How to Get Rid of Mosquitoes For Good

Where and How to Control Mosquitoes

Through mosquito control operations, it is possible to get rid of mosquitoes specifically in:

o Homes
o Parks and recreational areas
o Livestock and poultry farms
o In traditionally mosquito-infested regions like hills or tourist spots

The best and most effective mosquito control measure is to make use of a mosquito repellent. There are numerous types of mosquito repellents. You can choose to use any repellent of your choice. Rather the main aim of using a mosquito repellent is to keep away mosquitoes.

Mosquito repellents types

Few mosquito repellents make use of synthetic chemicals while some others make use of natural extracts. Therefore, repellents are available in an array of lotions, creams, sprays, coils, and incense sticks. Some are available in the form of nets, electric mats, insect zappers, and ultrasonic devices. You can choose the mosquito repellent that best suits you and your convenience and proves to be an effective mosquito control measure.

The most important ingredient in any mosquito repellent is DEET. This effective chemical repels mosquitoes. Other ingredients that cause similar repulsive action include oil extracts from citronella, catnip plant, Nepetalactone, and eucalyptus oil extract. Different mosquito repellents contain either one of these ingredients or a combination of few of them. Usually, these repulsive ingredients are best used externally on skin or on clothing as mosquito control measure.

Another effective mosquito control measure is to keep air in motion, within either the room or outdoors. Making use of fan to keep air circulating within a room can act as a mosquito repellent to a certain extent. Mosquitoes cannot tolerate moving air. If outdoors, fanning yourself while moving around can keep away mosquitoes.

Natural Ways to Keep Away Mosquitoes

Although you can use any mosquito repellent as effective mosquito control measure, simple natural remedies can also keep away mosquitoes. These include:

o Restrict use of floral fragrant perfumes, scented sunscreens, perfumed hair products, and floral fragrances from dryer sheets and fabric softeners.

o Excessive consumption of high-potassium foods and salty foods causes release of more lactic acid from your body. This attracts mosquitoes. Reducing intake of such foods can make you less prone to mosquito bites.

o Prolonged and excessive exercises cause greater transpiration of carbon dioxide from your body. It is similar in case of a burning candle or some other source of fire. High levels of carbon dioxide attract mosquitoes.

o Do not dress in dark-colored clothing, as they are potential attractants for mosquitoes.

o Humid atmosphere as present in wet and damp regions and areas like mud puddles, moist plants, and standing water attract mosquitoes.

o Specific variety or category of mosquito thrives in cool climates. You can therefore find a higher percentage of such mosquitoes in cool and cold temperatures.

o Spreading crushed leaves of lemon thyme, lemongrass, lemon balm, wormwood, and Pelargonium can prove to be a natural mosquito repellent.

o Consumption of lots of garlic can prove to be a natural mosquito repellent as the smell of garlic emanates from your skin pores and wards of mosquitoes.

Visit our site to learn more about insect control and find out more about natural insect repellent.

Insect Bites Remedies

Parents, especially mothers would have their own ways of protecting their children against any possible danger; be it inside or outside the house. And with the frequently changing weather, there are so many threats to children's health. And among the factors that are posting danger to children insect bites prove to be one of the most prevalent. Insect bites may be done by several pests and insects that are feeding on humans' blood. These insects are very attracted to children, especially to infants due to their sweet scent and pure blood. Parents should watch out for the following insects and the dangerous illnesses they can incur among kids by just touching and biting their skins.

a. Mosquito

These insects normally inhabits in dark and cold places. That is why they are found to be lurking and flying under the table, in small crevices, empty and wet drums and bottles, and many other locations. They usually bite at night but there are types of mosquitoes who are attacking at day time and they are the Asian Tiger Mosquito. But among different types of mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti served to be the dreaded one because it is the one that can transmit dengue or the yellow fever. They can easily multiply in stagnant water, especially if kept in a dark or dim place.

The best preventive solution against any type of mosquitoes is cleanliness. Always put cover to all containers with water. Dispose old tires because it is also another nesting place for them. Schedule a regular fumigation paired with anti-mosquito aerosol sprays for more intensive action. As for your children, let them put on insect repellents every once in a while. There are available insect repellents in the market that are made of the Neem plant which is a natural insect repellent. It may be used for younger babies and infants.

b. Cockroach

Going through ancient history, cockroaches have already started sprawling and crawling around even before anyone of us has been born. It is said to be the last one standing after the nuclear bombings that killed millions of people. So, you can only imagine how many cockroaches there are now all over the world. You can see them in dirty places most of the time such as canals, sewers, and garbage bins. Just like any other insects, cockroaches can bite human skins. And once you have been bitten, the bite will leave a reddish mark that will gradually become swollen in a few minutes. The bite mark is usually a bit hard and warm. Cockroach bites are slower to heal than mosquito bites. It could even leave a dark mark once it finally heals. If kids are bitten, bites located near the face and neck area can be very fatal. Each cockroach bite is filled with poisonous substances that cause redness and swelling. The poison may spread easily in the sensitive areas of the face and neck. It can lead to suffocation, blood infection, and ultimately, death.

Insect repellents cannot protect your children from cockroaches. There are available home remedies in the market such as aerosol sprays, chalk markers, sticky traps, and many more. But the most effective prevention would be cleaning all places inside the house. And never leave any food crumbs or leftover foods in any part of the house.

c. Bed Bugs

These little critters resemble cockroaches but they are very small, you can only touch them through the tip of your finger. Bed bugs usually take comfort in the small crevices and holes through your furniture including your beds, especially if they are already old and worn out. They love to stay in dark and skimpy places. They attack in the night when the temperature is already cold. You can hardly feel them because of their small size. They only feed once or twice a month, but once they do, they really see to it that they are satisfied. It means they can bite you several times in one night. So, when you see small reddish marks on your skin that are close from each other, they have feasted on you as their food for the night which served as their breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner. These insects can reproduce so fast. If you see one at a certain time, surely, you have a bunch of them in your mattress. Their bites are very itchy and can get swollen but not as big as that of with cockroaches.

