painful itching and welts are appearing on many people in regions that experienced the periodical cicada invasion. The likely culprits are oak leaf itch mites, also known as Pyemotes, which are feeding on cicada eggs that were laid in the slits of branches on oak trees. The bugs are virtually invisible to the naked eye and can fall from trees that have cicada nests.
The bites are typically found on the upper body and are similar to that of a chigger bite. You may not know you’ve been attacked until the symptoms appear about 10-16 hours after the bite and may last for up to two weeks. Try not to scratch the bites since that could lead to infection. Contact your health care provider if the itching becomes intense. The good news? These Pyemotes should be gone by November, so be careful under Oak Trees until then