A friend of mine posted this picture stating she had been bitten on several occasions by these insects. They burrow their heads into skin leaving a very itchy insect bite. Her description is as follows: 1/4 to 1/2 inch, hairy, brown and white. Please help me identify this itchy little creature.
This is a larva of a green lacewing, Neuroptera: Chrysopidae - see http://tinyurl.com/2eo9b95 for an example. They are general predators on other small arthropods (especially aphids), and thus usually considered beneficial. Like many other harmless insects (such as lady beetles), they may bite humans for no apparent reason. They really don't 'burrow' their heads into skin; they have very sharp, needle-like jaws that they use to inject proteolytic enzymes into their prey. In humans, these enzymes may cause a mild local reaction resulting in itching.
This message was edited Aug 4, 2010 9:09 AM
Thank you so much for the helpful information. I have already passed it along to my friend.
