Carol4775

What sort of problem are these little horrors, where and when are they worse?

MikeJ

In our area they start getting a problem in late summer into early autumn - although they can be around as soon as the weather starts warming up.
They breed in still or stagnant water (even the water in discarded tyre carcasses). So anywhere near a miasmas may be a problem area. Empty any pots or buckets around the outside of the house,

They are most active in the evenings. The females are the ones that sting as they feed on mammal blood to nourish their eggs. They are attracted by the CO2 that mammals exhale. The females are silent - it is the males which buzz and don't sting so if you hear a mozzie you are safe, if you don't then watch out.

There are many proprietary anti-mosquitos remedies - we were advised that Haleys was the best by the local farmacia. Anything high in DEET should be effective (although you should do an allergy test before using as the side effects can be nasty). Remember to give a good spraying before you go out in the evening and don't linger on the terrace to watch the sunset if you haven't sprayed. A good tip is to spray the trouser/sleeve bottoms to provide a longer lasting protection.

Also, it is well worth investing in mozzie nets at windows and doors and a good mozzie spray to deal with those which evade your efforts.

If you follow the advice then you should not have too much of a problem with the little blighters.

davidinspain

Net is best.
http://beyondpesticides.org/mosquito...fectsMosqP.pdf

MikeJ

Not very helpful or practical unless you are a bio-chemist with a penchant for reading the small print on mozzie sprays
And it doesn't address any of the questions posed by the OP

Rosemary

Many people say that Avon Skin S Soft lotion keeps them at bay.

Rosemary

davidinspain

Your post just about covered the OP's question I was just pointing out that the modern fad of spraying everything that moves has it's downside.........just trying to be helpful
BTW if the OP is in the UK, Ikea nets are far cheaper than anything you can buy in Spain.

VFR

Apparently DDT was the best cure for mossies (killed them all) but vested interests thought it best to ban it, so we now have a mossie problem again (so I have read)

time4tea

Would help if you told us what area you're interested in, Spain is a huge country with many different types of habitat. I currently live in the Costa Del Sol and on the coast at least, haven't had any real hassle from them. However, I used to live on the East coast in Catalonia and they were horrific there!

The basic rule of thumb is if you are near any kind of fresh water, youll find loads, so rivers, lakes and especially areas that use a lot of irrigation like rice fields will have tons of the little blighters.

MikeJ

DDT was one of the first great environmental disasters - in fact it could be said to have started the environmental protest industry. It was highly effective as an insecticide but had very unfortunate side effects which were amplified by the fact that it did not biodegrade and accumulated up the food chain until very high doses appeared in predator animals and killed them off in droves.
I don't think you could say that vested interests (who for example?) killed it off, rather a sense of self preservation of the human species!

snikpoh

If the water is free running, then you won't have a problem. It's really only stagnant water that is an issue.

We live right next to a very small river (stream really), but it flows fast and we never have a problem.

time4tea

True, they do need still water to lay their eggs in and to hatch from so a running stream is not a good habitat for them. However, where there is a stream or river, there is a much higher chance of a still pool nearby, a blocked drainage channel, ditch, etc. which they will find ideal, that's why I mentioned rivers.

Carol4775

Thanks for all your help

angiescarr

We built our own house and have a very careful policy on nets. Nets on all the open-able windows which reduces the numbers that get in the house to 'very few' and an extra large net over the bed. We use the Ikea one which is actually intended for going round a Patio set. This reduces the irritating flapping in the face and being ineffective if it touches your body...when the mozzies can just bite you through it. Once you've done all that you only have to worry about sitting out with friends on the patio. I use those Spirals and lemon candles for that Plus (anyone remember bil?) Bil gave me a lemon scented Geraneum I grow them outside my lower and upper back doors and they seem to reduce numbers too.

MikeJ

Whilst the citronella candles do work somewhat - I remember reading about an improved electronic zapper which exhaled small quantities of CO2 to attract the mozzies more than to humans. I can't find the article now but it sounds like just the ticket for a nip free patio experience

angiescarr

Yep. You do it if you want to. I rather think you'd be better putting it. And your Cockroach attractants and your Moth hormone strip in your neighbours garden or better still...in the next town