My wife gets bitten as soon as she walks out the door, she currently has 40 bites.
She believes it is a tiny black fly, about the same size as a mosquito, but isn’t one.
We have been told by one person that it is a fly that populates the grape vines, with which we are surrounded.
Strangely though, talk to the doctor or the chemist and nobody appears aware of it.
Does anyone know what they are and how to repel them?
My wife has similar problems, when we sit out. I bought a hanging net, under which she sits without problem. We solved her attraction to these flies, with my Avon anti mosquito spray. She sprays it on, prior to going out. It is a tad smelly, but deters all little black flies. Fortunately, we have No mossies, in this area.
Thanks, we will try the Avon product as she is getting the point of avoiding the garden.
Citronnea / other essential oil work well too, most pharmacies have a spray on natural product. Smells nice too!
For mosquito bites I use the original Avon SSS dry spray.
Since my dog left for Rainbow Bridge I have avoided walking through wooded areas during the summer months and no severe bites, hoorah! Yesterday my husband insisted I jump onto the quad because I must see how the nearby lake was almost dry! Today I am scratching like billyo 
Unlike a mossie bite these (I believe some call them jiggers) can take weeks to clear!
Aoutats in French, harvest mites in English. Absolutely dire! They climb the inside of clothing and then bite when they meet a restriction - and no, don’t ask where! 
As you say, take ages to stop irritating.
It’s that time of year… watch out folks…
And not just humans. Dogs are very vulnerable. I’ve had two dogs bitten by ticks. The first, when we first arrived here and I knew no better - he lived, but was very frail afterwards and six months later we let him go.
Vita, our current Airedale spent much of last year having flare ups of high temperature and she was on antibiotics on and off for months. She was wearing a seresto collar and I thought she was safe - but no. The tick that bit her was carrying two types of bacteria, which is why it took us so long to cure her. Nexguard is the gold standard for protection against ticks. Some owners use both Nexguard and Seresto. Vita is now also frail, as much I fear from the continuous antibiotic treatment as the bacteria.
Certainly it is now an issue in the UK, but nothing like as bad as SW France.
Are they more of a problem for dogs then? Our cat gets ticks on him sometimes. We treat him with repellent and use a puller to remove the ticks. He never seems unwell though.
Sorry rendi, I don’t know about cats but certainly they are a problem for dogs around here (Lot et Garonne countryside). I know several people whose dogs have had tick fever and one dog at least that died. We live close to and walk our dogs through woodland where there are deer and they carry ticks.
If you check daily and remove ticks then should not be a problem. We use Nextgard as dog charges about in a forest with many deer, and whilst we collect ticks scuttling through his fur we have not found one that has actually attached itself to him and is stlll alive for several years. Unfortunately humans can’t take NexGard!! We know many people in the area with Lyme.
When we go on holiday in the south we are far more concerned with Leishmaniasis! And now give him preventative treatment for that too, as dangerous for dogs.
So far the seresto collar has worked for the dog and there’s woods and ling grass everywhere.
The cats - haven’t found a drop that works for ticks - it’s a near daily task at the moment pulling ticks off them. But they never seem affected.
What do you recommend as a preventative for Leishmaniasis?
We use a pipette of Vectra 3D, and try to avoid having him outside at sunrise (not hard 
) and sunset. Apparently for dogs that live in high risk zones there are now vaccines.
BedBugs… Seems they’re on the warpath again…
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Our little chihuahua has suddenly become ill and it seems to have been caused by a tick. Shivering, not wanting to stand or walk, not peeing or pooping. OH has removed the tick now and she has a good long pee, so the tick seems to have caused some sort of paralysis. Appointment at vets today. She is just lying quietly at the moment.
Good luck rendi. Glad you are seeing the vet. Hope all goes well. Unfortunately by the time you can see an attached tick and they are fat with the dog’s blood the damage will have been done. Talk to the vet about future protection. It’s not great to have to give a dog chemicals that basically kill ticks as they bite, but better than the alternative - I know. I’ve been there twice.
Thanks Sue.
Yes, we get tigre here. I’ve already done the rounds, upending or removing anything that could act as a water reservoir and adding savon noir to all the water buts to reduce surface tension. All our neighbours do the same. Fortunately, nobody here has a pond.
I suffer terribly if bitten by tigre. The last time it happened, on my foot, it swelled up to twice normal size and took 2 weeks to go down. Not nice.
