Mosquitoes!

[kimo wires]

Skeets love plants. I have no plants within a 30 foot diameter around my house and that makes a big difference. If I go down one of my trails to the woods they are all over me.

[microage97]

ya it just depends on the resistance I guess. I grew up in IA and remember being mostly poka-dotted all summer long. Now, no bump or itch. The wife is a totally different story.

[Rob L]

When I bought my place there were lots of bromeliads. The mosquitoes are known to breed in those that have a center that holds rain water. I ripped them all out and have had almost know problem with mosquitoes since then.

Aloha,
Rob L

[mac nut]

I hear if you cuss at them in vietnamese it works, but that is a hard language to learn!

[Tink]

Nana valley, your warm Irish heart must attract them, because my part Irish wife is my mozzie repellent as well! I was told by an old timer that mozzie's are attracted by the infrared, or heat we give off. Others claim it is skin pigment. Lighter skinned are more succeptible than darker skinned. The little buggers have a tendency to find anything that moves in the jungle, so maybe he was right. As far as them breeding, all they need is about a teaspoon of water somewhere, be it a plant, or something you left out that captured water. I even found larvae in a spot of water in Redwood bark in my travels! I will have to learn the Vietnamese cuss words, as they seem to be deaf at Irish, Portuguese, English and Cherokee!

Community begins with Aloha

[aramis720]

Great tips everyone, thanks!

[terracore]

There are at least 3 different competing GMO mosquitoes out there (use the google to learn more, at least one has already been released). The most promising is a modified male mosquito that can only produces male offspring, and the gene is passed along to following generations, so the result is eventually almost no mosquitoes. I think they said after 5 generations the population is reduced 85%.

I don't want this to degrade into a debate about frankencreatures (though I know it will) however places where mosquitoes didn't exist before man brought them, would be the ideal place to release these monsters, because eventually removing the larvae (food) from the water is only restoring nature to the way it used to be. It might even save several bird species from extinction since it would eliminate the avian malaria vector.

[Bullwinkle]

seconded - with the caveat - we went 50 ft no skeeters - nice to sit out at sunset for that end of the day beer

"Skeets love plants. I have no plants within a 30 foot diameter around my house and that makes a big difference. If I go down one of my trails to the woods they are all over me."

[Midnight Rambler]

The three mosquitoes here make distinctly different bites. The day-biting tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, makes small bites that last only a day or so. They're the most abundant by far, though I seem to be becoming a little resistant to the effect of their bites lately. The night-biting mosquito, Culex, makes really big bites (over an inch across) that last for a couple of weeks and itch that whole time. A more recent arrival, called Wyeomyia, also makes smaller bites but they last longer than Aedes. You can recognize it because it sits with two of its legs curled way over instead of just sticking up, and it breeds only bromeliads, so if you get rid of them you won't have any around.

[Guest]

It would make sense for them to attack lighter skin, as they are attracted to light in general, and pale skin would much more attractive than darker.