Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Types of Reactions
Allergies
Bees, Wasps, Yellow Jackets, and Hornets
Mosquitoes
Fire Ants
Bedbugs
Scorpions
Elena Taeza / EyeEm / Getty Images
Let’s take a look at the different types of bites and stings. At the end of each of these sections is a link in which you can learn more about allergic reactions to specific insects.
Less common are people who have full-blown allergic reactions that cause anaphylaxis. About 0.5 percent of children (1 out of 200) and 3 percent of adults will experienceanaphylaxisafter a sting from these insects.
Learn more aboutreactions to bee stingsincluding common symptoms, management and treatment, and tips on how to avoid being stung.
Most people experience some form of reaction from mosquito bites—the typical itchy red bumps that last for a couple of days. Less commonly, more severe reactions can occur. These include blistering rashes, bruises, or large areas of swelling at the bite sites. People who experience extremely large areas of swelling after a mosquito bite (such as swelling of most of an arm or leg, for example) have been dubbed as having “skeeter syndrome.“Rarely, anaphylaxis can occur as a result of a mosquito bite.
Learn more aboutreactions to mosquito bites, skeeter syndrome, treatment and prevention methods, and tips on avoiding bites.
Fire ants are aggressive stinging ants found most commonly in the southern United States. Almost everyone experiences some sort of reaction to a fire ant sting, the most common of which is a sterile pustule at the site of the sting. (A pustule is an elevated lesion similar to those found in chickenpox or acne.) A large percentage of people experience a significant amount of swelling, redness, and itching around the site of the sting (these are called large local reactions). About one percent of people can experience severe allergic reactions, such as anaphylaxis, as a result of a fire ant sting.
Learn more aboutreactions to fire ants.
Can Ant Bites Make You Sick?
Bedbugs are flat wingless insects, typically of a brown or reddish color, about half the size of a dime. These insects are blood-sucking parasites, and they usually feed at night—mostly on people.Bedbug bitescan appear as itchy, red bumps and are frequently confused with allergic rashes. The rash may be grouped in a line, which shows the pattern of the insect feeding.
Learn more aboutreactions to bedbug bites,diagnosis, andhow to treat them.
With tick bites, allergy isn’t usually the primary concern. Rather, the transmission of diseases such asLyme diseaseand Rocky Mountain spotted fever may be your main worry. Yet allergies may occur. Bites from the lone star tick may cause you to develop anallergic reaction to meat.
Bottom Line
Insect bites and stings often cause significant discomfort and sometimes cause life-threatening anaphylaxis. There are many options, however, for reducing your risk. If you are at risk for anaphylaxis, it’s important to recognize the early symptoms and have anEpi-penon hand. Immunotherapy (allergy shots) can be helpful in reducing your allergic symptoms to many of these insects. If your allergy is severe, a type of immunotherapy known asrush immunotherapyoffers a way to often improve your allergy in a shorter period of time than regular allergy shots.
6 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Dhami, S., Zaman, H., Varga, E. et al.Allergen Immunotherapy for Insect Venom Allergy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Allergy. 2017. 72(3):342-365. doi:10.1111/all.13077Golden, D., Demain, J., Freeman, T. et al.Stinging Insect Hypersensitivity: A Practice Parameter Update 2016.Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. 2017. 118(1):28-54. doi:10.1016/j.anai.2016.10.031Seda J, Horrall S.Mosquito Bites. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Ennis AC, Pearson-Shaver AL.Bedbug Bites. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Shamoon Z, Peterfy RJ, Hammoud S, et al.Scorpion Toxicity. [In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.National Institutes of Health.NIAID scientists link cases of unexplained anaphylaxis to red meat allergy.Additional ReadingKasper, Dennis L.., Anthony S. Fauci, and Stephen L.. Hauser.Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. New York: Mc Graw Hill education.Lee, H., Halverson, S., and R. Mackey.Insect Allergy.Primary Care. 2016. 43(3):417-31. doi:10.1016/j.pop.2016.04.010
6 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Dhami, S., Zaman, H., Varga, E. et al.Allergen Immunotherapy for Insect Venom Allergy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Allergy. 2017. 72(3):342-365. doi:10.1111/all.13077Golden, D., Demain, J., Freeman, T. et al.Stinging Insect Hypersensitivity: A Practice Parameter Update 2016.Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. 2017. 118(1):28-54. doi:10.1016/j.anai.2016.10.031Seda J, Horrall S.Mosquito Bites. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Ennis AC, Pearson-Shaver AL.Bedbug Bites. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Shamoon Z, Peterfy RJ, Hammoud S, et al.Scorpion Toxicity. [In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.National Institutes of Health.NIAID scientists link cases of unexplained anaphylaxis to red meat allergy.Additional ReadingKasper, Dennis L.., Anthony S. Fauci, and Stephen L.. Hauser.Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. New York: Mc Graw Hill education.Lee, H., Halverson, S., and R. Mackey.Insect Allergy.Primary Care. 2016. 43(3):417-31. doi:10.1016/j.pop.2016.04.010
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Dhami, S., Zaman, H., Varga, E. et al.Allergen Immunotherapy for Insect Venom Allergy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Allergy. 2017. 72(3):342-365. doi:10.1111/all.13077Golden, D., Demain, J., Freeman, T. et al.Stinging Insect Hypersensitivity: A Practice Parameter Update 2016.Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. 2017. 118(1):28-54. doi:10.1016/j.anai.2016.10.031Seda J, Horrall S.Mosquito Bites. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Ennis AC, Pearson-Shaver AL.Bedbug Bites. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.Shamoon Z, Peterfy RJ, Hammoud S, et al.Scorpion Toxicity. [In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.National Institutes of Health.NIAID scientists link cases of unexplained anaphylaxis to red meat allergy.
Dhami, S., Zaman, H., Varga, E. et al.Allergen Immunotherapy for Insect Venom Allergy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Allergy. 2017. 72(3):342-365. doi:10.1111/all.13077
Golden, D., Demain, J., Freeman, T. et al.Stinging Insect Hypersensitivity: A Practice Parameter Update 2016.Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. 2017. 118(1):28-54. doi:10.1016/j.anai.2016.10.031
Seda J, Horrall S.Mosquito Bites. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.
Ennis AC, Pearson-Shaver AL.Bedbug Bites. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.
Shamoon Z, Peterfy RJ, Hammoud S, et al.Scorpion Toxicity. [In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing.
National Institutes of Health.NIAID scientists link cases of unexplained anaphylaxis to red meat allergy.
Kasper, Dennis L.., Anthony S. Fauci, and Stephen L.. Hauser.Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. New York: Mc Graw Hill education.Lee, H., Halverson, S., and R. Mackey.Insect Allergy.Primary Care. 2016. 43(3):417-31. doi:10.1016/j.pop.2016.04.010
Kasper, Dennis L.., Anthony S. Fauci, and Stephen L.. Hauser.Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. New York: Mc Graw Hill education.
Lee, H., Halverson, S., and R. Mackey.Insect Allergy.Primary Care. 2016. 43(3):417-31. doi:10.1016/j.pop.2016.04.010
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