Bites

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Hey, Sojourner, how did you finally find them, and identify them?

And get rid of them?

Do you know why they did not multiply?

Serious question. And thanks for answering.

Ann

Ciao Ann! I have some theories! This was back in our land life. An old friend from another life was staying over for a few weeks. She works as a chief stew on super yachts now, but back then she was just starting out, and the dock walker accommodation in antibes ain't the most uhh hygienic We think she brought the bugs in her duffel, which ended up in our bedroom. There might well have been more, but I went on a rampage bagging and throwing most things out. I found two in the bed frame over the course of those months, dead from my many treatments of powders and oils. There might well have been more. Not a huge amount, but even one will drive a person absolutely batchit.

Identify them via internet of course. And those classic bite lines. Nothing else does that. Fleas hop around, mosquitoes alight randomly on parts of you that are not near the mattress, ticks stay buried, spiders leave twin puncture holes, assassin bugs target the mouth.... bedbugs do lines.

Ugh, I'm getting the goosies just thinking about them I hope you're asking academically and not for any real reason....

[Spindrift NH]

My wife was getting bites while house sitting for a client, it took her a while to discover that she was having a reaction to the clients laundry detergent. The “bites” looked like bug bites(randomly located), itched, and remained for days.

[JPA Cate]

I hope you're asking academically and not for any real reason....

Yeah! Great that you did find the corpses for actual i.d. I hadn't known about the lines, either. I'm glad someone found out for me! And I take the advice to heart, as well. It would mean all out war to find the tell tale line!

Thanks very much for the info.

Ann

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Yeah! Great that you did find the corpses for actual i.d. I hadn't known about the lines, either. I'm glad someone found out for me! And I take the advice to heart, as well. It would mean all out war to find the tell tale line!

Thanks very much for the info.

Ann

Haha sure thing. Yeah it was bad enough in the bedroom of an old stone-walled apartment... the thought of them in our boat cabin with all the cubbies, wood, nooks, crannies, is an absolute nightmare

[a64pilot]

“Bites” in a line is also classic contact dermatitis, you know poison Ivy etc.
My wife is allergic to many detergents, especially Tide. So we make sure we do all our own laundry.

[Chotu]

This sounds like a reaction rather than bug bites. Something on the boat might be bothering you. A chemical, even a pesticide like people are talking about blowing off in the boat. It is even more likely to be a reaction to something because your husband doesn’t have a problem.

Are you using Sheets that came with the boat? Your own sheets? Maybe the previous owner blasted off something before you took ownership of the boat? Have you been doing epoxy work? Is there epoxy around the boat somewhere?

Are you eating anything new? Wearing anything new? Is it hot and humid? Even the local vegetation can be a problem. Where are you located?


One of the first problems I had with epoxy sensitivity and allergy was just like what you are describing. I could have sworn I had bedbugs. I had bites on my arms. And I could not figure out where they were coming from. I tore everything apart trying to find it. Eventually I found out it was the beginnings of my epoxy allergy. They were allergic type hives.

Take a 24 hour antihistamine for a couple days and see what happens. If the problem goes away, you were having a reaction to something.

[Nicholson58]

Could be a good call on allergy or contact reaction. I’ve had poison ivy twice this summer. Lines of blisters. They last weeks each time.