[neek]

On a hike a few days ago I noticed a cute, tiny (2mm long), beetle-like insect on my arm. But then I felt a sharp pain at the spot and realized the sucker was biting me. Minutes later I was even able to squeeze some blood out of the bite. Now it's a hard itchy lump, but is getting better. Mosquito/fly bites usually only bother me for a few minutes or hours, and wasp stings are just itchy for a few days, so I'm not overly sensitive to this sort of thing. Some online searching suggested this was either a minute pirate bug or insidious flower bug. Apparently they just bite, don't take blood, don't spread disease. I had no idea they existed and have never seen anyone mention them in a trip report, yet other biting and stinging insects seem to be on people's minds a lot. Am I just clueless (most likely), or are these a new thing to our area?

[ejain]

Just researched the "minute pirate bug", and apparently it's considered a "beneficial predator" that attacks pests. There you have it :-)

[Cyclopath]

Sounds like it bit you out of spite!