Anyone who has been outside lately has probably had this experience: You are hanging out with friends in the backyard as the sun is slowly setting and temperatures are becoming pleasant. You are enjoying a nice meal or just sitting on a porch swing and talking to friends when you find yourself scratching your ankles. You look at your friends and they too are reach down to scratch. You put on insect spray and it works for a while and then you start itching again.

Or maybe you had a great time in the backyard with no itching then later in the evening you wake up due to little tiny itchy bites on your ankles.

This is the season for Aedes mosquitoes and these little buggers are really making a relaxing evening, or day, difficult to have in Southern California.

“Aedes (pronounced “aid-dees”) mosquitoes are aggressive, black-and-white insects that thrive in our cities. Aedes mosquitoes are also called ‘ankle biters’ due to their behavior of biting people near the feet. Don’t be fooled: These mosquitoes will bite any exposed skin that doesn’t have on repellent,” according to the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District (The District).

And it has been my experience they will sometimes bite regardless of repellent.

According to reports, these ankle biters are from Southeast Asia, South America and Egypt but traveled to the U.S., probably hitching a ride on fruits, vegetables, plants and/or animals. But the pests can also travel on clothes. However they arrived here, the fact is Aedes are here. They first arrived in the U.S. about 50 years ago but have only arrived in Southern California since about 2011 when The District staff identified a “thriving population of Aedes albopictus in the city of El Monte.”

Aedes, also called ankle biters, are not the common light brown Southern California house mosquito. These ankle biters have a narrow black body with white stripes on their back and legs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

That is if you see them. Often they are on your ankles, biting, then gone before you notice.

It seems like they bite all day and night but they actually do prefer biting during the day, which again is different than the Southern California native mosquitos that bite at night.

Aedes love humans so our homes are perfect hangout spots – and they have water sources.

“After taking our blood, female mosquitoes search for stagnant water to lay their eggs,” according to The District.

These ankle biters can invade your home as well. The District has some suggestions on what to do to keep them from your home including:

• Using repellent.
• “Tip ’N Toss.” People should tip out any stagnant water that is found and toss out unused containers.
• Make mosquito source reduction a part of the weekly routine.

Now for more good news – ankle biters are not the only tiny insects that love to feast on human flesh. There are also chiggers. These are really common in the Midwest but they can actually be found in all 50 states. In Southern California, according to the UCI Health, they are referred to as mites.

These chigger/mite bugs are so small they often can only be seen with a microscope, but the bites of these tiny warriors can give victims a strong urge to scratch their skin, according to UCI Health.

These bites are not painful but do cause a lot of itching, much like the ankle bitters.

Chigger bites are itchy red bumps that can look like pimples, blisters or small hives. They are usually found around the waist, ankles and in warm skin folds. The bites get bigger and itchier over several days and often appear in groups, according to UCI Health.

The ankle biter bites usually are in clusters around the ankles.

Aedes are efficient at transmitting (spreading) several fatal human arboviruses including chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever and Zika. In recent U.S. history, Aedes mosquitoes were responsible for Zika outbreaks in Florida, Texas, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Those who travel (to Europe, Asia and South America) should be aware they could be a carrier of these diseases and not know it, according to The District.

Okay, mosquitos and chiggers/mites are causing us to itch but not enough to force us to stay inside all of the time; after all, this is Southern California where the sun is worshiped. But now in addition to sunscreen we should all keep repellent in our outdoor bags.

It will be nice outdoors weather-wise with a cooling trend (sort of) coming with highs in the low 80s today through Sunday and then we start moving up in temperatures to the low-to-mid 90s from Sunday through next week.