No-See-Ums: A friend is in the Adirondacks, and she was attacked by a swarm of no-see-ums. Her face was so badly swollen that her eyes were almost completely shut, and she had to be...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

A friend is in the Adirondacks, and she was attacked by a swarm of no-see-ums. Her face was so badly swollen that her eyes were almost completely shut, and she had to be driven to the ER. She's on Prednisone for eight days. It seems that these flying bugs like to bite, and some people are highly allergic. Fortunately, I've never seen any no-see-ums here. Really, I never see-um.

By the way, they're ugly, so it's good we can't see them.

https://www.google.com/search?q=noseeums&oq=noseeums&aqs=edge..69i57j0i131i433i512j0i512l2j0i10i512j0i512l3.2038j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Billbobboy42 Loc: Center of Delmarva

I have not heard about Adirondack noseams. However, we have friends that live close to Syracuse. He is a professional photographer and has many times photographed landscape scenes there. The thing I remember he said was do not go to the Adirondacks during black fly season. If I remember correctly, the season was worse in June. According to him , no insert repellent is effective against black flies. Now, that info may be outdated.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Billbobboy42 wrote:

I have not heard about Adirondack noseams. However, we have friends that live close to Syracuse. He is a professional photographer and has many times photographed landscape scenes there. The thing I remember he said was do not go to the Adirondacks during black fly season. If I remember correctly, the season was worse in June. According to him , no insert repellent is effective against black flies. Now, that info may be outdated.

I appreciate the fact that we have very few nasty flying insects at my house. Maybe the air around here is so bad that they avoid us.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

Adirondack Made - Bye-Bye Blackfly is used by a lot of folks in our camper group and they swear by it - just a little bit on the arms, legs, neck (touch smear - not put on like lotion) works great... I ordered some because on the last camping trip, I got chewed up with them...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Shellback wrote:

Adirondack Made - Bye-Bye Blackfly is used by a lot of folks in our camper group and they swear by it - just a little bit on the arms, legs, neck (touch smear - not put on like lotion) works great... I ordered some because on the last camping trip, I got chewed up with them...

Thanks!

Billbobboy42 Loc: Center of Delmarva

Shellback wrote:

Adirondack Made - Bye-Bye Blackfly is used by a lot of folks in our camper group and they swear by it - just a little bit on the arms, legs, neck (touch smear - not put on like lotion) works great... I ordered some because on the last camping trip, I got chewed up with them...

Thanks. I wondered if my info was outdated. Just ordered one on ebay. I live about 50 miles north of Assateauge National Wildlife Refuge. Their mosquitoes are quite resistant to the popular repellents. Bye-bye Blackfly should do the trick.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

jerryc41 wrote:

A friend is in the Adirondacks, and she was attack... (show quote)

While they aren’t usually dangerous, they are a nuisance. If a person is extremely allergic to these pests, please contact your doctor. Request a prescription for EPI-PEN or EPI-PEN Jr depending on the patient’s age and weight. Keep it readily available in a pants pocket or pocket book. After being bitten, activate the pen and self-inject. Call 911 immediately.

therwol Loc: USA

Scruples wrote:

While they aren’t usually dangerous, they are a nuisance. If a person is extremely allergic to these pests, please contact your doctor. Request a prescription for EPI-PEN or EPI-PEN Jr depending on the patient’s age and weight. Keep it readily available in a pants pocket or pocket book. After being bitten, activate the pen and self-inject. Call 911 immediately.

The EPI-PEN is life saving for one kind of allergic reaction that results in anaphylaxis where someone goes into shock and potentially dies from an allergy, whether it is from an insect sting or food allergy such as to peanuts. It won't do anything to mitigate a local allergic reaction that doesn't progress to shock. Poison Oak/IVY is an example of an extreme local reaction to an allergen, and an EPI-PEN doesn't help. The person who had the severe reaction to the insect bites should consult with an allergist regarding the best way to treat the problem. I suspect that the use of insect repellent outdoors is going to be the best answer, but again, a consultation seems indicated given the history.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

therwol wrote:

The EPI-PEN is life saving for one kind of allergi... (show quote)

Dear therwol and others, Biting Midges are mostly a nuisance. However, the saliva they secrete will be an irritant while they are I. search of lactic acid present in our skin. There isn’t a great amount of lactic acid to do is harm but these insects seek it out. Epinephrine, as in EPI-PEN prevent a histamine reaction when it is released by the body. In severe cases of anaphylaxis (or an allergic reaction) epinephrine will mitigate swelling. While some may be skiddish about an injection, I also recommend topical Diphenyhydramine Cream and Calamine Lotion. I also recommend Silver Sulfadiazine Cream (a prescription Med) as severe scratching will cause a skin infection.
I am not really fond of insecticides because berating in these chemicals can have deleterious effects on the throat and trachea as well as one’s eyes.

therwol Loc: USA

Scruples wrote:

Dear therwol and others, Biting Midges are mostly ... (show quote)

In an acute, life threatening situation, the second step after the EPI-PEN is a dose of ORAL diphenhydramine (Benadryl), typically 50mg for an adult, and the third step is the first dose of an oral steroid such as Prednisone. Somewhere in this scenario someone should call 911. But specific advice should be given by an MD who has seen the person face to face. In my experience, oral Benadryl is much more effective than the topical cream, and one reason is the side effect of sedation and the effect that has on scratching. You are correct that scratching can cause an infection, and that may require oral antibiotics.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

This reminds me of a recent post from The Family Handyman: "How to Make Ants Disappear." Yeah, that's what I want, a house full of invisible ants. Another post of theirs - "How to Identify Ants." If they're not wearing name tags, I don't care who they are. Fortunately, we either don't have ants in the house, or someone made them invisible.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Billbobboy42 wrote:

I have not heard about Adirondack noseams. However, we have friends that live close to Syracuse. He is a professional photographer and has many times photographed landscape scenes there. The thing I remember he said was do not go to the Adirondacks during black fly season. If I remember correctly, the season was worse in June. According to him , no insert repellent is effective against black flies. Now, that info may be outdated.

I think they are smaller than a millimeter. I can see a millimeter sized object, but I can’t see a noseeum.

Stan

LovetheMts Loc: Adirondacks

The black flies have been prolific this year in the Adirondacks. I think your friend was bitten by black flies, not no-see-ums. In the link you supplied it does not mention serious illness from no-see-um bites, but if you click the link to black fly on that page you will see how much more dangerous a black fly bite can be. My grandmother was hospitalized with a bad reaction from black fly bites when we were at a picnic at an Adirondack lake. No-see-ums are annoying, have not had a problem with them yet this year, but when they are here you have to keep your windows shut because they can come in right through the screens.

Canisdirus

LovetheMts wrote:

The black flies have been prolific this year in th... (show quote)

Sounds about right.

The further north you go...the more aggressive the skeeters and black flies become...season gets shorter...they get more persistent.

The black flies in Canada ...will roll you and steal your wallet.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

StanMac wrote:

I can see a millimeter sized object, but I can’t see a noseeum.

Stan

If you can't seeum, are they really there?

Black flies and no-see-ums are in the same family - Ceratopogonidae. Such a big name for such a small thing.