The word "mosquito" originates from the Spanish for "little fly." And indeed, the mosquito is the unmannered first cousin to the common house fly. Houseflies buzz around and are a nuisance, but aren't as annoying as the mosquito, who was never taught that sucking someone's blood is definitely in bad taste.

• There have been 57 species of mosquitoes identified in East Texas, but there are probably more. And, yes, we have all the types that spread malaria (Anopheles), encephalitis (Culex), yellow fever, and dengue (Aedes aegypti). The good news is that there are only occasional cases of these maladies.  For the most part, the worst thing about mosquitoes is that burning, itchy bump that erupts after the bite and the fact that mosquito bites transmit heartworm to our dogs.  The good news is that only half of the mosquito population needs our blood. Weighing only 1/25,000 of an ounce, the female mosquito can land on the skin without any tactile response from our brains.

• That is, until the sucking begins. Like many insects, including ticks and fleas, mosquitoes hunt for hosts by sensing carbon dioxide emissions from our bodies. They are also particularly fond of moist heat around the victim.  Unlike ticks and fleas, mosquitoes do seem to differentiate between victims' blood chemistry, preferring one person's blood to another. Not all mosquito species prefer humans at all. Some only attack birds, frogs, deer, or other mammals. But who cares about them, right?

• The male mosquito can get along just fine slurping nectar, but the female has to feed on blood in order to lay eggs. First, she punctures the skin with her proboscis which has six elongated probes or rigid tubes. Four of these tubes cut the skin. Then she inserts the other two like a straw in a milkshake and starts to slurp. Her saliva acts as an anticoagulant and keeps the blood from clotting. It is her saliva that begins the body's allergic reaction and you know the rest. Itch and claw. Claw and itch. After satisfying her brood's desires, the female mosquito flies off to lay her eggs in water.  She won't go very far to do this either. The hunting grounds of many species is probably only a hundred or two hundred feet from where the mosquito begins its life cycle. So one of the best first lines of defense is to interrupt the mosquito's life cycle by vigilantly searching out and removing all sources of sitting water around the home.

• If you live around a pond or swamp (or a swampy neighborhood), the situation becomes more difficult, but there is hope. The Trinity Park neighborhood is using an Eco-friendly product called Vectobac to spray public areas. The ingredient in Vectobac is BT, a bacterium that infects the stomach lining of larvae and kills them. There are also many fish who are excellent mosquito eaters.   One fish called the Gambusia is being used effectively in mosquito abatement programs. Other fish who love to gobble mosquito larva are goldfish, guppies, and minnows.   If you can't do anything about mosquito-filled environs, there are alternate ways to protect yourself at home.  However, if you're hiking or just picnicking by a pond in an idyllic meadow, methods of protection vary because what it boils down to is making your body an unattractive blood reservoir. 

• There are probably as many theories about mosquito repellents as mosquitoes. The best thing to do is try them and see which works best for you and your blood chemistry.

• Sources of Potential Mosquito Breeding Sites
  Go on your Search and Destroy Mission now! You have a week. If your yard is free of mosquito breeding sources but your neighbors' yards are junk piles, don't whine. Organize a Neighborhood Mosquito Clean-Up Day.
  
  Throw away old bottle and cans
  Empty standing water from flower pot dishes &
  flower vases.
  Put a screen or cover rain barrels.
  Don't forget about fishbowls and aquariums.
  Change birdbath water weekly or use mosquito
  tablets that are biodegradable and not harmful to animals.
  Fill tree holes.
  Throw away or destroy old tires. Old tires probably account for most mosquito infestation in the world.
  Repair leaky faucets.
  Clean clogged gutters.
  Cover uncovered boats.

• Life Cycle
  The bad news is that the whole process from egg-larvae-pupae-adult mosquito can take as little as a week--seven measly days. The good news is that mosquitoes need water to breed and grow, and that's where you can drastically reduce the problem in your home.
  

