They’re ba-aaa-ck!

Slapping and scratching yet? Get ready, skeeters have returned this year with a vengence – experts are saying that we may be in for the worst mosquito season in five years!

Determined to find ways to to keep these nasty, blood-sucking, itchy, irritating, disease-carrying pests from ruining my family’s summer – I began a search and ended up earning my online mosquito degree.

The following is everything I learned and a whole lot more than I ever cared to know about mosquitoes. Hopefully you’ll find something useful that might help you avoid being eaten alive this summer!

25 Mosquito Facts and Trivia

1. Mosquito fossils date back at least as far as 100 million years ago.
2. More than 3,500 species now inhabit the planet.
3. Mosquitoes live everywhere that’s not permanently frozen.
4. Females, who need blood to produce eggs, are the ones doing ALL the biting.
5. When they bite, they transmit viruses and parasites, making them a prime vector for West Nile virus, encephalitis, Dengue fever, malaria and a host of other diseases.
6. Mosquitoes have poor eyesight but have extremely sensitive thermal receptors on the tip of their antennae to locate blood near the surface of the skin.
7. The average life span of a female mosquito is 3 to 100 days. The male lives 10 to 20 days.
8. One female mosquito may lay 100 to 300 eggs at a time and may average 1,000 to 3,000 offspring during her life span.
9. Mosquito eggs can survive for more than 5 years.
10. All types of mosquitoes need water to complete their life cycle.
11. All mosquitoes goes through 4 separate and distinct stages of development: Egg, Larva, Pupa and Adult.
12. A mosquito develops from egg to adulthood in 4 to 7 days.
13. They don’t like to travel. Most mosquitoes remain within a 1 mile radius of their breeding site. Some, however can fly 20 miles or more.
14. Mosquitoes locate blood-hosts by scent, sight and heat. From 100 feet away (30 meters) mosquitoes can smell your scent, especially the carbon dioxide (CO2) you exhale.
15. There are 100 trillion mosquitoes in the world today, and each one is responsible for about 5 human bites a day
16. When a mosquito bites you, it’s actually injecting its saliva into your skin.
17. Before the female mosquito actually draws your blood, she might probe your skin as many as 20 times, looking for a small blood vessel to nick.
18. It’s the mosquito’s saliva that causes the itching.
19. Mosquitoes are most active between the hours of dusk and dawn.
20. Not all species bite humans; some prefer birds, others prefer horses, and some will even bite frogs and turtles.
21. Mosquitoes don’t whine just to be annoying. The high-pitched sound they make, created by their rapid wing beats (of up to 500 beats per second), helps the males hone in on a mate.
22. A mosquito’s sense of smell is about 10,000 times better than yours and they are able to locate humans because they detect the carbon dioxide given off by us.
23. A mosquito doesn’t actually bite, it stabs – piercing your skin with its long proboscis.
24. A mosquito can drink one-and-a-half times its own weight.
25. Although mosquitoes can carry and spread many dangerous diseases, they cannot transmit AIDS.

11 Ways to Avoid Attracting Mosquitoes:

1. Avoid wearing dark colored clothing. Dark clothes and foliage attract mosquitoes.
2. Avoid eating bananas and other high-potassium foods. Mosquitoes are attracted to the lactic acid your body gives off.
3. Avoid wearing floral or fruity scents and fragrances.
4. Avoid sweating. Mosquitoes are attracted to moist and sweaty armpits.
5. Avoid and eliminate standing water. Dump out all containers, items and objects that collect water to keep mosquitoes from breeding.
6. Avoid and weed-wack tall grass and weeds.
7. Avoid bright lights. Mosquitoes are attracted to incandescent lights. Fluorescent lights are a great alternative.
8. Avoid being outdoors from dusk till dawn – when mosquitoes are most active.
9. Avoid stinky feet. Keep your feet clean and dry. Mosquitoes are attracted to the bacteria found on sweaty, smelly feet.
10. Avoid spazzing-out. If you are in a swarm of mosquitoes, waving your arms around like an idiot actually attracts more mosquitoes.
11. Avoid breathing. Mosquitoes are attracted to the carbon dioxide (CO2) you give off when you breathe.

15 Ways to Repel the Suckers!

1. DEET Repellants. Buy and use spray or oil repellents that contain DEET. DEET is a chemical that blocks insects ability to detect the carbon dioxide we exhale. Because the mosquitoes cannot detect the carbon dioxide, they usually can’t detect us. DEET is not recommended for usage with young children, although it has been shown to be relatively safe with adults when used as directed.
2. Eat garlic. Mosquitoes (and vampires) dislike the natural skin secretion caused by garlic. If you don’t mind like smelling like a Pizza Hut bread stick, a daily dose of 1,500 mg of fresh garlic or a 15 mg capsule will do the trick.
3. Take a daily B-Complex or a 100 mg B1 (Thiamin) vitamin. It omits an odor through your skin pores, not detectable to humans, which grosses-out mosquitoes.
4. Attract bats. Some say that one small, brown bat can catch 600 mosquitoes per hour. Build or buy yourself a bat house.
5. Burn herbs. Throw some sage or rosemary on the coals in your grill whenever you’re grilling outside.
6. Mosquito repelling plants. Grow or buy the kinds of plants that mosquitoes don’t like, such as: Citronella Grass, Catnip, Rosemary, Marigolds, Horsemint, Basil, Ageratum, and Agastache Cana. Place the plants in, near and around all the areas you like to be outside, especially by doors and outside sitting areas.
7. Drink tonic water, with or without gin, vodka or other choices of spirits.
8. Burn Citronella candles. Everyone knows this.
9. Vanilla Extract. Dab Vanilla Extract on your pulse points.
10. Skin So Soft by Avon. Works great at repelling mosquitoes and makes your skin soft.
11. Listerine Mouthwash. Mix 50/50 with water or household vinegar in a spray bottle. Spray it on yourself, doorways, tables, chairs, etc…
12. Mosquito repelling wristband. You can buy these wristbands at most Walmarts and drugstores.
13. Essential oils. Spray, spritz or rub yourself with an essential oil (diluted in water or almond or olive oil) known for repelling insects, like: Citronella, Lemongrass, Lavender, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Thyme, Cajeput, Geranium, Red Cedarwood, Mugwort, Clove Flower Buds, Spearmint, Turmeric Root, Black Walnut, Wormwood and Rosemary.
14. Bounce fabric sheets. Hang a fabric softner sheet from your belt or pocket.
15. Vinegar. If you don’t mind smelling like a pickle, rub vinegar on yourself.

15 Ways to Treat Mosquito Bites

Everyone knows that you’re not suppose to scratch your mosquito bites, but no one can help themselves. So, besides washing your bites with soap and water and applying ice to them, you can try applying some of these things to your bites to help with itching and swelling:

1. Cortizone 10. My mother swears by this stuff!
2. Rubbing alcohol.
3. Baking soda and water. Make it into a paste.
4. Calamine lotion.
5. Benedryl anti-itch spray.
6. Hydrocortison cream
7. Topical anesthetics.
8. Toothpaste.
9. Liquid soap (don’t rub off).
10. Aspirin (moisten with water an rub onto bite).
11. Vicks VaporRub.
12. Witch Hazel.
13. Milk.
14. Crushed onion juice.
15. Hot sauce.

If you know of any other mosquito facts, preventions or bite treatments, please share them by posting a comment!

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