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My dog and I are wondering: is this a biting midge, or another bug?

Biology Asked by Brindle Cruncher on August 22, 2021

A week or two ago, my dog started scratching, and it only increased. Not long after, I started getting bit by something that itches something awful. I thought it was fleas so got some medication and moved my dog out of my room. He stopped scratching immediately. After deep cleaning, I let him back in my room the next day. He shortly thereafter scratched again, but not intensely or frequently. My bites have continued.

I set out a flea trap (water, dish soap, flashlight on the water) and it caught the bug you see in the pic (it has only caught four of them).

Is that a biting midge, or something else?

Also, I’m in New York City.

  1. https://i.stack.imgur.com/GC0iL.jpg — close-up pic, color and pattern
  2. https://i.stack.imgur.com/CVgnl.jpg — several from a distance to show size
  3. https://i.stack.imgur.com/rQqp4.jpg — same one as in the first pic

The size is maybe as big as the hole a small nail makes in the wall, a very small ant, or a freckle.

One Answer

It seems to be a Yellow-banded polybia wasp (Polybia occidentalis), a species of Potter wasp.

my doubts with this conclusion is that the abdomen of the insect in your photo is quite large compared to other observations of the species. Also, Polybia occidentalis is a species that exists in South and Central America, not up north in New York, Perhaps it is able to exist there due to the warm summer weather though I am not entirely sure.

It might be another species of potter wasp. Potter wasps are able to sting but rarely do so to large organisms and their stings don't hurt much. They usually prey on caterpillars and beetle larvae and use those to feed their own. They create these nests that look like a ceramic pot. each of these "pots" contains one larva of the wasp (along with all the food the wasp has collected for their larva when it hatches).

here's a photo of the pots (wasps seem to be willing to create these pots on pretty much any solid surface including under leaves): enter image description here

Wasps are not parasites, they are hunters of other insects, if my identification of this species is correct, then you and your dog are likely not going to suffer any direct harm from this species let alone parasitic behaviour.

Answered by Ark Lomas on August 22, 2021

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