TOPEKA (KSNT) - Have you noticed any unexplainable bug bites on your arms and legs lately? They might not be from mosquitoes, but like them, they can be pretty irritating. They're called minute pirate bugs. Although they don't transmit any diseases, like mosquitoes, these tiny little insects can also leave small welts and little red dots on your skin. They usually come out in late summer to early fall. While these bugs can be annoying, they're actually quite helpful to the environment. They tend to eat the insects that feed on flowers and produce gardens. Once fall arrives and those insects are gone, they start to look for other sources of food. "They will start to switch to pollen, and eating some of the pollen from the flowers," Topeka Zoo Animal Care Supervisor Joe Maloney said. "But then when that starts to go, they're hungry and they're looking around for food, and when they land on a person they just want to see if they can eat you, so that's when you get the little uncomfortable bites." Alligator snapping turtles are back in Kansas, what to know To help avoid these bites there's a couple of things you can do. You can wear long-sleeve shirts and jeans, and you can try going outdoors when it's cooler in the day. Maloney tells 27 News you should not use pesticides to get rid of these bugs, because if you do that, you can accidentally kill other insects that are beneficial in the area. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.