DailyDirt: Keeping Mosquitoes Away...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The Zika virus has highlighted how much some of us hate mosquitoes. These biting insects aren't just annoying. They also spread horrible diseases. Previously, we've mentioned some plans for destroying all mosquitoes, but that's probably not the most environmentally-friendly way to go about preventing the spread of mosquito-borne infections. Also, some people seem to attract more bites than others, but how well do mosquito repellents actually work, anyway? After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
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Filed Under: cdc, ddt, deet, disease, health, ir 3535, mosquitoes, picaridin, pmd, sweetgrass, zika virus


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  1. identicon
    Pixelation, 3 May 2016 @ 6:03pm

    What ever happened?

    I'm still waiting for the mosquito laser to come on line. I think Intellectual Ventures screwed the pooch on this one and needs to give the patent away. So much for the Intellect part.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Mick Hamblen, 3 May 2016 @ 6:17pm

    Keeping mosquitos away

    Mosquitos don't like sulfur (MSM). I take sulfur supplements to keep the bugs away.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Digger, 3 May 2016 @ 7:21pm

    2 other good repellents

    Avon's Skin so soft and pure vanilla extract both work phenomenally well.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    psiuuuuuu (profile), 3 May 2016 @ 9:18pm

    If you can, stop them before they hatch

    Been using the Mosquito Bits/Dunks for a couple years now. They use a bacteria that kills the larvae in the water. Best approach is to get it out there before the first big wave of them hit - less breeding going on the better.

    Been using other natural (but effective!) solutions for other pests - milky spore for Japanese beetles (bacteria kills the grubs in the soil), neem oil as a short lived and natural pesticide for aphid control.

    Unleashed some monster earthworms here though. Hmmm....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    Ninja (profile), 4 May 2016 @ 7:31am

    They are using malathion here to control the mosquitoes. It's almost like setting the crop on fire to control some plague. There are plenty of other approaches that don't involve using some dangerous substance but they would need better environmental practices. Too expensive.

    I've seen some data in this field for São Paulo city and simply increasing green areas and generally lowering temperatures (paint roofs white!) has a big impact on the proliferation of the mosquito because it increases the length of its reproductive cycle.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 4 May 2016 @ 7:33am

    Thermacell's work shockingly well at keeping mosquito's at bay.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 4 May 2016 @ 10:07am

    Re: 2 other good repellents

    Avon Skin So Soft was one of the products studied in the first link... looks like "phenomenally well" is a bit less effective than DEET both after initial application and 4hrs later?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Stacy Z, 4 Aug 2016 @ 12:24pm

    I agree with "psiuuuu" that mosquito dunks work well to prevent larva from hatching. A propane mosquito trap works really well to eliminate a populations as well.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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