Their bites produce small, reddish welts on the skin accompanied by intense itching as irritating as acute cases of poison ivory or poison sumac. These symptoms often are the only way of learning that an outdoor area is infested since chiggers are so small that most cannot be seen without a magnifying glass. Chiggers feed on a wide variety of snakes, turtles, birds, and small mammals as well as humans. The larval stage has three pairs of legs whereas the nymph and adult stage have four pairs of legs. There is a marked constriction in the front part of the body in the nymph and adult stage.
Eggs are globular-shaped.
Life Cycle and Habits Adult chiggers overwinter near or slightly below the soil and in other protected places. After hatching, chigger larvae climb up onto vegetation from which they can more readily snag a passing host. After engorgement, often requiring one to several days, larvae drop off the host and transform into eight-legged nymphs which mature to the adult stage. Nymphs and adults feed on eggs of springtails, isopods, and mosquitoes. The life cycle is about 50 to 70 days, with adult females living up to one year and producing offspring during this time.