Mosquito stories

[AIR-Quarius]

Hi all, I got up earlier than usual this a.m., and I have a flood light aiming up into the oak trees behind me here at this lake...noticed a larger than average population of what looks like just born mosquitos (millions?) swarming into the light...many (thousands) were falling into the light shield- because it's aimed upwards- and dieing there. Its cool that it's killing them, but I swear there are billions of them! (kind of Spielberg crazy).
Let's talk about this years mosquitos!

[crabbey1]

Where are you?

[AIR-Quarius]

Big Hill Lake/ Cherryvale, Kansas...
These mosquitoes are super tiny, like they have just been born or something. They don't bite -- yet.

[Protagonist]

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana (Parishes are Louisiana's counties). Mosquito capital of the US, as far as I'm concerned. Mosquitoes large and numerous enough to be mistaken for a flock of crows from a Hitchcock movie!

Deet for the skin, permethrin for the clothes, are de rigeur for even stepping outside one's Airstream. In the urban areas of the parish they use sprayer trucks to control the mosquitoes about twice a week, but that doesn't kill them; it just drives them back to the rural areas where people go camping, hunting, and fishing.

Forget swatting them… all you can do is scrape them off with the edge of your hand, like using a trowel, which leaves long smears of blood on your skin but at least doesn't squash bug parts into the bite to get infected. Sadly, that's for real, not a joke.

Parish residents must have skin like saddle leather, because they don't even flinch when the mosquitoes bite, but me? Not a chance! Them critters hurt!

[aftermath]

I doubt that those are mosquitoes. Around lakes, at least the lakes up here in the northwest, midges hatch by the millions. I have never seen them as thick as you describe but have been out on the lake when swarms of them are about. They do look much like the mosquito but, as you said, are much smaller and are missing the nasty part that sticks into your skin.

[dznf0g]

I can tell you, after returning Saturday from my annual wilderness canoe trip in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, that this was the PERFECT spring for Mosquitoes, black flies, deer flies and ticks. I have NEVER seen them as thick as this year.....and later than usual (late spring).

[dkottum]

We have lived here at a Minnesota lake for years; I wouldn't say this year is any different. But what you're seeing is probably not mosquitos but one of many hatches emerging from the lake each summer. We call it the bug of the week, all different, some big some very small. Always fascinating.

Unless you're in the woods, mosquitos tend to be most active at sunset. Then less so as the cooler night air moves in. Among their many sensors to find blood is heat, of a campfire or even a cup of hot coffee.

We find the chemicals more disturbing than the bugs, never use any, but use clothing and time of day to avoid them (somewhat). July is the worse time of the year for mosquitos here, but they don't keep us indoors. It's worth a few bites to be out there. We sat out on the dock the last few nights just after sunset without any mosquitos.

doug k

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by dkottum

Unless you're in the woods, mosquitos tend to be most active at sunset. Then less so as the cooler night air moves in. Among their many sensors to find blood is heat, of a campfire or even a cup of hot coffee.

They also seem to be attracted by dark-colored clothing. Khaki is your friend.

[Erik Olson]

I'm an Orvis Expedition Outfitter and their BugsAway line of outdoor and fishing wear is a great option for those who want to avoid topicals with DEET or other chemicals.

[AIR-Quarius]

Well, I went out and got something white and put a few of these on it, and also grabbed a palm full of them for you to see. They really are small and I was thinking to myself...I hope these aren't babies! You can see the flood light there, and there is a huge pile of carcasses down below. Pretty good bug killer huh?

[Melody Ranch]

Your in luck. Not mosquitos. Have you been over to Fort Scott?

[dkottum]

Originally Posted by Erik Olson

I'm an Orvis Expedition Outfitter and their BugsAway line of outdoor and fishing wear is a great option for those who want to avoid topicals with DEET or other chemicals.

I have seen these cothing products and have been under the impression chemical treated clothing is not much better than spraying it on directly, for those sensitive to it. Our grandchildren live just down the shoreline, get along without the chemicals (it would be daily) as well.

We have made many trips into the deep woods (Boundry Waters in July for example) and sometimes there is no choice, short of a blood transfusion. Occasional use makes good sense.

doug k

[dznf0g]

I am one of the fortunate ones, who is not as tasty to mosquitoes as most. I usually use no chemicals...but this year I used Deet several evenings. I do use a head net on portages (more this year). Spring was 3 weeks late this year in BCWA, so maybe they weren't worse than a normal early June...but this year June was July on the bug schedule. It had been also wetter than in a long time. Locals said highest water level in over 10 years. A lot of standing water for mosquito breeding grounds. I always go in July or later to avoid the hoards.

