Mild winter plus plenty of rain. They rely upon standing water to lay their eggs and for the larvae to grow. The whole process of egg to adult can take only 5-12 days and the current warm weather will have encouraged them into action. It's only the female ones that need blood -as a provider of nutrients for the eggs they are carrying. The males are quite happy with plants as a source of food. Mosquitoes are also attracted to carbon dioxide and lactic acid that we release when we breathe and sweat. (That's why I always keep Mrs cafcfan close to hand - she's good mosquito bait!) They are not brilliant flyers - if it's too windy not only is the carbon dioxide and lactic acid dispersed, so they can't find you because they can't smell you, but they can only fly in the same direction as the wind if it's stronger than about 3mph.
Rainwater is still lying quite deep in some of our marshland areas, so we've got quite a few mozzies as well and they seem to be unusually aggressive, so I did wonder if a new species had been blown over the channel to us from France. I started taking Vit B tablets a month ago in readiness for our first stint in France, so hopefully not too many bites for me. I've never heard about Vit C, only Vit B as the 'yeasty' smell that the body gives off apparently deters them. It has undoubtedly helped me but when things get really zzzzzzzzzzzzeeeeeeeee, I have to use DEET. Hubby gets lots more bites now so that's my good news :-)
We used to call them gnats when I was a kid. There do seem to be more of them. In laws live near marshes in Essex and whenever we go there we all get bitten loads.
Got bitten on the back of the neck the other night while walking the dog, its weird they bite everyone but some have a reaction and some dont, bloody hate them with a passion as ive spent many hot summer night chasing them around by bedroom at 3 o clock in the morning.
I used to suffer from mozzie bites a fair amount, but spending so much time in Asia has toughened me up. I do sometimes get bites that flare up but then disappear within an hour as the body fights back.
What I have experienced twice and is far more unpleasant is brushing a fruit tree in Asia that is full of big red ants. Having a hundred or so of those biting away at you is no fun.
What I have experienced twice and is far more unpleasant is brushing a fruit tree in Asia that is full of big red ants. Having a hundred or so of those biting away at you is no fun.
Jeez... That sounds like a scene from a horror film...
I used to suffer from mozzie bites a fair amount, but spending so much time in Asia has toughened me up. I do sometimes get bites that flare up but then disappear within an hour as the body fights back.
What I have experienced twice and is far more unpleasant is brushing a fruit tree in Asia that is full of big red ants. Having a hundred or so of those biting away at you is no fun.
The itch and inflammation are due to your immune system reacting to the coagulant the mosquito injects into the wound to stop you bleeding (it's bad form for a parasite to kill the host so if you bleed to death it wouldn't be able to feed on you anymore; and, yes, I know a human isn't going to bleed to death from one mozzie bite but that's the principal behind it). So, presumably, your immune system is primed to react with overpowering effect, hence it flares up but then goes away quickly.
We used to call them gnats when I was a kid. There do seem to be more of them. In laws live near marshes in Essex and whenever we go there we all get bitten loads.
The Essex marshes have the mosquito that carries malaria in other parts of the world. Fortunately, the Essex ones aren't infected with it.
It's not addressing the 'here' of the original question, but areas which up to now have been too cold for the malaria mosquito are now getting infested with it, for example Nairobi in Kenya. Of course, whether this is due to man-made global warming or not is an argument for a different time and place, but the scientific community is generally in agreement that it is.
I used to suffer from mozzie bites a fair amount, but spending so much time in Asia has toughened me up. I do sometimes get bites that flare up but then disappear within an hour as the body fights back.
What I have experienced twice and is far more unpleasant is brushing a fruit tree in Asia that is full of big red ants. Having a hundred or so of those biting away at you is no fun.
The itch and inflammation are due to your immune system reacting to the coagulant the mosquito injects into the wound to stop you bleeding (it's bad form for a parasite to kill the host so if you bleed to death it wouldn't be able to feed on you anymore; and, yes, I know a human isn't going to bleed to death from one mozzie bite but that's the principal behind it). So, presumably, your immune system is primed to react with overpowering effect, hence it flares up but then goes away quickly.
Not quite. The mosquito drinks the blood, so coagulation would be counter-productive. In fact it injects an anticoagulant to keep the blood flowing until it withdraws from the blood vessel. Yum Yum.
