Is this supposed to bite?

[Shellme]

Hi,

I found this website when trying to identify this insect - i'm loving your site so I've joined!

I took this picture in my garden yesterday (on an iphone so my apologies if the quality isn't all that). According to the insect identifier this is a Dryophilocoris flavoquadrimaculatus.

I've never seen this particular insect before. This is my first spring/summer in my new house and as we have oak trees at the bottom of our garden I'm fairly sure that I have identified it correctly. However, no matter how hard I search I can't find anything to say that these are biting insects? There are three of us in our house and we're all being bitten by it - there's no doubt that it is what's biting us as you feel them bite (it's quite painful) and they are in no hurry to fly off if you swat them away - plus they bite in broad daylight so it's easy to see what's chomping on you! They leave an instant red lump which itches and eventually dies down (over a few days) to leave a red patch of skin that stays that way for ages.

Do we have a freak mutation of this insect or has anyone else been bitten by it before? Also, does anyone know how to control them (there's masses of them everywhere) or prevent another outbreak next year? Is there anything I can put in the garden that they'll be more attracted to than us? (I don't do pesticides of any description so only natural suggestions please.)

Many Thanks!

[Jason Green]

Afternoon SM, and welcome to WAB!

I very much doubt this is the insect that has been biting you. They have sharp mouthparts that are used to penetrate plant stems/veins to suck sap, but they'd be too weak to pierce our skin - neither would they wish to IMHO. There are, however, other Hemipterans that can bite - look up Anthocoridae.

The ID looks correct

Take care,

Jason

[Shellme]

Thanks Jason.

I've looked up Anthocoridae - the minute pirate bug looks somewhat similar and it does say it can bite humans. My hilarious other half said the next time whatever it is actually bites one of us I should take a photo of it in action! I'm sure it'll sit still and wait whilst I nip off to fetch my decent camera for a quick macro photography shoot! 

I have a history of not reacting well to insect bites and I seem to attract anything that lunches on humans. I have been bitten on 3 separate occasions by the Blandford Fly (each time requiring weeks of medical treatment), I had a holiday ruined by an unknown assailant in Austria that made my right leg swell so I couldn't walk, I have twice been bitten on my ankle bone, in my garden, and ended up with infected ankle joint and I have had cellulitus twice from simple gnat bites!! That's just a short list of incidents that required doctor's intervention. Hence you can probably understand my desire to "control" whatever it is that's currently after me!  I'm fascinated by insects and nature in general, i'm always trying to take photo's of our tiny companions, I just wish I wasn't so much a part of their lifecycle!

Thanks again - if I get any hard evidence I'll post it.

[The Woodman]

Hi Shellme

You're not the only one to get biten by these bugs. I've been bitten several times this year and bear the marks still. There's a similar mottled brown beast that finds me attractive. I can say that because she's married to me.

Even Greenfly have penetrated my delicate skin!

[Shellme]

Hi Woodman.

I liked your analogy, made me laugh.... hope your wife does!

I'm very pleased to hear that I'm not hallucinating! Perhaps that's what my problem is..... thin/delicate skin & attractive to bugs?! Lol. My garden is so full of these things that I'm getting afraid to go out there! I read somewhere that they're normally only about in May/June so hopefully we won't be bombarded for too long. I've got about 15 of those darn red marks now and they're not fading.... time will tell though.