[CanoeStream]

I'm with aftermath on the midge idea. Mosquitoes hatch fully equipped to do their vampire thing. I'm quite familiar with biteless skeeter lookalikes.

A well known, unwelcome sight here in the upper Mississippi River valley is huge mayfly hatches being drawn to lights on bridges & gas stations. Their exhausted bodies lie in drifts and are a slippery hazard where cars run.

Fellow Minnesotans, please do not spread the word that the southeast corner of our state is relatively mosquito-free. That area was never glaciated and the ancient eroded landscape is nearly free of lakes, ponds & swamps.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

I am one of the fortunate ones, who is not as tasty to mosquitoes as most.

I used to be like that, back before I quit smoking. Pulling a night shift for emergency repairs at one of our facilities, I was being eaten alive by every flying insect big enough to be tracked by air traffic control radar. One guy on the crew was being left strictly alone.

When I asked his secret, he said, "Smoking menthol." I bummed some smokes from him, and by the time I had about a pack's worth filtering through my lungs and into my bloodstream, the flying pests started leaving me alone, too. For the remainder of my pagan rituals— lighting a fire in my mouth and sacrificing my lungs to the demon Nicotine— I smoked menthol, too. Bugs left me alone. When I quit smoking over seven years ago, I became tasty to bugs again.

Menthol and camphor are chemically similar, so it may be possible to repel mosquitoes from enclosed areas by hanging mothballs near the openings. Assuming you can stand the smell of them. Haven't really tried it; didn't even think about it until this thread started.

[awryawry]

There was a mozzie so big in the garden last night, it spoke to me in a Transylvanian accent ....

[AIR-Quarius]

Originally Posted by Melody Ranch

Your in luck. Not mosquitos. Have you been over to Fort Scott?

No we have'nt --yet. The country side up here is rolling hills both big and small...creeks and rivers...calm and quiet out here at the lake - almost surreal. I will look up Fort Scott.

[masseyfarm]

My doctor told me to take IRON pills as I give blood frequently.

I have been a little worried about overdosing after the West Coast Mountain Mosquitoes started dropping like anvils?????

Dave

[Rollster]

Originally Posted by AIR-Quarius

Well, I went out and got something white and put a few of these on it, and also grabbed a palm full of them for you to see. They really are small and I was thinking to myself...I hope these aren't babies! You can see the flood light there, and there is a huge pile of carcasses down below. Pretty good bug killer huh?

Those look like midges. I live along the St. John's River in north Florida, and we are invaded by hordes of these buggers annually. We call them "blind mosquitoes"; some years are worse than others. One year they were so bad that in the morning, neighbors were literally shoveling their carcasses off their driveways. We'd go out on our porches and use our shop vac to suck 'em up; you had to wear a bandana over your nose and mouth to mow the lawn because they were so thick. As already mentioned, it was reminiscent of Hitchcock's "The Birds"! Knock on wood, this year hasn't been bad. And we keep telling ourselves, at least they don't bite!

[247stream]

Asian Tiger Mosquitos have come to stay here in GA and they are out all day, not just at dawn and dusk. Me, I'm one of the 'lucky' ones with the blood type they love to snack on and it doesn't matter how much deet I put on, they find me. granted I get eaten less with chemicals but I still get eaten. here's an excerpt from the article talking about blood types with the link below.

Blood-type markers are chemicals released by people of a specific blood type – so if someone with AB blood emitted a marker, it would be different than that released by B. One study found persons with Type O blood suffered more mosquito landings because of the odorant markers they emit than any other blood type, making their juices a hot commodity for blood banks, as well as Asian Tiger Mosquitoes, which carry West Nile Virus. Not only were Type O’s more likely to be landed on, but the study found that for any blood type, people who secreted a chemical marker about their blood type through their skin (both blood type and secretor status are determined by genes) were bitten much more than non-secretors; 24 percent in the case of the Type O’s. Other researchers estimate about 15 percent of the population, based on their genes, don’t emit chemical markers of their blood type through their skin and saliva, so something else has to be calling the mosquitoes to them.

Why do mosquitoes bite some people more than others? » Scienceline