Here's a full and gruesome explanation (look away now if you are squeamish!) of the process:
Once they land, they have chemical receptors that find a likely spot to go drilling for blood by detecting heat and chemicals on our skin. They also have mechanoreceptors that push ever so gently against the skin to detect differences in resistance that indicate arterioles and venules in certain spots. Then the mouth goes to work. It’s a complex seven-piece set of devices for doing a variety of jobs. One of those parts is a tube that allows the mosquito to secrete its saliva on you. It’s gross, but remarkable. That saliva contains a drug that acts like an anaesthetic. The little buggers numb us out so we don’t know they’re probing around in our skin! Meanwhile, the other parts begin an intricate pattern of coordinated movements that let them hack into your flesh. The mandibles, on the edges, are serrated on the tip, like tiny steak knives, to carve their way in. Just below the surface, the whole package of nasty pointy parts bends and takes a 90-degree turn. Then the attack really begins. That set of needle-like parts begins to randomly poke away, anywhere between 12 and 18 times in just several seconds. It’s not actually looking for a venule or arteriole just yet. It’s indiscriminately poking around to try and poke into anything in the area that may bleed. (Which is actually rare in the top layers of skin, where there are few blood vessels.) That tube in the middle of their mouth assembly that does the spitting is actually two straws in one, one inside the other. As they continue to spit out their anaesthetic, the other wider tube in the straw is sucking in samples of fluid to see if it’s hit pay-dirt. Mosquitoes are the only known creatures that can spit and suck at the same time. (Apart from porn stars) If they don’t find blood, they draw their probing mouth parts back a little, not all the way out, and dig into another spot. This process can last up to two minutes, if somehow you remain unaware that the bugs are there. (Only females feed this way, and in fact it’s not for food that they do all this work. The blood carries protein and is passed directly on to the eggs the mother-to-be mosquito is carrying in her abdomen.) If an insect does taste blood, it turns on more powerful pumps in its mouth, increasing the suction on its “drinking” straw. That draws on the tiny cloud of blood that has formed under your skin. The nearest venule or arteriole, even if it’s not the one already wounded, is pulled over to the needlelike tip of the whole apparatus, where it’s impaled. That opens up the hole through which the mosquito starts to drink. (Eeewww!) Then more highly evolved chemistry comes into play. The mosquitoes inject chemicals that act as vasodilators, expanding the blood vessel to increase the flow. They also inject anti-clotting chemicals, to keep the tiny wound from sealing up before they’ve had their fill. Mixed in with these chemicals are parasites that the mosquitoes have picked up while feeding on other animals, often birds. The parasites are only hitching a ride and live in the mosquitoes’ salivary glands, waiting for the bugs to do their thing on its next victim. When the insects squirt their chemical payload into our skin, out come the parasites. That’s how mosquitoes spread disease
The swelling and redness is caused by our own histamines combating these nasty alien substances.
Eat marmite, avoid bananas, use repellent sprays or Avon skin-so-soft woodland fresh. Even then, if they like you, you will still get bitten occasionally. I am one of the lucky ones they don't go for, my missus is the opposite.
I read an interesting thing via Digg the other day about how it won't negatively affect the food chain if we wiped them out, something scientists are capable of doing by making them all male or lose their wings or something.
malay Addick they are weaver ants--------------------the Thais make sure that they are in the fruit trees to keep pests away , sometimes running bamboo poles from tree to tree. few years back on a distant relatives rubber plantation(mangos are a secondary crop) the extended family went out to "harvest " the ants eggs. They put a huge dustbin lid on floor wack the nests with a pole and when its contents hit the dustbin lid as its red hot from the sun the ants feck off leaving the eggs--------intersting to see except when your from Sarf London and never seen this before it dosnt occur to you "where the feck have all the ants gone?" untill your being stung by hundreds of the bastards---and the do fecking sting.
malay Addick they are weaver ants--------------------the Thais make sure that they are in the fruit trees to keep pests away , sometimes running bamboo poles from tree to tree. few years back on a distant relatives rubber plantation(mangos are a secondary crop) the extended family went out to "harvest " the ants eggs. They put a huge dustbin lid on floor wack the nests with a pole and when its contents hit the dustbin lid as its red hot from the sun the ants feck off leaving the eggs--------intersting to see except when your from Sarf London and never seen this before it dosnt occur to you "where the feck have all the ants gone?" untill your being stung by hundreds of the bastards---and the do fecking sting.
