Bad year for oak mites in Kansas

From 12 News in Wichita

People on college campuses across Kansas and now entire neighborhoods in Wichita are all complaining about the same thing: tons of mysterious, itchy bug bites. Often mistaken for a mosquito or spider bite, these bites are coming from a tiny bug called an oak mite.

The microscopic bugs live in oak trees and experts say because Kansas got so much rain this summer, this might be the worst season for mites in the past decade.

Because the bugs fall out of the trees directly onto people, repellants or bug sprays won’t keep them away. If the mite lands on you and bites you, it then burrows into your skin. Many who have been bitten say these bug bites last much longer than a mosquito bite and are very annoying.

“I would even wake up in the middle of the night and I was scratching myself,” said Karolina Mosa, who has been bitten several times while out running in Wichita.

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