Summer brings insect season to Arkansas: Expert offers tips on how not to get bit, what to do if you are

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Warm weather is back in Arkansas, and with it comes the onslaught of biting insects.

Emily G. McDermott, an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville offered up a few pointers on how Natural State residents could avoid getting bit this season, as well as what to do if the worst happens.

The best thing, McDermott said, is to wear a Centers for Disease Control-recommended insect repellent such as DEET. She said this would protect against all biting insects, but especially in tick-prone areas, where wearing clothing treated with the repellent is essential.

McDermott explained that scrubby or grassy areas make good tick habitats and suggested hikers try to stay on marked and worn paths and avoid brushing up against vegetation on the sides of the path to steer clear of the blood-sucking pes...