So, it was all the fault of a distant relative of yours?
Interesting, Goonerhater. I didn't know that. On both occasions, it happened while I was going through jungle and brushed a branch. Of course, when you are hot and sweaty they stick to you and there's always a few that manage to escape frantic brushing off. They are nasty wotsits as you say.
All sorts of bittey bastards here......I'm one of the unlucky ones who gets bitten to death by Mozzies. I use Deet, but if you aren't smothered in it, then they will still find an uncoated spot. Talking to a Pharmacist, she said that we all get bitten but those with varying degrees of allergies tend to react more to the bites. Often I'll go to bed and wake up with up to 20 bites, the Mrs laying next to me will ocassionally get one, I've even been waking up with bites on the palms of my hands.
Fire Ants......to be given a very wide birth, imagine an Ant approaching 10mm long and on steroids and you get the picture.
A new on recently sampling my yummy blood were Chiggers or Itchy Scrub Mites.......invisible, they work there way to the warmest moist parts, under the arms, your crotch areas and backside where they inject you with a pain killer(bless) and then suck your blood leaving you none the wiser for up to 24 hours.....at which point they start to itch like nothing you have ever experienced.....I had 33 bites under one arm pit alone.....a good couple of hundred all told.....and don't forget they are invisible to the naked eye.....you have to bath in hot water regularly and scrub all your infected areas with a scrubbing brush to ensure all the mites are detached from your body. Your clothes have to be washed in very hot soapy water to make sure none are lurking in the seams. The bites are unreal.....I've read of a few people using all sorts if weird concoctions, however I read a forum here and the best anti itch cream was and is.....don't laugh.....Vagisil......rub that in and within an hour the relief is amazing. The bites are quite small but very dark red and very hard and take a few weeks to disappear. The bugs themselves live in leafy gardens and are at their worst in warm wet areas....today it was pissing down and 28c.....ideal for these nightmare mites. Needless to say, at the moment I've been smothering myself in Deet.....Bushman strength and fortunately we have only had the one encounter......trust me that was enough.
We stayed in a smart hotel in Valencia for two nights. I got covered in bed bug bites. My wife and son didn't have one bite between them. When we got home we had to go through ever piece of luggage and clothing with a fine tooth come before bringing in to the house. What a pain, literally and figuratively.
All sorts of bittey bastards here......I'm one of the unlucky ones who gets bitten to death by Mozzies. I use Deet, but if you aren't smothered in it, then they will still find an uncoated spot. Talking to a Pharmacist, she said that we all get bitten but those with varying degrees of allergies tend to react more to the bites. Often I'll go to bed and wake up with up to 20 bites, the Mrs laying next to me will ocassionally get one, I've even been waking up with bites on the palms of my hands.
Comments
It's only the female ones that need blood -as a provider of nutrients for the eggs they are carrying. The males are quite happy with plants as a source of food.
Mosquitoes are also attracted to carbon dioxide and lactic acid that we release when we breathe and sweat. (That's why I always keep Mrs cafcfan close to hand - she's good mosquito bait!)
They are not brilliant flyers - if it's too windy not only is the carbon dioxide and lactic acid dispersed, so they can't find you because they can't smell you, but they can only fly in the same direction as the wind if it's stronger than about 3mph.
What I have experienced twice and is far more unpleasant is brushing a fruit tree in Asia that is full of big red ants. Having a hundred or so of those biting away at you is no fun.
Sounds like I was taking the wrong vitamin. What a tool.
Here's a full and gruesome explanation (look away now if you are squeamish!) of the process:
Once they land, they have chemical receptors that find a likely spot to go drilling for blood by detecting heat and chemicals on our skin. They also have mechanoreceptors that push ever so gently against the skin to detect differences in resistance that indicate arterioles and venules in certain spots.
