Mosquitoes fly among us

Rule no. 1: know them to prevent them!

When we think about mosquitoes, their annoying buzzing sound comes to mind, keeping us awake in the darkness of our bedrooms. Or, even more irritating, the itchiness of their bites.

But if we ask those who truly know all there is to know about mosquitoes, we’ll discover lots of other interesting facts which will help us better understand their behaviour. And, while no one will ever really be a fan of these pesky little insects, at least we can use our knowledge to prevent or even eliminate them from our lives and gardens once and for all.

Can a horde of 65 trillion mosquitoes ever be beaten?

If you think the number in the title is impressive, be warned: the worst is yet to come.

But before estimating the number of mosquitoes buzzing around, let’s start with the positives.

Why aren’t there mosquitoes in winter?

First of all, mosquitoes are a problem for just a few months a year. In winter, they go into a sort of hibernation called ‘diapause’.
That state is a spontaneous shutting down of the organism which essentially makes them inactive, to the extent that, during this time, they don’t move and they don’t eat. It can last up to six months, thereby ensuring they live through seasonal cold weather.

Why do mosquitoes suck blood?

Another positive thing about mosquitoes is that they have a short life cycle. They hatch, grow and die in just a few weeks.
Plus, not all mosquitoes cause itchy bites. Male mosquitoes actually don’t bite at all and get all their nourishment from plants. Though the buzz of their quickly beating wings is still quite annoying.

What we should be most concerned about, however, is the female mosquito, which, in addition to buzzing, is also responsible for the much-hated bites which irritate human skin.

Female mosquitoes have a special mouth part that acts like a hypodermic needle. Once past the barrier of our skin, this sort of micro-proboscis worms its way along, in search of a capillary from which to suck blood, the food of female mosquitoes and their offspring.

Human blood is used in the reproductive cycle of mosquitoes because it is rich in protein and thus ideal for the proper development of their eggs.

And this is the exact moment in which the mosquito army begins to grow exponentially. Just think: a single female mosquito can produce up to 300 eggs at a time and she can reproduce again only 10 days later. Mosquitoes born as such are already ‘fertile’ and ready to reproduce.

That means that in the 3 central summer months, over 65 trillion mosquitoes will be born. You read that right: trillion. All of them originally coming from one single female mosquito.

The worst is yet to come, as we mentioned above, and it’s easy to guess what that means: there isn’t just one ‘original’ mosquito but many, each one waiting to unleash future generations. That of course only multiplies the number, again and again.

So, the question in the title is legitimate: can such a mosquito army ever be beaten? The answer, unfortunately, is an inescapable ‘no’.

But, at this point, we can start talking about the positives again, because there are different systems to abate or eliminate the problem, at least in a localized manner, as we’ll see. And they all arise from a more in-depth understanding of mosquitoes and their weak points.

What are mosquitoes attracted to? Spoiler alert: it isn't the smell of blood

Understanding what attracts mosquitoes is a good starting point if we want to implement the right countermeasures. Except that it still isn’t entirely clear what exactly a mosquito finds ‘palatable’ about one person instead of another.

What we do know is that mosquitoes use three types of stimuli:

• Visual
• Thermal
• Olfactory

Olfactory signals (smells, essentially) which are released by the body as by-products of metabolism and detected in human breath seem to be the most important when it comes to choosing their ‘prey’. In particular, carbon dioxide and lactic acid are the two elements which attract mosquitoes the most.

Carbon dioxide, released via the breath or the skin, is detected by mosquitoes at distances of up to 36 meters. When near the body to be fed upon, however, other factors come into play, such as body temperature and skin hydration.

One of the reasons why mosquitoes prefer to bite certain parts of the body (e.g., the head and feet) over others is the skin’s temperature, in addition to the position of blood vessels.

These preferences are shared by all types of mosquitoes, but digging deep into their behaviour reveals different habits and characteristics for each species. It thus becomes important to know how many species of mosquito exist in Italy, what they are, and where they prefer to live.

Country mosquito, city mosquito: characteristics of the three main Italian species

There are about 70 different mosquito species in Italy and each one has its own set of characteristics and habits. Things that distinguish them are their colouring, where they proliferate, the time of day they’re active and how sedentary they are.

Considering these many variables, it thus becomes necessary to know which type of mosquito you are dealing with before you can adopt the right countermeasures. Below we discuss and compare the three most bothersome and common species.