• Cycle Interrupts. After the female finishes pumping your blood, she will probably go to several more feedings.  The adult mosquito lives an average of 2 to 3 weeks, but during this time, she is a busy fly, sucking many varieties of blood and laying hundreds of eggs.
  Once her eggs are laid in the water, they can remain unhatched for several months or hatch in one or two days. When the eggs hatch, they are bambino larva feeding and growing in the water. And it doesn't take much water. A pint of water in a Coke can left on the porch can hatch as many as five hundred larva.
  

• When the children reach adolescence, they transcend into a pupa state in which they do not feed but just wait for adulthood. Reaching adulthood, the adult mosquito lifts off the water's surface, checks to make sure her
  blanket is pink, and then, comes buzzing in your direction.

• Alternative Ways to Protect Your Home
  The most important step in protecting your home is fixing or replacing broken window screens. If they can't get in, they can't buzz and bite.          Peppermint, vanilla, bay, clove, sassafras, and cedar have all been used as bug repellents. Be creative. Make your own potpourri from these great smelling naturals or make arrangements of fresh eucalyptus leaves.  Open a bottle of Pennyroyal essential oil and watch the mosquitoes take off. You can purchase Pennyroyal usually from any stores that sell herbs or essential oils. 
• Buy citronella candles or by the bottle.  Mosquitoes hate it.  Set mosquito traps around your home by putting water in a bucket and add a good measure of dishwashing soap. When the mosquito lands to lay her eggs, she won't be able to escape from the slick emulsion.  Plant a barrier of tansy or basil near doorways or around outdoor patios. Mosquitoes as well as flies and ants are repelled by them.  If you're having a barbecue, throw some sage and rosemary on the coals to repel mosquitoes.
  
• Protecting Your Body
  Okay, your body is your temple. One of the best ways to protect the temple is to cover it. Wear long sleeve shirts, pants, and a hat to cover exposed skin. Tuck in your shirt. Mosquitoes are good, but they're not good enough to bite through cotton.  Another way to protect the temple is to--pardon me--make it stink. That's right. Stink to high heaven, baby. Make the body emit odors that repel mosquitoes:  Take your B1
  
• Entomologist , recommends saturating your body with B-1 vitamins. You can't overdose because B-1 is water soluble. Plus, only insects, not fellow humans, will be repelled by the body odor it causes you to broadcast.  The secret, though, is to begin taking the vitamin before you go out into the woods--days before you go out so you can get a good odor going before hitting the bush.  Remember too that mosquitoes are the most active at night, so if you're going to a night concert in a couple of days, begin your B-1 now.
  
• Raid Your Kitchen and Avon Catalog
  Any of these methods have the potential to repel members of your own species, but so what? You won't be an itchy, pimply mess at the end of the day. Granted these are short term solutions, but most of our exposure
  to mosquitoes is short-lived.
  
• Eat plenty of garlic in foods or take garlic pills.  Not only good for your health, but noxious to insects.  Rub some apple cider vinegar on exposed skin to keep away pests. (Also works on sunburn, so my mother says.) Crush fresh parsley and rub it on the skin.  Try spraying Avon's Skin-So-Soft bath oil spray on exposed skin. Some folks swear by it. Some don't. Maybe again it is a matter of how body chemistry comes into play.   Break down and Buy Bug Repellents but read the Centers for Disease Control's report on precautions first.
  
• Virtually every year, a new product appears on the market that claims to be the answer for the elimination of mosquito nuisance. In nearly every case, the promotion is accompanied by a great deal of advertising, but the merits of the product are rarely backed with scientific testing. The American public has invested billions of dollars in zappers, repellers, and plants that claim they will keep mosquitoes from biting. Products and promotions for mosquito control are big business; unfortunately most have limited value in reducing mosquito annoyance.
  
• Electronic Repellers
  Hand-held electronic devices that rely on high-frequency sound to repel mosquitoes have become surprisingly popular in recent years. Prices range from $9.95 to $29.95 for units advertised in magazines. Heavy-duty repellers that claim to keep away spiders, hornets, and rats, in addition to mosquitoes may sell for more than $100.00. The manufacturer's rationale for using sound as a repelling factor varies from one device to the next. Some claim to mimic the wing beat frequency of a male mosquito. This, supposedly, repels females who have already mated and do not wish to be mated a second time. 

