Clover Mites vs Chiggers: Identification and Differences

Clover mites and chiggers are both tiny bugs that look very identify. However, in this blog post, we are comparing both bugs as clover mites vs chiggers.

When it comes to tiny red bugs, identification is a vital first step to determining the best form of control for clover mites and chiggers. As you read on, you will also learn the differences between clover mites vs chiggers.

 

Tiny Red Bugs: Clover Mites vs Chiggers

Clover mites vs chiggers are tiny red bugs that are commonly mistaken for one another but the damage they cause is different.

Clover mites attack trees, shrubs, and other plants while triggers target humans and small animals. One of the most common and destructive forms of mites that feed on plants is the clover mite.

These mites are around 0.75 millimeters in length, have eight legs, and are shaped like ovals. In most cases, they have a hue that is between green and red.

Chiggers are a type of mite belonging to the family Trombiculidae, which is also known as spider mites, berry bugs, harvest mites, bush mites, red bugs, and scrub-itch mites.

Chiggers are a frequent name for this family of mites. Chiggers and jiggers, a type of flea, are sometimes confused with one another.

 

Read also: Do Clover Mites Bite?

 

Clover Mites vs Chiggers: Identification

Chiggers and clover mites are very tiny parasites. It can be difficult to identify between clover mites and chiggers, as well as the other way around. Below are ways to identify clover mites and chiggers.

Clover Mites Chiggers ·         One of the easiest ways to tell if a mite is a clover mite is to look at its front legs, which are noticeably longer and extended out in front, more like antennae than legs. ·         Because of their minute size, chiggers are difficult, if not impossible, to spot with the naked eye. ·         Closer to 80°F/27°C is when clover mites are most active, whereas above that temperature they become dormant. ·         Typically, orange-red to reddish-brown in color and coated with lengthy hairs on the surface. ·         It’s easier to spot clusters of tiny clover mites (.75 millimeters in diameter) when they’re all traveling together in close proximity to one another. ·         Chiggers have an oval body, just like their larger, adult form and their near relatives, the ticks. Chiggers are also closely related to ticks. ·         Crop and tree pests are known as “clover mites,” they feed on a wide variety of plants including lawn grasses, clover, and other weedy plants. ·         To identify chiggers’ presence in your home, use a piece of tiny, dark cardboard, and conduct a check for chigger mites. Put it down on the ground. ·         Numerous red eggs that will hatch in the spring are visible on vegetation and on sunny foundation walls in the fall. ·         Chiggers crawl very quickly from the bottom to the top. Keep an eye out for very small chiggers that might be bright red or orange. ·         Adult clover mites, which are about the size of a pinhead, rarely grow larger than 1/4 mm in length. ·         There are eight legs on an adult, and it measures around 1/60 of an inch. Smaller than a 1/150th of an inch in length, the larvae are scarlet and have no wings. ·         Red, brown, olive, pale orange, or even greenish-brown are all possible shades of reddish-brown after a meal. ·         Many people believe that chiggers are red because they eat blood, however, this is not the case. Chiggers turn yellow after feeding on blood. Adult chiggers have eight legs and resemble a variety of mites, including the chigger mite.

 

Read also: Chiggers: How to Identify and Get Rid of Chiggers

 

Picture of Clover mites and Chiggers

Below are pictures of clover mites vs chiggers:

 

Difference Between Clover Mites vs Chiggers

Clover mites and chiggers are so small. It’s challenging to tell whether clover mites from chiggers and vice versa.

However, there are key differences in their physical appearances, adult clover mites grow up to 1/30 of an inch in length and adult Chiggers grow to be 1/16 of an inch or even smaller.

While you’ll at least be able to see clover mites with your naked eye, you’ll still need magnification to see their physical features.

Clover mites have a pair of front legs that are significantly longer than the other pairs and they have ovular-shaped bodies

Adult chiggers on the other hand have almost strawberry shaped bodies. Clover mites are usually found outdoors on foliage, along your home’s perimeter, and around entry points, like doors, windows, cracks, and crevices.

In cooler weather, they can invade indoors and infest houses, and plants as they look for warmth and shelter.

Chiggers are only found outdoors and do not invade indoor spaces. They prefer moist overgrown, wooded habitats, with shaded soil.

They can also be found around Lakes, swamps and rivers. Clover mites can infest indoors too. They do not bite people, they feed by piercing plants and ingesting the sap.

If you’re being bitten, you’re likely being bitten by larval chiggers. Remember adult chiggers do not bite, larval chiggers feed on their host’s skin cells, leaving itchy red bumps or welts on the bites.

These bites are typically found around the waist, ankles behind the knee, and wherever else clothing. Although clover mites and chiggers are both small red arachnids. They are physiologically different pests that require unique approaches to treatment.

 

Read also: How to Get Rid of Spider Mites

 

Clover mites vs Chiggers: Feeding

Feeding Habit of Clover mites:

Clover mites do not eat blood, however, they can be found in the outside environment. Sucking plant liquids from clover, grass, shrubs, trees, and other plants, they gain their sustenance.

There is an abundance of mold and mildew on rooftops and patios, where they can find a large population.

 

Feeding Habit of Chiggers:

Insects, including chiggers, feed on blood, including the blood of mammals and other creatures. Chiggers prefer tiny mammals, birds, and reptiles to humans since humans are unintentional hosts.

chiggers, as adults, do not bite humans. Only the larvae of chigger bugs are known to bite humans. When you scratch a chigger bite, you can get an infection because of the redness and extreme itching that results.

 

Clover mites vs Chiggers: Life Cycles

Life Cycles of Clover mites:

Unfertilized eggs are the source of Clover mite evolution. Under tree bark or in gaps in fences and walls, the female clover mite can lay up to 70 small reddish-brown eggs.

The young larvae feed on the plant sap throughout their life cycle after hatching from these eggs.

Clover mites can live up to two weeks in their adult form, depending on the climate. Clover mites live for roughly a month every generation.

 

Life Cycle of Chiggers:

The life cycle of a chigger bug has four distinct stages: eggs, larvae, nymphs, and adults. As many as five eggs are laid per day by an adult female chigger throughout the spring.

Chigger eggs hatch into six-legged larvae that feed on warm-blooded hosts’ skin after five to seven days.

At this point, the larvae will change into eight-legged adults in seven to 10 days, after which time they’ll molt into nymphs.

Chiggers can produce up to five generations a year, depending on the temperature, location, and moisture. The entire chigger life cycle might take anywhere from two months to a year to complete.

 

Clover Mites vs Chiggers: Hiding Spots

Hiding Spots of Clover mites:

You’ll discover clover mites in your grass behind loose tree bark, on foundations, walls, and around window frames since they feed on green plants and trees.

 

Hiding Spots of Chiggers:

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