Dan
Contributor
Unfortunately, I’m JUST as attractive to mosquitoes as sandflies. CO2 is me.
Same here. My legs were just as bad as yours when I was in Utila.
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Unfortunately, I’m JUST as attractive to mosquitoes as sandflies. CO2 is me.
Yes - this sums it up. Don't think that mosquitos are only active at dusk onwards. Any time of day, particularly in the shady bit under the table. Use mosquito repellent and wear long trousers. Mosquitos punching through clothing? Oh yes, been there, seen it, felt the pain. Use repellent at least 12 inches up your leg from the bottom, and watch out for the back gap, you know - the gap when you sit down that is between the top of your trousers and the bottom of your shirt.The mosquitos that carry malaria and those that carry dengue are different species, with different breeding cycles active at different times of day. Dengue is most likely to be contracted by being bitten during the daytime (along with some of the other maladies not mentioned here like chikungunya), malaria at night. Also consider treated clothing but note that the treatment on the clothing (i.e., permethrin) only works if a mosquito lands then walks over it (more likely with the species that carry malaria) and less likely to work on a mosquito that lands and punches right through (dengue).
Getting bitten in the room.
People think they are safe in their room. But they opened the door when the walked in didn't they? Most ops we have stayed with have been diligent about mosquito nets. But if they are tied up during the day, check that you don't trap insects when you roll them down. The hammock on the patio?
And then there is the inviting, moist, possibly shady environment of the bathroom. Have you ever noticed mosquitos like to lurk down in the toilet pan? Never mind bitten in the room - what about bitten in the bum. Have you ever had that feeling that you are not alone in the shower?
Yes, I may be humourous - but I take it very seriously. Favourite incident, washing in a stream in the middle of the jungle in the middle of the night with kerosene lamps (attracting insects). Only approach was to dance and swipe arms around like something out of a 1960s freak out. Funny, but serious.
Why don't repellent manufacturers make small pocket-size containers, like as small as a free-sample tube that you can carry with you at all times? I fill my own using free-samples containers.
Look for Bushmans repellant from Australia - pocket size roll on and very effective
It is very good stuff...I think people forget we have malaria zones in Australia and our northern islands like the Tiwis. I believe Amazon supplies it pretty much wherever Amazon may roam.