Biting insects, such as mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks, and various flies, are generally of less immediate hazard than stinging insects, but they may be carriers of disease. Ticks are the major carrier of disease in the U.S., transmitting Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Colorado tick fever, tularaemia, and relapsing fever or tick paralysis, and Deer ticks-Lyme disease. Members of the spider family are another concern in both the field and office in certain parts of the country. Those of most concern are the black widow and brown recluse spiders and the scorpion. The spiders range widely in the temperate region and tend to seek dark hiding places.
Scorpions range from the Gulf States to California and north into the dry areas of the west.
Scorpions tend to seek shelter under bark, litter, sand, or rocks and may crawl into shoes, gloves, etc. Keep in mind that there is just as much danger of falling off ladders and cableway platforms from trying to avoid bee stings as from the actual sting. Wear clothing that makes access to the skin difficult. Avoid tramping through heavy vegetation if another choice is available. Be observant of wasp nests, hornet hives, and ant hills.