Biting insects causing big reaction in toddlers

[spinningplateslady]

Hi

My 3 boys have been suffering with nasty insect bites every time they play in the garden for the past few weeks. This afternoon I have noticed masses of insects burrowing into / hanging on the render on the walls of the house. I'm just wondering whether these horrible little things could be the source of the bites...

They are little black wingless creatures (about 0.5 - 1cm long with 6 legs. They have bright orange stripes down each side of their bodies. They have pointy tails & seem to be hanging from these tails which are kind of buried in the render on the outside of our house. There seem to be a few empty tail sections still hanging out from the wall... it looks like they have lost their tails / stings (???)

Any ideas??? If I knew what they were I could take the necessary steps to get rid of them & prevent further bites...

Many thanks everyone

Can you catch some of them? Your local council pest people will have a look and identify them for you (they love a challenge). But it's more likely to be ant bites than anything at this time of year - tots don't notice them running up their legs etc.

They sound like beetle larvae though - are they this shape (not colour) here?

Thanks so much... they do look a bit like that picture. Other MNrs have identified them as ladybird larvae...

Mystery solved - at least partly - still don't know what's biting the kids!!!

Many thanks for your response.

You could try putting some tea tree oil in your ironing water, it's a natural insect repellent - Lavender works as well.