Bed bugs are hard to eliminate if you are going to do it by yourself. There are pest busters that offer pest control services which include bed bugs. Bed bugs control and elimination will take a day or two if the infestation is already worst. Some may require you to buy new furniture and renovate certain parts of the house.

If you have troubling cases of these insects in your house, do your best to eliminate them before they get to your family. Remember, a simple bite contains thousands and millions of toxins and poisonous chemicals that can be harmful to your child. And in all of these pest cases, the main solution and prevention would be CLEANLINESS.

Natural Insect Repellents - Safe and Effective

Insect repellent sprays are applied to the skin and clothing to discourage insects from landing on that surface. The use of repellents can help prevent and control outbreaks of insect-borne diseases. Many insects carry and spread diseases such as West Nile fever, Lyme disease, bubonic plague, and others. Some repellents are very effective against pests, but contain synthetic ingredients that can be unsafe for humans. Natural insect repellents are highly effective, nontoxic alternatives that do not contain harmful synthetic ingredients.

One of the most common active ingredients found in synthetic insect repellents is DEET (N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide). DEET is a powerful insecticide used in over 400 products. Although DEET is very effective as an insect repellent, its safety record is questionable. When applied directly on the skin, over half of DEET is absorbed into the bloodstream. It can cause side effects such as skin rashes, muscle spasms, nausea, lethargy, and irritability. Severe reactions can cause seizures or death. DEET is a moderate pesticide and studies have shown that it may not be safe for use in and around water sources. Therefore, the health concerns from use of DEET far outweigh its effectiveness against insects.

Natural, safe, and effective alternatives to DEET are available. Insect repellents can be made with organic, all natural ingredients that are not unsafe for humans. These products are made from naturally occurring sources that repel certain insects. Some of these ingredients act as insecticides, while others only repel pests. These natural insect repellents are made primarily from essential oils derived from plant sources. Most natural repellents are just as effective as DEET, and they have a huge advantage because the ingredients are not toxic to humans.

Insect repellents work by using a fragrance that insects naturally avoid. This odor helps to mask the human scent that initially attracts insects. Most natural insect repellents contain the aromatic oil of citronella. Citronella is an essential oil obtained from the leaves of the plant Cymbopogon. Its lemon-like fragrance is pleasant to most people, but offensive to mosquitoes and other insects. Citronella has been approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency as a non-toxic pesticide.

Other aromatic essential oils commonly found in natural insect repellents include lavender, rosemary, peppermint, cedarleaf, lemongrass, eucalyptus, pennyroyal, and bergamot. Research has also shown that neem oil is an effective repellent for mosquitoes. Other volatile plant oils that work well as natural repellents are cinnamon, castor, cedar, clove, geranium, pine, basil, thyme, and garlic. Soybean oil has no direct insect repellent activity, but it is often used as a fixative to extend the shorter duration of action of some essential oils. Products containing multiple natural repellents tend to be more effective for more insects than those containing only a single ingredient.

Most natural repellents contain water in place of alcohol as the carrier base. Water is less volatile and does not evaporate as quickly as alcohol. Water has less dermal absorption, which leaves more repellent on the skin. Water based products will last longer because there is less need to reapply. Also, many people are sensitive to the strong aroma of alcohol, so the water-based products have a more pleasant smell.

The use of insect repellents can help control and prevent outbreaks of insect-borne diseases. Many insects carry and spread diseases such as West Nile fever, Lyme disease, and bubonic plague. Natural, organic insect repellents that do not contain harmful synthetic ingredients are available, and are just as effective. Many repellent products also serve a dual purpose and contain sunscreen to protect the skin from the sun as well as from insects.

Visit our site to learn more about insect control and find out more about natural insect repellent.

How Insect Repellent Works

If you are heading outdoors, you know how aggravating bugs can be. The answer, of course, is to use insect repellent to keep them from biting. Ah, but how does insect repellent actually work?

Insect repellent is used as a catch-all term, but it really covers a subset of repellents based on their active ingredient used to keep the bugs off. There are chemical products based on ingredients such as DEET. There are also natural products using active ingredients such as Citronella and oils such as lemon eucalyptus. The chemical products tend to be toxic to some extent, so repellents with natural active ingredients are generally better for you.

Given the name, most people would assume insect repellent works by repelling mosquitoes, flies and so on. Some do, but some do not. Some insect repellents work by making you smell or taste bad to a bug. Other work by masking your skin odor. The process can be analogized to stealth plane technology. The bug uses its "radar" to identify tasty humans to bite, but you are hidden from the radar by the insect repellent.

If you wear insect repellent, it is important to understand there is a second reason you may get bit. While bugs are attracted to the odor of your skin, they are also attracted to another odor you give off. In this case, we are talking about the carbon dioxide in your breath.

Insect repellents tend to be effective over only short distances. As a result, you may see mosquitoes and other bugs flying fairly closely to you. This does not mean they are biting you, but it can lead to a sensation indicating they are. The best way to determine if you are being bit is to look at the spot where the sensation is occurring. If you are, then put more repellent on!

So, should you walk around lathered in insect repellent all day long? If you are in an area with a high concentration of bugs, then you should. That being said, the biggest risk time tends to be dusk or dawn. This is the feeding time for many bugs, particularly mosquitoes.