Fleas are the most common source of insect bites within homes. They usually bite people around the ankles, producing a small, red, hardened, and slightly raised welt. Fleas are most often associated with pets. Lice may also cause intense itching and irritation. Because lice cannot survive away from a human host, treatment of premises is not normally required.
Mites are very tine arthropods which occasionally infest structures and bite people.
In most cases, the infestation can be traced to birds nesting in an attic or on a window ledge, or to an infestation of mice or rats. Chiggers also bite people and generally are too small to be seen without magnification. Chiggers live outdoors in tall weeds and grass. They crawl onto people and move upward until they encounter a point of constriction between skin and clothing, such as around the ankles, behind the knee, or at the waistline. Chiggers can be controlled by keeping grass and weeds cut short.