“I’m going to sound like a boring entomologist and suggest what the CDC recommends,” says Louisa Messenger, a medical parasitologist and entomologist who teaches at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “Personal protection,” she says, is your first line of defense, including EPA-approved insect repellent containing 25 percent DEET and wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants treated with an insecticide, “usually Permethrin.
Richard Campbell, founder of adventure travel company 10Adventures, agrees that nothing beats hiding. He and his family spend the summer months deep in the Canadian Rockies, where mosquitoes can get surprisingly vicious. Because they lay eggs near or in water, in the mountains, “you have almost perfect breeding grounds,” with all the lakes, rivers and swampy areas, Campbell says. In some areas, especially just below the tree line near water, he says, “most insecticides are useless.” So the trick is to not leave any skin exposed, especially in the most vulnerable areas. “They love my ankles,” he says, which is why he often wears two pairs of socks.
In Florida’s swamps, protection measures can become even more extreme. Pete Corradino, wildlife biologist and owner of Everglades Day Safari, says tour groups led by his company are encouraged to stock up on DEET repellent and wear hats with mesh to cover the face and neck. Beyond that, it’s a matter of adaptation: Now, Corradino says, “a few mosquito bites for me are something I can tolerate.”
Drain or treat standing water
If you’ve fought mosquitoes, you surely know that even the smallest amount of standing water – where females lay their eggs and babies develop – can harbor the enemy.
Messenger says pool owners should chemically treat water with standard chemicals, including chlorine. When not in use, pools should be maintained and cleaned regularly, because “mosquitoes are much less likely to breed in clean water without any debris,” she says.
People with outdoor planters that collect water “should throw them away or possibly treat them with an insecticide,” although Messenger says to be wary of chemical treatments because they could also impact the health of the plant.
For people with ponds, birdbaths and even puddles on their property, Daniel M. Parker, associate professor of public health at the University of California, Irvine, offers another solution: small fish like guppies and dragonfly larvae are natural predators of mosquitoes. larva. Adding a little to the water will help with population control.
Parker also warns against keeping certain plants in your garden. Varieties such as bromeliads, pitcher plants and certain types of hollow bamboo can hold small areas of water on their leaves or in crevices and therefore provide a preferred habitat for mosquito larvae.
David Price, an entomologist and director of technical services for pest control company Mosquito Joe, says he avoids boxwoods, evergreen shrubs and sunny ligustrum shrubs, all of which can harbor mosquitoes. He advises pruning back any thick bushes in your yard, which provide protection from mosquitoes as well as a possible place to lay their eggs.
Make some dietary changes
Starchy vegetables, salty and spicy foods: all of these can make you more attractive to party bugs. “Mosquitoes aren’t attracted to the food itself,” says Nicole Carpenter, president of Black Pest Prevention in Charlotte, but they can be attracted to changes in body chemistry that result from eating certain things. “For example, spicy foods cause your body to produce more carbon dioxide.” And the carbon dioxide we exhale allows mosquitoes to locate us. “Drinking alcohol, especially beer, also helps release more carbon dioxide,” says Carpenter. Plus, it can make you run a little hotter, and high body temperatures are another factor that can attract mosquitoes, says UNLV’s Messenger.
Letisha Guerrero, founder of Nouveau Lifestyle, a wellness and travel blog, has extensive experience traveling internationally, often to places known for being buggy. Once in Honduras, an allergic reaction to mosquito bites led to hospitalization, so now Guerrero is being hypercautious. She reports that switching from sweet-smelling soaps and lotions to products scented with citronella and citronella has made her less attractive. She says using essential oils like Murphy’s Natural Lemon Eucalyptus Oil Spray and Nantucket Spider for People Original Bug Repellent has helped her keep mosquitoes away.
Messenger says there’s no evidence to support certain scents making you more or less prone to stings. However, “if you apply lotion, it changes the composition of the bacteria on your skin,” and that The process, rather than the scent contained in a certain product, “(can change) how you smell to mosquitoes,” making you more or less a magnet for them.
Plan your time outdoors wisely
Tracy Ellis, a San Diego-based entomologist at FarmSense, an agricultural technology company, avoids exercising outdoors at dusk or dawn. “I try to do my job when I’m not a perfect victim,” she says, noting that mosquitoes have an easier time finding you when you’re “sweaty, dirty and breathing hard.” Even if you’re just going out for a walk on a humid summer evening, Ellis suggests taking a shower first and bringing repellent. She agrees that a product containing DEET works best, but says botanical and all-natural products are still better than nothing.
Corradino, the owner of Everglades Day Safari, reminds that going out at night should really be avoided in super buggy areas like his neighborhood in Fort Myers, Florida. “Once dusk falls, you usually go indoors, because that’s when mosquitoes can become very dangerous,” he says.
Sometimes you just have to let the mosquitoes win.
Stacey Lastoe is a writer in Brooklyn who covers lifestyle topics.