Then the mouth goes to work. It’s a complex seven-piece set of devices for doing a variety of jobs. One of those parts is a tube that allows the mosquito to secrete its saliva on you. It’s gross, but remarkable. That saliva contains a drug that acts like an anaesthetic. The little buggers numb us out so we don’t know they’re probing around in our skin!
Meanwhile, the other parts begin an intricate pattern of coordinated movements that let them hack into your flesh. The mandibles, on the edges, are serrated on the tip, like tiny steak knives, to carve their way in. Just below the surface, the whole package of nasty pointy parts bends and takes a 90-degree turn. Then the attack really begins.
That set of needle-like parts begins to randomly poke away, anywhere between 12 and 18 times in just several seconds. It’s not actually looking for a venule or arteriole just yet. It’s indiscriminately poking around to try and poke into anything in the area that may bleed. (Which is actually rare in the top layers of skin, where there are few blood vessels.)
That tube in the middle of their mouth assembly that does the spitting is actually two straws in one, one inside the other. As they continue to spit out their anaesthetic, the other wider tube in the straw is sucking in samples of fluid to see if it’s hit pay-dirt. Mosquitoes are the only known creatures that can spit and suck at the same time. (Apart from porn stars)
If they don’t find blood, they draw their probing mouth parts back a little, not all the way out, and dig into another spot. This process can last up to two minutes, if somehow you remain unaware that the bugs are there. (Only females feed this way, and in fact it’s not for food that they do all this work. The blood carries protein and is passed directly on to the eggs the mother-to-be mosquito is carrying in her abdomen.)
If an insect does taste blood, it turns on more powerful pumps in its mouth, increasing the suction on its “drinking” straw. That draws on the tiny cloud of blood that has formed under your skin. The nearest venule or arteriole, even if it’s not the one already wounded, is pulled over to the needlelike tip of the whole apparatus, where it’s impaled. That opens up the hole through which the mosquito starts to drink. (Eeewww!)
Then more highly evolved chemistry comes into play. The mosquitoes inject chemicals that act as vasodilators, expanding the blood vessel to increase the flow. They also inject anti-clotting chemicals, to keep the tiny wound from sealing up before they’ve had their fill.
Mixed in with these chemicals are parasites that the mosquitoes have picked up while feeding on other animals, often birds. The parasites are only hitching a ride and live in the mosquitoes’ salivary glands, waiting for the bugs to do their thing on its next victim. When the insects squirt their chemical payload into our skin, out come the parasites. That’s how mosquitoes spread disease
The swelling and redness is caused by our own histamines combating these nasty alien substances.
Oh here it is: http://www.geek.com/science/geek-answers-would-it-really-be-so-bad-if-we-killed-all-the-mosquitoes-1583955/
Mossies hate the odour of both.
Source? 8 month trials with the British Army in the jungle.
Interesting, Goonerhater. I didn't know that. On both occasions, it happened while I was going through jungle and brushed a branch. Of course, when you are hot and sweaty they stick to you and there's always a few that manage to escape frantic brushing off. They are nasty wotsits as you say.
Fire Ants......to be given a very wide birth, imagine an Ant approaching 10mm long and on steroids and you get the picture.
A new on recently sampling my yummy blood were Chiggers or Itchy Scrub Mites.......invisible, they work there way to the warmest moist parts, under the arms, your crotch areas and backside where they inject you with a pain killer(bless) and then suck your blood leaving you none the wiser for up to 24 hours.....at which point they start to itch like nothing you have ever experienced.....I had 33 bites under one arm pit alone.....a good couple of hundred all told.....and don't forget they are invisible to the naked eye.....you have to bath in hot water regularly and scrub all your infected areas with a scrubbing brush to ensure all the mites are detached from your body. Your clothes have to be washed in very hot soapy water to make sure none are lurking in the seams. The bites are unreal.....I've read of a few people using all sorts if weird concoctions, however I read a forum here and the best anti itch cream was and is.....don't laugh.....Vagisil......rub that in and within an hour the relief is amazing. The bites are quite small but very dark red and very hard and take a few weeks to disappear. The bugs themselves live in leafy gardens and are at their worst in warm wet areas....today it was pissing down and 28c.....ideal for these nightmare mites.
Needless to say, at the moment I've been smothering myself in Deet.....Bushman strength and fortunately we have only had the one encounter......trust me that was enough.