What's biting in United States right now
Bite activity in United States peaks May to September. July is the busiest month of the year at 17% of all records. Narrow yours down below, then confirm it with a photo in the app.
This page tells you what's around. The app tells you what bit you — photo in, likely species, severity read and a day-by-day care plan out.
Download free for iPhoneNarrow it down in three taps
Free · nothing to install to get a shortlistMost recorded in September
Answer 2 more for a sharper shortlist-
Mosquito bite Strongest match · 92%Single bumps scattered over exposed skin. Usually 1 to 3 days, sometimes a week in children.
Read the full profile → -
Bald-faced hornet sting Also possible · 84%Often several — the colony defends aggressively. Usually swelling for several days.
Read the full profile → -
Castor bean tick bite Also possible · 73%Single, usually in a skin fold or the hairline. Usually bump a few days; untreated rash weeks.
Read the full profile →
Photograph the bite in the app and it picks between these for you — with a severity read and what to do today. This page narrows the field; it does not diagnose you.
Confirm with a photoFree download · iPhone The year, month by month
Share of all recorded sightings in United States. Pick a month to re-run the shortlist above for that time of year.
From GBIF biodiversity records, snapshot 2026-09-14. Records track when people observe and report specimens — close to activity, not identical to how often anyone gets bitten. Methodology.
What actually bites you in United States
Honey bees top records like these because they are the most photographed insect on earth — read this as "definitely present here", not as a ranking of risk.
What is different about United States
Ticks are the medically dominant group, and they differ sharply by region. Fire ants and bark scorpions are effectively regional problems, not national ones.
Bed bugs, scabies and head lice ignore weather entirely — a bite pattern in the middle of United States's quiet season points there first, see what is biting me at night.
Jump to your state →- Breathing trouble, or swelling of the lips, tongue or throat after a sting
- A red area that is spreading, hot and painful — especially with a red streak
- Fever, chills or feeling generally unwell in the days or weeks after a bite
- An expanding rash appearing 3 to 30 days after a tick bite
- A bite getting worse rather than better after 72 hours
For anything urgent, call 911. For advice short of that, urgent care or your primary care provider; Poison Control is on 1-800-222-1222 and handles spider and scorpion questions.
The seasonal data behind this
Across 835,433 verified records for the United States, biting and stinging activity concentrates in May to September — July alone accounts for 17% of sightings, and December is the quietest month of the year.
The United States is the one country here where which state you are in changes the answer more than the season does. A brown recluse in Missouri is routine; the same lesion in Oregon almost certainly is not a recluse bite. Lyme disease is concentrated in the Northeast and upper Midwest, Rocky Mountain spotted fever in the south-central states, and fire ants stop at a line across the Southeast.
| Month | Activity | Share | Mostly |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 1% | Aedes mosquito, Bed bug, Head lice bites | |
| February | 2% | Aedes mosquito, Bed bug, Head lice bites | |
| March | 4% | Honey bee, Lone star tick, Fire ant | |
| April | 8% | Honey bee, Mosquito, Lone star tick | |
| May | 11% | Honey bee, Mosquito, Paper wasp | |
| June | 16% | Honey bee, Mosquito, Bald-faced hornet | |
| July | 17% | Honey bee, Mosquito, Bald-faced hornet | |
| August | 16% | Honey bee, Mosquito, Bald-faced hornet | |
| September | 14% | Honey bee, Mosquito, Bald-faced hornet | |
| October | 7% | Honey bee, Mosquito, Bald-faced hornet | |
| November | 2% | Fire ant, Aedes mosquito, Yellow sac spider | |
| December | 1% | Aedes mosquito, Bed bug, Head lice bites |
Calculated from GBIF biodiversity records for the United States, snapshot 2026-09-14. Records reflect when people observe and report specimens, which tracks activity closely but is not the same as how often anyone gets bitten. See our methodology.
Year-round regardless of season
Weather does not affect everything. Bed bugs, scabies and head lice depend on people rather than temperature, so a bite pattern in the middle of United States's quiet season points to those first — see what is biting me at night.
Species linked to illness here
- Mosquito bite — West Nile virus, La Crosse encephalitis, dengue (Gulf Coast and Southwest, local cases), chikungunya (rare, travel-linked)
- Lone star tick bite — ehrlichiosis, Heartland virus, tularemia, STARI, alpha-gal syndrome (red meat allergy)
- American dog tick bite — Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, tick paralysis (rare, resolves on removal)
- Aedes mosquito bite — dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever
- Deer tick bite — Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Powassan virus (rare)
- Kissing bug bite — Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi) — rare in the United States but the reason this bite is taken seriously
Most bites transmit nothing. What matters is the follow-up: note the date, and report any fever or expanding rash in the weeks afterwards to a clinician, mentioning the bite and where you were.
Stings rather than bites
Honey bee, Bald-faced hornet, Paper wasp, Carpenter ant, Fire ant are recorded in United States. Stings differ from bites in one way that matters: they can cause anaphylaxis in sensitised people, and that risk does not depend on how mild previous stings looked. Anyone who has had a severe reaction should carry an adrenaline auto-injector.
Common questions
When are insect bites most common in United States?
Sighting records for United States concentrate in May to September, with July the single busiest month at 17% of all records. December is the quietest.
What bites people most often in United States?
By verified records the most frequently reported biting and stinging species are honey bee, mosquito, bald-faced hornet, paper wasp, lone star tick.
Do bites stop completely in winter in United States?
No. Bed bugs, scabies and head lice depend on people rather than weather and continue year-round. What stops is the outdoor season — mosquitoes, ticks, wasps and biting flies.
Pick your state for a local answer
In the United States the state matters more than the month. Species actually recorded there, with their local season.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Stop guessing from a table.
One photo → likely species, severity, and a care plan you can re-check as it heals.