Aargh! Bitten - Attack of the insects hoards

[mill4six]

Bowling along the towpath this eve playing catch up with the guy in front when I felt a sting under my watch, I thought I'd trapped a hair at first but it was a powerful bite and the pain kept building till it was unbearable and I had to stop, fumbling the strap to get it off. No sign of the culprit but a neat, very painful hole with a little blood. I continued home but now I've a red band 3" wide around my aching wrist but thankfully no swelling. What the hell was that? My experience of bites and stings is limited to mozzies, wasps, bees, ants horseflies (and a dog) but this felt very different and what would crawl under someone's watch? Any ideas?? Small, vicious, biting insects native to the south West? I never did catch the other guy either

[Nutsey]

You don't get a hole with most stings? I've never been stung by a wasp (probably why I'm so terrified of them) and I'm sure something that size can't squeeze under a watch.

Only thing I've been bitten by is a dog. The dog was having great fun so I didn't mind.

[kwackers]

I got bitten last year whilst running - it stung a fair bit and left a hole. Don't know what it was, had a big red weal the size of a 50p piece for a couple of weeks.

[hubgearfreak]

could have been worse, could have been your tyre

[gilesjuk]

Killer Hornet?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-storie ... -19963083/

[mill4six]

Well it did swell in the end, halfway to my elbow Managed to find some anti-histamine pills but it's sore this morning. I don't think it was a killer hornet since I'm still very much ali

[byegad]

Anything causing that sort of reaction should be checked out, there are a number of tick borne diseases around and a simple blood test should be able to reassure you.

[7_lives_left]

Well it did swell in the end, halfway to my elbow Managed to find some anti-histamine pills but it's sore this morning. I don't think it was a killer hornet since I'm still very much ali

...
mill4six? mill4six, you still there?

[rbrian]

Could have been a scorpion!

[thirdcrank]

A stiff upper lip is called for here: we do have a forum member caller tigerbitten - now that is a bite.

(Talking of stiff upper lips, that's exactly what I got when I collided with a wasp and it managed to get into my nostril before stinging me. Some distance from home and without a mirror, I was grateful for the help of two very surprised cyclists I flagged down who extracted the sting. )

[rjb]

You don't live in Dorset do you? May have been the Blandford Fly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blandford_fly
Nasty this one.

[reohn2]

During the recent hot spell I've been bitten about half a dozen times,which unusual as I rarely get either stung or bitten by insects.
The bites have been by small black insects not much bigger than a pin head,and only begining itch about 24hours later.

As for wasp stings,the worst one I've had was just under my left eye and I had to ride home with it shut

[byegad]

A stiff upper lip is called for here: we do have a forum member caller tigerbitten - now that is a bite.

(Talking of stiff upper lips, that's exactly what I got when I collided with a wasp and it managed to get into my nostril before stinging me. Some distance from home and without a mirror, I was grateful for the help of two very surprised cyclists I flagged down who extracted the sting. )

If the sting had to be removed it was a bee. Wasp stings have no barb so come out after the sting when the wasp flies off, bee stings do have said barb, and tear out of the bee, so killing the bee and leaving the sting pumping the poison into you.

[thirdcrank]

... If the sting had to be removed it was a bee. ...

I'm sure your right - but with no way of checking what was up my hooter and having received what felt like a sharp punch under it, it was only its relatively small size that told me it wasn't Cassius Clay. I knew without seeing it that it wasn't a butterfly....

[mr riff raff]

Vampire bat?