Attack of the Asian ladybird

[davhill]

Eyes down for a wierd episode.

Staying at a mate's house, I awoke on the first morning
with three insect bites across my right instep. They looked just like flea bites
and I had been chatting to a recently groomed dog so I thought one may
have been lurking under his collar.

On night two, the three bumps were mildly itchy but not hugely inflamed
so I put on some 'Goldeneye' eye ointment, which is all there was.

During night three, I was awakened by the resident insomniac cockerel
at 5.45am. And then, I realised the bite area was itching like the Devil.
Unable to help myself, I scratched it down to the blood. The itching was still severe
so I washed the area, stuck some more ointment on and finally fell asleep.

In the morning, I checked out the hoof area of the bed and Lo! A dead ladybird.
There hadn't been any sign of any flea or bugs but I found an identical ladybird (also dead)
on the window frame.

These two were normal ladybird size, black with translucent orange spots. Clean shaven, no tattoos
and not wearing hoodies.

Google described a glut of Asian Harlequin ladybirds, which are aggressive and will bite
if food is short. The area had suffered heavy flooding during the previous few days.

Now, a week later, the bites and the scabs I added have gone but I can't recall
having had such insistent itching from an insect bite.

I expect I'll live.