THE CLAIM -- Chiggers attack humans by burrowing under their skin.

THE FACTS -- The bites start out as small red bumps on a person's arm or leg. Before long they turn into a cluster of painful giant welts that can make a bee sting seem like a pinprick. The pain is so intense and lasts so long that most victims believe the pests, called chiggers, simply burrowed under their skin and died there.

But according to experts, what most people think they know about chiggers is wrong.

Myths about the tiny red bugs, which are most active in the weeks after the Fourth of July, stem from their resemblance to pests with similar names, like the jigger flea, which actually does bore through skin. They are also so microscopic, smaller than the period at the end of this sentence, that their victims never see them.

Like most bugs, chiggers can penetrate only thin skin, and that is why they tend to attack the knees, ankles and hips. They do not feed on blood; instead, they use powerful enzymes to dissolve a person's cells and form a sort of feeding tube, or stylostome, that is used to suck up liquid tissue.

It is this human straw that stays embedded for weeks and causes so much agony, even long after the bug has fallen off.