Local chigger information

Chigger control in Illinois

Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.

Chiggers in Illinois: what to know

Around Illinois

Conditions vary across the state. Choose your city below, then describe what’s happening around your home or business.

What to note

Where you see chiggers, how long it has been going on, and anything you’ve already tried are the most useful details to mention.

A useful next step

Ask about an inspection, what treatment would involve, and whether follow-up visits are included. You don’t need to identify the problem yourself before getting in touch.

Local research

Chiggers in Illinois: what the public record shows

Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which chiggers actually live in Illinois, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.

Trombiculid mite, about 1/50 inch across

Not an insect

Illinois Extension describes chiggers as pinpoint-sized mites related to spiders and ticks, not insects.

University of Illinois Extension

No North American chigger reported to spread disease

Disease risk

Illinois Extension states none of our North American chiggers have ever been reported to spread any type of disease.

University of Illinois Extension

Bite once, inject digestive fluid, then drop off

They do not burrow

Extension debunks the burrowing myth: a chigger bites once and leaves the host after a day or two to molt.

University of Illinois Extension

When chiggers are busiest in Illinois

Illinois Extension treats chiggers as a summer nuisance, publishing its chigger guidance in early July; the sources do not give specific start and end months.

Extension advises a warm shower and washing clothes after exposure, DEET repellent, and mowing tall grass; itching usually subsides within a week.

For context, nationally

Trombicula (Eutrombicula) alfreddugesi — Most common U.S. chigger species. University of Missouri Extension
About 1/150 inch (0.15–0.3 mm) — Larval size. Ohio State University Extension (Ohioline)

Sources: University of Illinois Extension; University of Missouri Extension; Ohio State University Extension (Ohioline). Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources

Explore Illinois cities

Arlington Heights

Humid Continental · suburban setting

Chigger control in Illinois

Chiggers in Illinois: what to know

Around Illinois

What to note

A useful next step

Chiggers in Illinois: what the public record shows

When chiggers are busiest in Illinois

For context, nationally

Explore Illinois cities

Arlington Heights

Aurora

Berwyn

Bloomington

Bolingbrook

Champaign

Chicago

Cicero

Decatur

Des Plaines

Elgin

Evanston

Joliet

Naperville

Oak Lawn

Palatine

Peoria

Rockford

Schaumburg

Skokie

Springfield

Waukegan

Downers Grove

Ask about chigger control in Illinois