Mosquito repel

[209herschel]

Hi everyone,

I have a severe mosquito allergy. I've been out a few times recently and gotten bitten badly even when using aerogard. Would anyone recommend particular clothing or a way of keeping the mozzies and other insects at bay?

Thanks.

[casstony]

I wear long sleeves, trousers and hat and apply Rid roll-on to the clothing and hat. If the Mosquitoes are particularly bad I also use Thermacell, a product which emits insecticide into the air. I hate the little boshteds because I got Barmah Forest Virus from one.

[OzEclipse]

Rid is for kids only 16% DEET,

Use Ben's 100 - 95% DEET
http://www.rei.com/product/784606/bens-100-max-formula-insect-repellent-95-percent-deet-125-fl-oz

The national bird of Alaska is the mosquito. While hiking in the Denali National park many moons ago, Bens 100 kept the industrial strength Alaskan mossies at bay.

Joe

[gary]

As an adjunct to the advice on repellents, one of the best pieces of advice
is to walk around your property and ensure there are no sources of free-standing
water in which they are breeding. Typical sources in the garden can be buckets
left outdoors, empty flower pots, bird baths, ponds, uncovered water tanks, blocked
roof guttering and so on.

Without the water, they can't breed and something as simple as emptying an old
used paint tin that has been sitting outside and has filled with rain water acts as
what WHO refers to as a source reduction vector control.

Taking a cold shower before you go out observing can also help.
Avoid dark coloured clothing and wear either white or light coloured long sleeves
and trousers.

If using repellents containing DEET, be mindful that it is an effective solvent
and can damage rubber, some plastics and synthetics. For example, if
you have it on your fingertips it will readily transform the rubber eye-cap
around the eyepiece into gray sticky goop, melt away the keycaps on
a keyboard or leave permanent melted finger indentations on a plastic
camera body.

[Monstar]

When I first came over from Blighty I used to have a severe reaction each bite would get to the size of a walnut but it's got less severe over time to now just a bad/normal reaction.

I've found a good covering of rid works well, but if you're at home I find the best defence is a strong fan. If you're at a dark site I suppose the best way is avoidance, keep away from still water etc

[wavelandscott]

I want to reinforce Gary's excellent advice. Habitat control is a great way to reduce the mosquito population. If you have standing water that can not be drained, there are a few commercially available larvacides that can be applied that will prevent the mosquitoes from developing. There are are organic and non-organic options that will work. Deet (as high a percentage as you can stand) can be effective. There is another repellent that I think is a good performer, the active ingredient Picardin, but I do not know if this is approved in Australia. The attract and kill gear can work as can fogging but can be expensive. There is also a new fan repellent with the active ingredient metofluthrin (maybe called Sumi-one) but again I do not know if this is available in Australia. Lastly, there is Permethrin treated clothing that is available in many parts of the world...put after many washings the insecticidal activity will decline as the active is washed away (usually 20 washings or so)...but some folks have some skin sensitivity to the clothing so layers are needed.

But the best in my opinion is to attack the problem at the standing water source...

As a disclaimer, I work for a company that makes products in all the above categories...including mosquito insecticide treated netting (for tents and bed nets)...

Good Luck!

[White Rabbit]

Get some dry ice and create a mozzie trap near you. Not very practical but it works.

[209herschel]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all the advice. I've just thought that the bird bath, about 2m from when I'm at the scope in the yard, is a likely culprit!

Cheers.