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It's that time of year again — the holidays.
A time of festivities, family, friends, and houseguests. Normally,
all of this activity and visiting is great, but sometimes you end
up getting a few unwanted guests. I recently had exactly this
misfortune when a group of mosquitoes decided that as the temperatures
outside here in Brooklyn were rapidly dropping, all the seasonal
cheer going on in my apartment seemed like a nice place to take
refuge. So, they came in and had a little party of their own where
the main attraction seemed to be feasting on every body in sight.
In trying to learn how to break up their party, I
realized that it's tough to find a singular source of information
online about how to get rid of mosquitoes in the home (or even keep
them out in the first place) aside from common sense tips like,
"Don't leave your windows open without screens in them." While I'm
absolutely no mosquito expert, I did find some websites that went
a long way in arming me with information that was great in my
battle against the bloodsuckers. I also learned a little bit
about why I (and a percentage of other people out there) are way
more attractive to mosquitoes and why we have such large reactions
to their bites — massive welts that last for days often
coupled with a general malaise.
The following guide is definitely a departure
from the types of topics I normally write about, but if you've ever
gone through a mosquito home-invasion, I'm sure you understand
how frustrating and disruptive to your life this can be and why I'd
want to stop everything else to put this resource together for
anyone else who might be experiencing the same thing. As I already
said, I'm not a mosquito (or insect of any sort) expert, and there's
definitely a lot about mosquitoes that I'm going to leave out. But,
I would like to provide two things in this guide: 1. A collection of
at-a-glance facts about mosquitoes that I learned through a
combination of sources; 2. A list of links to resources where
you can read what the true experts say. In the end, this guide
should put you on the path to ending your mosquito problems.
Facts
General Information
- Worldwide, there are about 3,500 species of mosquitoes, of
which there are believed to be about 200 in the United States.
- Most species of mosquitoes feed at dusk and dawn.
- Only female mosquitoes bite and suck blood; male
mosquitoes feed on plant nectar. The females get protein out
of the blood that they need in order to lay their eggs.
- The mosquito lifecycle (egg-> larva-> pupa-> adult)
varies in duration from species to species. You can expect your
mosquitoes to go through their entire lifecycle in anything from
several days to several months if over winter (some species
of mosquitoes can actually surve winter temperatures by going
into a hibernation-like state).
- All mosquitoes lay their eggs in water.
Population Control (in the home)
- Mosquitoes can breed inside your home if conditions
are right. The key ingredient is standing water, and it
doesn't take much. Even the small amount of water found in
drainage plates under certain types of plants is enough for
some species!
- If you're finding mosquitoes in your home (and they're
not ranging in the hundreds), chances are they're coming in
from the outside. Mosquitoes are very adept at finding ways
into the home. Some entry to points to consider are: windows
without screens or doors to the outside being left wide open,
windows and doors to the outside that don't seal very well, and
any other direct opening into your home from the outside,
including chimneys and ventways for things like bathroom
fans.
- Defensive approaches to at least stop yourself from
getting bit can include: mosquito netting around your bed,
wearing insect repellent in the home, and wearing longsleeves and
light colors indoors. SIDE NOTE: It's generally accepted that
repellents that contain DEET are the most effective, but there
is a lot of controversy over exposure to this product.
Before using repellents that contain DEET or any other
synthetic chemicals, you should probably carefully read who
they're safe for and in what amounts. I have personally had a
good experience with
Burt's Bees Herbal Insect Repellent,
but if you look around online, you'll see it gets
pretty mixed reviews.
- Offensive approaches to ridding yourself of mosquitoes
in your home include: being vigilant at dusk and dawn so that
you can spot and kill them, spray insecticides meant for flying
insects under your bed, sinks, and other places where
mosquitoes like to hide, consider a plug-in, aerosole,
insecticide dispenser, and, if all else fails, call an
exterminator to have your home fumigated.
- Myths. There are some questionable products and practices
out there that you really should investigate before spending
money on. Some of the things that I encountered that
seem to be false claims or at least questionable are: eating
garlic or vitamin B12 makes you less attractive to mosquitoes,
various (and sometimes expensive) sonic deterrents can keep
mosquitoes at bay, eating bananas makes you more attractive
to mosquitoes, and the various forms of mosqito "traps" (they may
not be quite as effective as they would lead you to believe).
People Who are Very Attractive to Mosquitoes and/or
People Who Have Massive Reactions to Their Bites
- Among other things, female mosquitoes use a combination of
carbon dioxide trails and heat to find their hosts. That is,
your warm body and exhaling, let the mosquitoes know where
you are.
- Once a female mosquito finds you, a complex set of reasons
determines whether you're considered a "good" host. Included
in the list of things that seem to make you a good host are:
body odors (sweat, lactic acid, etc.), certain perfumes,
beer drinking, and maybe even eating limburger cheese.
- Mosquitoes are attracted to dark colors.
- For most people, mosquitoes (when no disease is
transmitted by the mosquito) are a minor annoyance with a small,
itchy bump lasting a few to several hours. For other people,
a mosquito bite results in a large welt that itches for four to
six days and can be accompanied by a general malaise —
headache, aches, almost flu-like symptoms. It seems that
for people who have these large reactions to the bite, an
allergy to either a protein or bacteria that is injected by
the mosquito at the time of the bite is the cause. I read a
number of ways that people say they deal with these reactions
including: putting alcohol on the site of the bite as soon
as possible, putting topical antibiotics on the site of the bite,
putting topical antihistamines on the site of the bite, and
taking oral antihistamines. I've personally used an herbal
aftershave right on the bites that's composed of comfrey,
calendula, witch hazel, rose water, vegetable glycerin, lavendar
essential oil, and sandlewood essential oil, with great success
for stopping the itching and reducing the swelling. The recipe
for this aftershave came from a free booklet produced by
Natural Health magazine
called "Secret Natural Remedies."
Expert Mosquito Resources
If you have a mosquito story of your own or tips
and tricks for controlling their populations in the home,
avoiding getting bit or even dealing with bites once they've
happened, please let me know at dave@caretcake.com,
and I may add the information to this page.
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