Which one is it? · Mosquitoes & Biting Bugs
Which Florida Biting Bug Is This?
Bites you never see land, a tick you pulled off after a yard day, or itchy bumps in a line on your ankle — Southwest Florida has a lot of ways to get bitten. Compare all mosquitoes, flies, ticks, fleas and bed bugs we've verified, then read the ID guide for the closest match.
Bat Bug
Cimex adjunctus
Worth a pro look
- Can bite
How to tell: Flat, oval, reddish-brown body almost identical to a bed bug at a glance
Bed Bug
Cimex lectularius
Worth a pro look
- Can bite
How to tell: Apple-seed sized, flat, reddish-brown; swells and reddens after feeding
Bed Bug or Bat Bug Signs
Cimex lectularius (sign)
Worth a pro look
- Can bite
How to tell: Small rusty or dark red-brown spots on mattress seams, sheets or the bed frame, from crushed bugs or droppings
Deer Fly
Chrysops spp.
Keep an eye on it
- Can bite
How to tell: Smaller and slimmer than a horse fly, with dark patterned bands across the wings
Horse Fly
Tabanus spp.
Keep an eye on it
- Can bite
How to tell: Large, robust, dark brown to black fly, often an inch or more long
No-See-Um
Culicoides spp.
Harmless
- Can bite
How to tell: You feel the burn but can barely see the insect — about 1 mm long
Stable Fly (dog fly)
Stomoxys calcitrans
Keep an eye on it
- Can bite
How to tell: Looks almost identical to a house fly, gray with dark stripes on the thorax
Yellow Fly
Diachlorus ferrugatus
Keep an eye on it
- Can bite
How to tell: Bright yellow-orange body, noticeably lighter than a horse fly or deer fly
Cat Flea
Ctenocephalides felis
Worth a pro look
- Can bite
- Can spread disease
How to tell: Pets scratching, plus bites appearing around human ankles
Yellow Fever Mosquito
Aedes aegypti
Worth a pro look
- Can bite
- Can spread disease
How to tell: Bites in daytime, especially ankles and elbows
Asian Tiger Mosquito
Aedes albopictus
Worth a pro look
- Can bite
- Can spread disease
How to tell: A single bold white stripe down the center of the back
Gallinipper
Psorophora ciliata
Keep an eye on it
- Can bite
How to tell: Huge mosquito, up to about half an inch long, several times the size of a typical mosquito
Mosquito Larvae (wigglers)
Culicidae (larvae)
Keep an eye on it
How to tell: Small, worm-like creatures with a large head and a slender, curved body, floating just under the water surface
Black Salt Marsh Mosquito
Aedes taeniorhynchus
Keep an eye on it
- Can bite
- Can spread disease
How to tell: Dark, almost black mosquito with narrow white bands on the legs and abdomen
Southern House Mosquito
Culex quinquefasciatus
Worth a pro look
- Can bite
- Can spread disease
How to tell: Medium, plain light-brown mosquito with faint pale bands on the legs and abdomen
American Dog Tick
Dermacentor variabilis
Worth a pro look
- Can bite
- Can spread disease
How to tell: Reddish-brown, flattened, oval body with a mottled gray-white pattern on the back (scutum)
Bird and Rodent Mites
Ornithonyssus spp.
Worth a pro look
- Can bite
How to tell: Barely visible, pale to reddish-brown speck, only clearly seen under magnification
Blacklegged Tick (deer tick)
Ixodes scapularis
Keep an eye on it
- Can bite
- Can spread disease
How to tell: Small, plain reddish-brown to dark tick with no white spots or mottled pattern
Brown Dog Tick
Rhipicephalus sanguineus
Worth a pro look
- Can bite
- Can spread disease
How to tell: Ticks crawling up walls or in baseboard gaps — yes, indoors
Chiggers (red bugs)
Trombiculidae
Keep an eye on it
- Can bite
How to tell: Too small to easily see with the naked eye; a orange-yellow to reddish speck at most
Lone Star Tick
Amblyomma americanum
Worth a pro look
- Can bite
- Can spread disease
How to tell: Reddish-brown, teardrop-shaped body
Still Not Sure Which One You Have?
Text a photo and a licensed local tech will help you identify it for free. Some look-alikes can only be told apart in person, so we'll say if it needs an inspection. Or get a real price online in about 60 seconds.