Local chigger information

Chigger control in Maryland

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

Chiggers in Maryland: what to know

Around Maryland

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 Maryland: what the public record shows

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

Larvae of Eutrombicula mites, 1/120 to 1/150 inch

What bites

University of Maryland Extension notes only the larval stage bites people, and that chiggers feed on digested skin cells rather than burrowing or sucking blood.

University of Maryland Extension, Home and Garden Information Center

Eggs laid during the first warm spring weather

Season start

Maryland adults overwinter in the soil and lay eggs in damp soil as soon as spring warms, so larvae are climbing grass blades looking for hosts from spring onward.

University of Maryland Extension, Home and Garden Information Center

Forest-grass junctions, swamp margins, brush thickets, lawns and golf courses

Where they concentrate

UMD Extension describes chiggers as most often found in vegetation transition zones, which is where Maryland yards meet woods or wet ground.

University of Maryland Extension, Home and Garden Information Center

When chiggers are busiest in Maryland

Adults overwinter in Maryland soil and eggs are laid in damp soil during the first warm spring weather; the larvae then crawl up grass blades in search of a host.

University of Maryland Extension advises long sleeves and long pants tied at the ankles plus repellent in chigger habitat, mowing and shrub trimming to dry out the area, and says pesticide treatment is neither recommended nor effective. Chiggers are not known to transmit infectious diseases in the United States.

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 Maryland Extension, Home and Garden Information Center; University of Missouri Extension; Ohio State University Extension (Ohioline). Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources

Explore Maryland cities

Annapolis

Humid Subtropical · urban setting

Chigger control in Maryland

Chiggers in Maryland: what to know

Around Maryland

What to note

A useful next step

Chiggers in Maryland: what the public record shows

When chiggers are busiest in Maryland

For context, nationally

Explore Maryland cities

Annapolis

Baltimore

Bethesda

Bowie

Catonsville

Columbia

Frederick

Gaithersburg

Germantown

Glen Burnie

Hagerstown

Laurel

Rockville

Salisbury

Silver Spring

Waldorf

Towson

Ask about chigger control in Maryland