Common house mosquito

The scientific name of the mosquito species which has always inhabited Italy is Culex pipiens.

Light brown in colour, it prefers dawn and dusk as its feeding times, to the degree that people often hear it buzzing around in their bedroom.

This species doesn’t travel far and it is very common in cities, where small puddles of water, called mini-hotspots, make it possible for them to breed.

Rice paddy mosquito

Ochlerotatus caspius is a type of mosquito that comes from afar. Able to fly up to 20 km, it infests large areas and appears mostly in the evening, disappearing at night.

Brown with faint stripes, it’s a nightmare for those who live near floodplains and wetlands, the ideal habitat for breeding and hiding in vegetation during the day.

In other words, if you live in the countryside, you’ll probably have to deal with this type of mosquito.

Tiger mosquito

You’ve surely heard this mosquito described as one of the most aggressive species. And indeed, Aedes albopictus, as it’s known in the scientific community, lives up to its reputation.

Black with white stripes, even its appearance is intimidating, while the insistence with which it bites (especially ankles and calves, as it flies low to the ground) and the allergic reactions it produces in humans are its most annoying qualities.

On the positive side, it doesn’t love enclosed spaces (it is rarely seen in houses) and it’s a lazy flier (maximum 200 m), characteristics which make it possible in some cases to confine the infested area.

Since its arrival in Italy, local sensitivity to the mosquito problem has increased, especially in cities, where small collections of stagnant water, such as manholes and potted plant trays, are perfect for its proliferation. This is particularly true in parks and gardens, where tall grasses, hedges and shrubs and cooler, shady environments offer it refuge.

Know, prevent and eliminate: the tiger mosquito

As we said, knowing your enemy is essential to adopting the right countermeasures. Let’s take the tiger mosquito as an example and look at how the information we have can help us eliminate the problem and (perhaps most importantly) also prevent it.

In addition to that which we already know from the previous section, we should mention that this mosquito is not only a bothersome enemy that’s particularly aggressive to humans, but also dangerous in that it can be a carrier of grave tropical diseases such as Dengue Fever and Chikungunya.

Although this information only helps us in terms of raising awareness about their danger instead of actual prevention, the fact that tiger mosquitoes live in a radius of a few meters from the place they lay their eggs gives us a secret weapon against them.

Their limited tendency to migrate from one area to another makes it easier to eliminate the problem from a garden or terrace altogether. As soon as an entire area affected by tiger mosquitoes is cleared of them, there will be little chance of a new colony replenishing its ranks in the same place.

And we say “little chance” because there is always the (quite limited) possibility that intense winds will bring mosquitoes from another colony, even multiple km away, to the very place they had been eliminated from. This theory is confirmed by other relevant information about tiger mosquitoes: they tend to spread in clusters.

Their colonies begin in one zone and expand a little at a time, but remain in the surrounding dozens of meters until a few of them are carried far away. Once they arrive in their new home, they lay eggs and create another cluster.

How to use what we know to get rid of mosquitoes

A good strategy for all city mosquitoes which love a more sedentary lifestyle and which live near the stagnant water where they lay their eggs, not just tiger mosquitoes, is based on three factors:

• Larva prevention: eliminating every tiny superfluous micro-hotspot of water from your garden or terrace is the first step to controlling infestation. As an alternative, you can regularly administer anti-larva effervescent tablets, which come in extremely specific biological formulas which are safe for humans and pets.
• Indoor/outdoor barriers: another way to protect from mosquitoes is to take targeted action to kill adult mosquitoes, capable of creating a real barrier to the outside world.
• DAZ System mosquito control systems: installing automated fumigators helps interrupt the life cycle of these insects. Mosquito elimination treatments can be carried out, to optimal results. Programming the control unit to repeat the misting operation twice a day for just 1 minute each time, you can easily go back to enjoying your garden without releasing large quantities of insecticide in the area. What matters is constant spraying, each and every day, requiring just 1/100th of the amount used by a classic fumigator.

DAZ System: say goodbye to mosquitoes once and for all!

At this point, all that’s left to do is to find out which type of mosquito you’re dealing with and adopt the right countermeasures.

Contact DAZ System and request a professional consultation: we’ll help you to once again enjoy your garden, terrace, swimming pool and all the other outdoor spaces which have become impossible to use due to intolerable insects.

DAZ System: problem solved!