Got an itchy insect bite? It was probably courtesy of a mosquito. But if you’re somewhere with sandy shores, such as East Coast Park, Coney Island or Chek Jawa – and can’t spot the insect anywhere, it might have been a sandfly instead. Here’s how to tell and what’s the best way to ease the intense itch.WHY ARE SANDFLIES SO DIFFICULT TO SPOT?They are incredibly tiny, about 2mm to 3mm in length. By comparison, the average mosquito that you encounter in Singapore is about the length of a rice grain. Sandflies tend to be the most active in the early morning and evening – and especially when it's windless. They also don’t produce that high-pitched whine when flying – making them the perfect flying, blood-sucking cousins of mosquitoes. ARE SANDFLIES A TYPE OF MOSQUITO?No. “Sandfly” is a name that is ambiguously given to many species of biting insects that is not a mosquito, according to The Entomologist Lounge. So, it’s highly confusing when you’re trying to find out about the non-mosquito that bit you. “Here in Singapore, sandflies are known to bite humans at damp, sandy coastlines; hence its name,” wrote the website.To further add to the confusion, “some bites from Singapore’s beaches may actually come from biting midges (different from the non-biting midges that converge at reservoirs)”, said Dr Scott Joel Heng, a general practitioner with Healthway Medical. Similarly, he’d also noted that “the term ‘sandfly’ is used loosely for several small biting insects”.CAN SANDFLIES CARRY DISEASES?True sandflies have a distinctive, humpbacked profile with hairy wings held in a "V" shape when resting – and there are about 60 species in Southeast Asia. Like mosquitoes, some sandfly species can carry disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the main culprit in Asia is the phlebotomus papatasi, which spreads a parasite that causes leishmaniasis. “Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection that can cause skin ulcers and, in severe cases, affect internal organs,” explained Dr Jane Tan, a consultant and the clinical lead for Dermatology Workgroup, SingHealth Polyclinics.
Not all itchy bites are from mosquitoes: How to tell if a sandfly got you instead
Those tiny, intensely itchy bites after a trip to the beach or a coastal park may not be from mosquitoes. Here's how to tell if a sandfly is the culprit, why its bites can itch more, what treatments help, and when you should see a doctor.
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