A horsefly bite is extremely painful, unpleasant and even dangerous. There is a large, annoying insect almost all over the planet. Inhabits forest forest edges, fields, ponds, swamps. Horsefly has several stages of development. The behavior of males is significantly different from females.
Appearance Features
In nature, there are about 1600 varieties of horseflies. All of them are large in size - about 2 cm. The female is easy to distinguish by large physique, large iridescent eyes and a jumper between them.
The insect has an extremely complex oral apparatus. Powerful jaws, piercing, cutting, sucking component. It pierces the skin thanks to a fleshy, long proboscis.
The abdomen of the male is pointed; the female is rounded. Coloring in gray, dull brown tones. Big eyes are brightly expressed, which shimmer in the sun with all the colors of the rainbow.
Causes of Bites
Flies go through several stages of development. The female lays a huge number of eggs, during the week larvae appear from them, from there pupae. And then only a big fly flies out.
Why horseflies bite, it is easy to guess - everything is connected with nutrition, reproduction. The danger is only females. They need blood for laying eggs, maintaining vital forces. Without this component, the female will not be able to give life to new offspring.
Fresh blood of livestock and wild animals predominate in the diet. But if a person appears in the field of vision, horsefly will not miss the moment. Males eat exclusively nectar of flowers, do not live long. After fertilization, the females soon die.
Interesting!
One female is capable of laying from 500 to 1000 eggs. The first stage larvae develop on the host body. They are cattle, the inhabitants of the forest. Worms feed on blood and after a while fall into the grass, the soil, pupate there. After a few days, it turns into a fly.
When bite
Flies are active in the daytime. They love the sun's rays, warm days. But among them there are representatives that parasitize in cloudy weather.
Insects react to movement, moisture. It draws their wet, sweaty body. It is difficult to fight off horseflies after swimming in a pond, when the whole body glistens with droplets of water. Biting a wet body with droplets of sweat is even more intense.
What bites horsefly - with a proboscis and powerful jaws. Tenacious paws that dig into the skin add painful sensations. Applies bites anywhere on the human body. Neck, back suffer more often. In these areas, blood vessels are closer to the surface.
On a note!
A horsefly bite draws other relatives to the victim. How horsefly bites, it is interesting not only to lovers of fauna. In the process of piercing blood vessels, the fly introduces a substance that dilutes the blood, does not allow clotting. After this, the wound bleeds for a long time, attracting hordes of new flies.
In urban areas there are no parasites, but it is worth to get out on a picnic, or go to the cottage, there will be no end to the flies. All kinds of traps, special insecticides are used to combat them, and the effects of horsefly bites are treated in a special way.
Signs of skin parasitism
What a horsefly bite looks like can be seen in the photo. Symptoms in a person are unpleasant, painful, can manifest with a different proportion of intensity. The main symptoms are:
- instant redness of the skin;
- burning, severe itching;
- pain in the bite
- prolonged blood excretion;
- swelling, swelling;
- when a pathogen enters the wound, suppuration develops.
The reaction to a bite in children is much stronger, red spots on sensitive skin are clearly visible. An allergy to a bite in sensitive people is manifested by large-scale redness of the skin, additional rash, severe swelling, intolerable itching.
After a horsefly bite, it is recommended to wash the wound, disinfect, but in the field this is rarely done. In people with strong immunity, the consequences of a horsefly bite are not so terrible, while people with a tendency to allergies have to undergo special treatment. The horsefly bite in the photo is presented below, you can assess the magnitude of the problem.
Severe consequences
The attack of a large fly is dangerous not only with discomfort, damage to the skin, an allergic reaction, but also with terrible diseases. Insects are carriers of many diseases. Animals can infect a person, such as tularemia, filariasis, anthrax, trypanosomiasis. Get rid of horseflies can with various means and traps.
If, in addition to the symptoms described above, a significant deterioration in well-being is observed, body temperature rises, the site of the bite swells, you need to seek help from specialists, undergo an examination, and not self-medicate.
Important!
In most cases, the bite from horsefly passes within a week, the itching disappears in a few days. What to do if bitten by horsefly, do not panic. Try to quickly treat the wound with an antiseptic, wipe with any alcohol tincture. Further actions depend on the condition of the skin, the reaction of the body.
Emergency therapy
An infection gets into an open wound, which complicates the situation even more. Permanent combing is dangerous by joining a secondary infection. In serious situations, you have to use local antibiotics. But if everything is done correctly, terrible complications can be avoided.
- If bitten by horsefly, it is necessary to disinfect the wound as soon as possible, stop the blood flow.
- In the field, the affected area is smeared with saliva. But it is better to wipe the bite with any alcohol-containing product.
- Another way to treat horsefly bites is to rinse the wound with clean running water. Better yet, with the addition of laundry soap. It is recommended to soap the sore spot, leave for a few minutes, rinse.
- How to treat edema - apply a cold object to the affected area. At home, you can use ice, frozen meat. In the field - a bottle of drink, ice cream, cold water.
- If the arm is swollen, the temperature rises - this indicates an allergic reaction. In this case, a product containing antihistamine components is recommended. Fenistil gel, which can be found at any pharmacy on the way home, will help relieve swelling from a bite. If the leg is swollen, the Zvezdochka balm also helps with the content of more than 20 therapeutic components.
- To prevent itching, the wound must be disinfected, or a paste of soda. Dilute baking soda with a small amount of water, apply for several minutes to the affected area. You can also anoint a horsefly bite with toothpaste containing mint ingredients.
- In the field, they will help to cope with unpleasant symptoms, a tumor of the plant. If a horsefly bite itches, smear the skin with dandelion juice, celandine, and plantain. The last component can be applied for a while to the wound.
- Disinfect the wound, prevent the appearance of puffiness, stop itching will help lemon juice, or a slice of citrus.
- A solution of hydrogen peroxide, or a concentrated preparation, helps well.
How to treat a horsefly bite depends on the complexity of the situation. Antihistamines that are taken orally can stop the terrible allergic reaction and lubricate the skin.
For instant relief of unpleasant symptoms, hormonal drugs are prescribed. Among them is Advantan, which can be used in children after 6 months. Not only the lesion site can swell, but also the larynx with severe allergies. Then emergency medical assistance is required.
Remedies for horsefly bites:
- tincture of calendula, valerian, motherwort;
- gruel or potato juice;
- onion juice;
- a decoction of garlic;
- Valocordin;
- Corvalol;
- tea tree oil;
- aloe juice;
- propolis tincture.
If you properly treat the wound, prevent infection from joining, the consequences go away as soon as possible without complications.
In childhood there was no end to these horseflies. It was impossible to appear on the river from the water. Immediately fly, instantly cling to, annoying to horror. The bites are painful, but they were not specially treated, they simply wiped with saliva so as not to itch.
Mom always wiped bite places with cologne in childhood. Immediately stopped itching, swelling, redness subsided. A day later, they forgot about everything. Now I prefer to treat the wound with alcohol tincture.
Until it itches, I do nothing. With severe itching, moisten the fleece with tincture of valerian, treat the skin. Slows down in a few seconds. You don’t have to invent anything else.
It was bitten by horsefly, and the arm was swollen. This has not happened in my life. An allergic reaction was treated with Fenistil gel. Always available in the medicine cabinet. Swelling disappeared in a few minutes.