Deer bloodsuckers - elk lice

Elk louse, otherwise known as deer blood-sucking, elk mite, elk fly, is a small insect reminiscent of mites. It is familiar to all who are in the forests in the second half of August - early September. It is at this time that elk lice are the most common.

The habitat of these insects is broadened. They are distributed practically on all European and Asian territories, in Siberia, Scandinavia, China. They are also found in North America and in North Africa. In other words, elk lice, photos of which are presented in the article, dwell everywhere - except for the extreme north and south, but precisely in forest lands.

The calf deer's calf is flat, light brown, sometimes slightly darker, glossy, 3-4 mm long and 2 mm thick. The abdomen can stretch depending on the amount of blood drunk. Legs with thickened hips, powerful and tenacious, with sharp claws. The head is large, round with two large eyes located on each side and three small in the center. The sharp proboscis is able to pierce even the rough skin of the animal. On the back - 5-6-mm wings.

Elk lice are parasites that feed only at the expense of the blood of their chosen host. Usually they are deer, roe deer, moose. They live in tall grass and on leaves of shrubs and attack animals in dry, windless weather. Cases of attacks on people are not uncommon. Usually, bloodsuckers choose a large victim in dark clothes (less insects sit on a child or a man in a light apparel). An important role is played by the composition of the fabric - cold synthetics attract them much less than natural materials that pass through heat.

Having attacked the victim and buried in his hair, elk lice drop their wings, independently breaking them at the very bottom, thereby cutting off the opportunity to change their master. Insects pierce the skin and begin to suck blood, and after they are satisfied, they are looking for a partner for mating. Already in half a month after the start of nutrition (and they feed up to 20 times a day, each time sucking up to 1.5 ml of blood) the female is ready to produce offspring. Throughout the winter, until early March, the female gives birth to new insects. Elk lice are viviparous insects, eggs and larvae develop directly in the mother's body, and she lays off a pre-pupal 3-4 mm in size, which then hardens and falls to the ground. For life on the body of a breadwinner, the female is able to postpone up to 30 pre-pups, from which a new generation will hatch. Insects that do not find their master, die for the winter.

Elk lice, unlike ticks, are not carriers of diseases. There are no agents of tick-borne encephalitis.

People are not particularly afraid of these insects, often taking them for small flies. Although the bites of these creatures are quite painful. Most often they bite open spaces - the neck and the lower part of the head.

Even though these insects do not carry danger, given that they can hide in clothes for a long time, after a hike into the forest it is necessary to conduct a thorough examination of the body and things that have been put on. Hair must be combed comb with densely located teeth.