Attack of the 50 foot Mosquito

Thanks for the laugh. I needed one. Not that it's very funny. Just the way you told it was. I know what you mean. I'm on STT and it's just as bad. They are getting into my house and I can't figure out from where. I wake up in the morning covered in bites and scratching like crazy. The rain is good for many things ( most importantly the cisterns) but bad as far as the mosquitos. Have a happy day everyone and use that repellent before you go out or sit at home in my case.

the little bastards breed in my drains . I keep the stoppers in the sinks closed and a plastic lid on the shower drain and put a bit of bleach in the WC and the lid down. They still come but not as many. Yesterday after work I walked around and made sure there was no standing water around, I'll have to do it again with the rain but at least my cistern is almost full and all the plants are magnificent.

Does the monthly fumigation have any effect on mosquitoes?

Nope.

In the great ecological network that links all life forms there must be some important use for Mosquitoes. But, I recently saw an interview with a researcher who has studied them for over 30 years... even he had not found a use for them and would be happy if they were completely eradicated! In my Virginia back yard I'm sure they live in the Yews, under the deck and amongst the pachysandra and liriope. I know they're not in my water plant containers and small pond because I use the biological attack packets (in the spring I see the larvae... I put in the packets, and after 2 weeks, no more larvae... I do have to repeat after a month or so). The mosquitoes around us seem to be pretty lazy... they'll kind of bump into you (not very stealthy), and when they land, they seem to just rest awhile (maybe trying to remember what they're supposed to do???) before they stab (of course, unfortunately, at my age, they still get the upper hand). Someone needs to develop a systemic that we humans can ingest, so that if the mosquitoes bite us then their next offspring will hate blood, or kill other mosquitoes, or be attracted to concrete.

I'm also getting a lot of flies in my place. Is anyone else having this problem?

greetings

you are all so funny.
i am laffing so much.
we have spoken about the dreaded evils of mosquitos.
let us now reason about the even more dreaded no-see-ums
blah.
the first week i moved to stx,, my body looked like the attack of the invisible no-see-ums.
they bit me EVERYWHERE....constantly and systematically, until i looked as if i had sunburn.
they would not leave me alone.
i even tried to ease the itching by using a comb, most particularly on my legs, which was not a good idea, because scratching drew a bit of blood, and like SHARKS they attacked me again and again.
however...
i was a trooper.
i did not allow the evil creatures to run me off the island.
i survived.
that episode must have made me immune to them, as i never had another problem except one night at the beach before we got the fire going.

guidance
Sis Irijah

Sis Irijah............I too was attacked upon 1st arriving back this summer as well. I think the no see ums are keenly aware of new FRESH blood and until they either drain you or forcefully make you immune ........... high saliva concentration from bites!!!!
And they all seem to forget the immunity thing right after a good rain, they're ravenous.
Spawns of Satan (flies) I thought were left in the states!! Yes having some fly trouble here as well.

EngRMP, I loved the concrete comment. I was laughing so hard I almost choked on my coffee. That was too funny!!!!!!

I'd even settle for giving them a little more of a fighting chance... let's just make them glow in the dark and sound as loud as bees (I want to make sure that blind and deaf folks also get a little sport out of this).

Islandtyme:

That's nothing.........the mosquito is the State Bird of New Jersey.

I'll bring a couple of them down with me this winter (that is if I can fit them into a suitcase).......... and we'll compare (lol).

F.I.

They loved me when I arrived and they love me even more now. I'm even thinking of foregoing the usual deodorant in the morning for "Eau de Deet".

FI.............No Jersey skeeters please!!!! We have plenty although small, they plump up right nice.
Deet in the morning
Deet in the evening
Deet deet deet all the time!!!
My thats a lovely scent you're wearing.......Oh thank you, it's deep woods Off...,.....And yoursL

Maybe Mosquitoes do have some value. Years ago I wondered if the huge amount of aids in Africa were also caused by mosquitoes. It made sense to me. They transmit malaria, dengue, west nile so why not aids. It is a disease that is carried by transmission of blood. I cannot remember who told me this but it was a doctor or scientist. They told me that mosquitoes have an enzyme in their bodies that kill the aids virus. If this is true then why aren't we spending billions of dollars on developing this enzyme to cure the aids virus. So what do you guys think? Do mosquitoes transmit aids or not? If they don't, why don't they? Something to think about.

I've always wondered about the AIDS - Mosquito link, and never looked it up, until now:

http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/aids.htm

Basically:
- mosquitoes digest the virus (as dougtamjj says)... but I think the digestive chemicals would be pretty toxic to us
- any blood that could pass between 2 humans, via the mosquito has an amazingly low chance of having the HIV virus

Yup, yup, yup! ' Skeeters are here in LaGrande Princesse (STX) that hurt when they run into me...yup, yup, yup...icky black house flies that all of a sudden appear like aliens to form crop circles (shaped like STX of course!) on the ceiling when I look up to check on my rather large night-gecko...who, by the way, plays poker late at night apparently with the flies when it thinks I'm not looking! And as if this wasn't enough...how 'bout those REALLY BIG black MILLIPEDES,( no...we won't get to the OTHER ones yet.)..? Anyone else had a recent influx of them lately?
( ...ok...nobody asked...but , if anyone knows my history/curse...yup, yup, YIKES!!...an OH so LOVELY er,...'many-legged/don't-like-to-say-the-name-of-it' AND it's twin AND THEN it's big MOMMA just HAD to join the circus a few hours ago, plus the cat chasing the U-know-what, the dog along for the ride and then....no, I'm NOT kidding...WAPA punks out...and of course everyone else is asleep but me.

So, back to the original question...what are their purposes in life?? I know...to get back at all the naughty little things you've EVER done as a wee child but thought you'd get away with!!:-X

Purpose in their tiny lives are to irritate us........literally!

Oh crap! If they are pay back for all the wrong I've done, then at this rate I'm going to have to live 200 years...and I guess the clock just stops if I move to Greenland. I know, I'll move to Minnesota for a summer... that should take care of all past naughty things!

man thats just wrong moving to Minnesota........temp drops below 76 degrees & I'm frozen!!!

Have you tried using mosquito nets when you sleep? You have to check them for the critters before you get under them, but they work pretty well for me, plus they have that cool "I live in the tropics" look. I stock up on them a Cost U Less.

Ilo

I lived on a small farm in Minnesta for 25 years. It's not far from the truth when they say the mosquito is the Minnesota State Bird.

Lol.............I grew up in Ohio on a farm & the mosquitoes there are big too. In the summer driving at night was like being under missile attack, the spats & bug guts covering your wind shield made it impossible to see. Best part of the country life as a kid was June when the lightning bugs would come out...........millions dancing & lighting up dad's corn fields, playing tag & hide n seek in the dark with our jars full of bugs as lights...........ahhhhhhhh memories!
Need to check into the netting thing too!

Same here in central Ky. Mosquitoes have been terrible all summer, and nothing seems to work. Can't set outside in the evening, lawn work is done at one's own risk and tolerance to the blood sucking devils. The pest problems on STX seem minor compared to what we have here.

No kidding!

Steve

I accidentaly ran onto to a small deterent for the skeeters,incese sticks,nag champ I put them just outside my screen door,helps a little. Also my 5 yr old came home from school one day covered in bites,an itch remedy that is cheap,a dab of toothpaste right on the bite. Pretty sure it's the peppermint.?