• Others claim to mimic the sound of a hungry dragonfly, causing mosquitoes to flee the area to avoid becoming the predator's next meal. Most of the electronic repellers on the market hum on a single frequency. Top of the line devices allow for adjustment by the user to achieve the most effective frequency for the mosquito causing the problem. Scientific studies have repeatedly shown that electronic mosquito repellers do not prevent host seeking mosquitoes from biting. In most cases, the claims made by distributors border on fraud. Mated female mosquitoes do not flee from amorous males, and mosquitoes do not vacate an area hunted by dragonflies. Electronic mosquito repellers do little in the way of reducing mosquito annoyance.
  
• Bug Zappers
  Electrocuting devices, popularly known as Bug Zappers, are the most popular device on the market for reducing mosquitoes around the home. Most rely on ultraviolet light to draw insects through an electrified wire grid. A resounding pop followed by a series of sizzling sounds signals the homeowner that an insect has passed through the electrocuting device. Most homeowners keep the machine on a timer that turns the units off during the daylight hours, but some run the traps day and night during the summer season. Bug zappers kill a lot of insects, but very few of the insects killed function as pests. Most of the popping sounds are night-flying moths tricked into the trap while attempting to navigate by the moon.
• The long drawn-out sizzles are usually beetles, because they are heavier than most night flying insects and have considerably more bulk to fry. Scientific studies indicate that mosquitoes make up a very small percentage of bug zapper collections. Comparison trapping has also shown no significant difference in mosquito populations in yards with and without the traps. Biting insects, in general, make up less than 1 percent of the insects killed in zappers. Unfortunately, beneficial insects are usually well represented in an average night's catch. The continued popularity of these traps is probably due to the never-ending sound effects, which remind owners that their investment is working. Most trap operators are unaware that their zappers are killing harmless insects that would otherwise serve as food for wildlife.
  
• Citrosa Plants
  The Citrosa plant is a genetically engineered houseplant created by incorporating tissue cultures of the grass that produces citronella oil into hybrid varieties of geranium to produce a cultivar that emits a citronella aroma. Citronella oil is known to have mosquito-repelling properties, and the concept of allowing a plant to emit a barrier of repellent vapor appears sound.  Unfortunately, the claims made by the distributors have not stood up to scientific testing. Tests conducted in Florida indicated that Citrosa plants did not reduce the number of bites received by test subjects. Moreover, mosquitoes landed freely on the leaves indicating that the plant does not emit enough citronella oil to repel the insects. Crushing the leaf and rubbing it into the skin did not keep mosquitoes from biting and mixing the leaves into a slurry did not help. The idea of engineering a plant with mosquito repelling properties should be encouraged. Advertising and selling that plant before its effectiveness is documented takes advantage of the American consumer.
  
• Insectivorous Bats
  Every so often, a well-meaning conservation group promotes bats to eliminate mosquitoes from areas where nuisance has become intolerable. This undoubtedly leads to rediscovery of research conducted in the 1950s indicating that bats released in a room filled with mosquitoes could catch up to 10 mosquitoes per minute. The research was conducted to measure the effectiveness of echolocation in insectivorous bat species. The results have been extrapolated to suggest that wild bats can consume 600 mosquitoes per hour. Using that figure, a colony of 500 bats will remove 250,000 mosquitoes each hour and theoretically afford mosquito control for an entire neighborhood.

• Research since that time has shown that insectivorous bats are opportunistic feeders and that mosquitoes make up a very small percentage of their natural diet.  Bats' behavior when locked in a room with nothing to feed upon but mosquitoes has no bearing on their behavior in the wild. Bats feed on the same insects that turn up in bug zappers and are no more effective for controlling mosquitoes than their electronic equivalent. Providing habitat to enhance bat populations is an admirable activity for conservation purposes. Using mosquito control as the reason to initiate public interest is misleading at best.
  
