Chiggers University of Kentucky Entomology Chiggers by Lee Townsend and Mike Potter, Extension Entomologists University of Kentucky College of Agriculture University of Kentucky Chiggers feed on an animal or human host during one of a progression of stages that takes them from a tiny egg to an adult. While the irritating, microscopic larval stage is invisible to the naked eye, the bright red eight-legged adult, sometimes called a harvest mite, can be seen crawling over the ground. The parasitic nymphs feed on an animal or human host. Adults eat small invertebrates, their eggs, and organic matter. The larval chigger is an active creature that moves to the tip of grasses and fallen leaves to wait for and grab onto a passing meal.
Rodents are a common host but chiggers can attack a variety of other animals and humans.
After secreting digestive enzymes, they suck up liquefied host tissues. They neither suck blood nor burrow into the skin. The rash and intense itching associated with chiggers is an allergic reaction to the mite's salivary secretions. Chiggers most frequently occur in overgrown brush or grassy areas, especially where small rodents are abundant. Females lay eggs on the ground in groups of up to 400, picking damp but well drained sites.