Who Bites Me? A Tentative Discriminative Key to Diagnose Hematophagous Ectoparasites Biting Using Clinical Manifestations

Arthropod blood feeders are vectors of several human pathogenic agents, including viruses
(e.g., yellow fever, chikungunya, dengue fever), parasites (e.g., malaria, leishmaniasis, lymphatic
filariasis), or bacteria (e.g., plague). Besides their role as a vector of pathogens, their biting activities
cause a nuisance to humans. Herein, we document clinical symptoms associated with the biting
of ten clusters of hematophagous arthropods, including mosquitoes, biting midges and sandflies,
lice, ticks, tsetse flies, blackflies, horse flies, fleas, triatomine and bed bugs. Within the framework of
clinical history and entomo-epidemiological information, we propose a tentative discriminative key
that can be helpful for practicing physicians in identifying hematophagous arthropods biting humans
and delivering treatment for the associated clinical disorders.