  Purple Martins
  The average person truly believes that Purple Martins control mosquitoes. No other form of biological control has been so broadly publicized, and the concept of using a colonial bird is easy to accept. Purple Martins are lovely birds and having a colony nearby is educational and aesthetic. Purple Martins, however, do not control mosquitoes and should not be propagated if eliminating mosquitoes is the central issue. Proponents of the Purple Martin cite the oft-quoted statement that a Purple Martin will eat 2,000 mosquitoes a day and up to 14,000 when the insects are extremely plentiful. The quote is based on an anecdotal account in the literature that was based on body weight of the bird and the number of mosquitoes that would be required to sustain its metabolism.
• Most ornithologists realize that mosquitoes form an insignificant portion of the Purple Martin's diet and would agree that the birds play a limited role controlling mosquito populations. If mosquitoes are plentiful, the birds will feed on them, but an adult Purple Martin that is foraging in mosquito territory will accept a dragonfly in place of a mosquito without hesitation. Purple Martins, as well as other insectivorous birds, should be encouraged to nest and be provided with housing whenever possible. Do not, however, believe that the birds will significantly diminish mosquito populations in your community. The manufacturers of Purple Martin houses cite mosquito control potential for their own economic gains. The birds do not need this hoax to retain public acceptance.
  
• There are products on the market that will provide relief from mosquito attack. Commercial repellents that contain DEET can be highly effective for short periods. Many people, however, dislike the oily consistency or object because of health concerns connected with the product.  Products that rely on fragrance to repel mosquitoes show considerable promise and have been under intense investigation since the Avon product, Skin-So-Soft showed proven repellent properties. Predacious fish feed on the immature stages of mosquitoes and are extremely efficient in terms of control. In salt marsh areas, native killifish can be managed to eliminate mosquitoes from some types of marshland. In upland areas, pond-raised mosquito fish can be stocked to eliminate mosquitoes. Electronic repellers, bug zappers, and mosquito-fighting plants represent hoaxes that are marketed solely for economic gain. The American consumer, should be aware that these products have little value for mosquito control.

• Trivial facts about a non-trivial insect
  
  How many species of mosquitoes are there?
  About 2,700.
  
  And how many are resistant to at least one insecticide?
  More than 50.
  
  What does a mosquito weigh?
  About 2 to 2.5 milligrams (for an Aedes aegypti).
  
  Photo by John VanDyk, Department of Entomology, Iowa State University.
  
  How much blood does a female mosquito drink per, er, serving ?
  About 5-millionths of a liter (for an Aedes aegypti).
  
  What happens if you cut the sensory nerve in the mosquito's stomach?
  The little whiner can keep sucking blood until it bursts (oh, sweet justice!).
  
  How do mosquitoes find new hosts?
  By sight (they observe movement); by detecting infra-red radiation emitted
  by warm bodies; and by chemical signals (mosquitoes are attracted to carbon
  dioxide and lactic acid, among other chemicals).
  
  How fast can a mosquito fly?
  An estimated 1 to 1.5 miles per hour.
  
  How far do certain mosquitoes fly
  Salt marsh mosquitoes migrate 75 to 100 miles.
  
  How far away can a mosquito smell you, or a cow or another host (defined)?
  20 to 35 meters.
  
  Don't you love being called a "host"?
  Not in this context.
  
  Why does a film of oil on water kill mosquito larvae?
  Because the oil clogs up the snorkel that the larvae use to breathe.
  
  What does mosquito saliva have to do with some kinds of rat poison?
  They both contain anti-coagulants, chemicals that prevent the blood from
  clotting.
  
  When do mosquitoes feed?
  Day-time. Night-time. And all times in-between. Truthfully, some species
  prefer different times of day or night. This behavior may have evolved to
  match the host's behavior.
  
  Do they ever stop sucking blood?
  Yes. For starters, males never suck blood. And females don't do it more,
  often than necessary, since it exposes them to (slap, slap) host "defensive
  behaviors."
  
  So what's the advantage of letting a mosquito drink its fill?
  Because if you brush it away too soon, it might come back for more.

Copyright © 1993-08 ÅTPC, Inc.. All rights reserved.
Revised: February 17, 2008 .