Mosquitoes are the absolute worst. They make hanging out in the backyard on a summer evening a nightmare unless one has bathed in bug spray but if you are anything like my family members – sometimes, even bug spray, applied via the label, does not work! How can you have a nice time outside and not get bitten up?!
These nasty little bugs use water for the majority of their life cycle. The eggs are placed in water by a freshly fed female to hatch. The hatched eggs are now larvae that feed on the organic material in the water. These larvae are a huge part of the food chain and many animals feed on them. After 5 days, the larva becomes the pupa which floats to the top of the water and hatch out to full blood suckers in another 2 days. Male mosquitoes feed on nectar from flowers and female mosquitoes feed on humans and animals for blood to produce eggs and the cycle repeats all over again.
Water is where the mosquito spends the majority of their life cycle and is the place to start to get rid of them. Make sure that there is no standing water in your yard; mosquitoes like to deposit their eggs in stagnant water. Ponds need to make sure the filters are clean and the pump is running to prevent it from becoming a birthing pool for your local mosquitoes. Citronella torches are also helpful to keep your yard relatively bug free. There are also some good reviews with mosquito traps being helpful as well. The new traps use a combination of CO2 production, heat and light to attract and trap mosquitoes. I, personally, do not know a ton about them. I am actually very interested to find out if they work. Another option for having a bite free night is to bathe in a mosquito repellent. Products like Off and Cutters do a good job but make sure you reapply as the label requires.
Follow all of these tips and you can have a fun and itch free summer!
The Risk of Ticks