Ladybird Bites
Ladybird Bites: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment
Ladybirds are generally friendly insects. However, they can turn into biting ones of they do not find water or food nearby. Some species of ladybirds do bite people more than the others.
Bites from a ladybird often do not cause serious health problems or conditions. A severe allergic reaction may be present in select people, but such cases are extremely rare.
Why do ladybirds bite people?
Ladybirds only bite people when they do not get food or water in extreme cases. Oftentimes, they are pretty much contented feeding on other insects. But they can aggressively bite people or even other ladybirds when there’s no food and water around.
The Asian Harlequin Ladybird is one species that often bites humans especially when food is scarce due to the hot environment.
Ladybirds aren’t used to feeding on humans unlike other insects such as mosquitoes or gnats. They actually experience difficulty in breaking through human skin. They do not use their saliva or venom, so allergic reaction chances to ladybird bites are extremely low.
However, there are still a very select few who get reactions to ladybird bites. Serious symptoms include difficulty breathing and swelling on body parts other than the bitten areas. Severe allergic reactions with such symptoms necessitate an emergency medical attention the soonest possible time.
Treating ladybird bites
Simply wash the bitten areas with soap and water to lessen any chances of infection. However, if you find any worrying symptom arising from your bite, it’s a good idea to talk to your physician.
Booking an online physician appointment in minutes will ensure you speak promptly to one of our GPs who can assess your wounds, diagnose it properly, and give you advise or prescription topicals to apply on your skin to help heal your ladybird bites quickly.