Courtesy Dr. W. Calvin Webourn and the Ohio State University Acarology Laboratory. Chiggers first show up as annoying red bumps. An itch begins. More hard red welts surface. From your feet and ankles upward, and especially at those tender locations your mother told not to scratch in public, a maddening itch takes hold.
Savage scratching begins.
Every welt becomes a persistent, exquisitely itching preoccupation that continues to irritate for days and even weeks. You probably recognize these symptoms of chigger bites. Yet we never see the culprits responsible for this summertime agony. Myths about chiggers are widespread. Many believe chiggers are some type of bug.