Mosquito Wars!

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
#1

I’m sure many others are in the same boat, trying to keep these suckers out of your home and away from your ears, especially when sleeping. Any tips? Lately my sleep has sucked because these things are torturing me…even if I’m trying to cover most of my head with a fan on me they seem to get through. Not being swarmed or anything but even one a night can mess up my sleep.

I’m living next to a river so for maybe 3 months a year it’s all out armageddon. I’ve taped over holes they can come in from and the bottom of doors with space under them, I lock down my place before dusk, including closing all doors and windows (not just the screens cause they can fly between the two and slip inside) but there are always a handful getting in and making things kind of annoying. Even with electric racket sweeps. Will they also manage to come in through the AC units? This is the only other possible way I can see them slipping in, but I’ve never had actual evidence of them getting in that way. Drains and stove exhaust are also possible but I don’t notice a lot of them in these areas. I suppose they could also be hiding out in plants during the day while my doors/windows are open.

I used to use those chip things you plug in and burn…they make the mosquitos high or something…unfortunately it feels like they give you brain damage/a carcinogen meal as well.

Are there any light tricks to use? Like keeping all lights near access areas off/as low as possible? Or having lights on outside but off inside? Do those light zapper things actually work well with mosquitos? From everything I’ve read, lights don’t affect them much, but thought I’d ask. I guess a bed net is an option but I’d prefer some kind of solution where I keep more out of my place, period.

Signed,
I hate skeets.

#2

There’s your problem right there. Don’t leave your doors/windows open period.

#3

We have a plug in thing that’s just a gel, it doesn’t burn or anything. Maybe you can try one of those, they work fairly well and if it wasn’t for the light I wouldn’t know it was on, so no smell or anything!

Something which works exceedingly well is to get a can of bug spray and spray along the edges of your front door and your screen doors/balcony doors and any windows near plants once a day. No mosquitoes at all since we started doing that, and you don’t really need much. The smell only lingers for a few minutes, if you hate it you can try doing it before you go out.

#4

You could try a bed net. Had one years ago when we lived in Yong He and there were a lot of places (gaps in windows etc) where the little buggers could get in. Takes a little bit of getting used to, but 100% effective.

#5

I used to live in Yonghe as well…my roomie and I were pretty stupid as we had masses of mosquitoes for months before we realized there was a giant gap where the AC unit was placed.

Now it’s only a handful, so a net seems excessive…I guess that’s the only true way to keep em out though. I did move the fan a little closer to the bed last night and that seemed to work…I also sleep with a hoodie on which makes things more comfortable. I will stick my legs and hands out to sacrifice them…the real problem isn’t getting bit a lot, I just really hate getting woken up by one and ruining my sleep.

Gryphon is likely right that some are hiding in my plants…have a couple of big ones. Don’t want to close my balcony doors during the day though as I like to air the place out, plus I have pets that need access.

Saw this last night about how having lavender, peppermint, thyme, lemongrass, ferns, marigolds, catnip and rosemary plants will keep them away as they don’t like the strong odor they emit, not sure if anyone has tried the plant route.

youtube.com/watch?v=aP4sQn7ldLw

Thanks for the feedback chaps.

#6

I found those lamps with electrified grid that zap insect when they get close to be pretty damn effective, provided you buy a big one (skip those lame-ass small one as they sell in some supermarkets).

#7

Bug lamp works for me too. I usually turn on the bug lamp in my bedroom couple hours before I go to sleep. By the time I go to sleep all the mosquitoes are killed by the bug lamp.

#8

There’s your problem right there. Don’t leave your doors/windows open period.[/quote]

Gryphon nailed this one early. There are mosquitos active in the day, just not that many. And leaving doors/windows open just invites them in.
We’ve now got screens on all windows / doors, so we can leave them open but still prevent mozzies from incoming.
You have to do the same. You’re not in Kansas anymore.

The few that do make it inside tend to slip in when we enter/exit the house at dusk (by then, there’s normally a swirling crowd of 100+ just outside the front door, getting high off the CO2.) Those intruders are gently caught in a plastic cup and released back to the wild, because they are still God’s creatures.

#9

Bug lamp works for me too. I usually turn on the bug lamp in my bedroom couple hours before I go to sleep. By the time I go to sleep all the mosquitoes are killed by the bug lamp.[/quote]

Hmm interesting…wasn’t sure if those worked or not.

I checked my plants today…I shook em all but not one skeet was in there. I guess they’re just hangin out elsewhere.

Closing doors earlier may be of help though. Like I said I like mine open for a few hours for fresh hair and to help out the pets…usually I try to close em before 5 pm or so. Today I shut em at 4 and there’s definitely fewer in here tonight.

#10

Mosquito tactics … they start coming out from about 4:00PM until 7:30PM and from about 4:30-5:00AM to about 8:30AM (feeding time) … they cling onto your door and get sucked in when opening … than they go hiding at dark spots … until you close your eyes, then they come to haunt you, looking for a CO2 marker … they know when you watch them, they can vanish into nothingness and appear were your don’t expect them …

The ones that are active during the day are the bad ones … they carry the dengue fever bug … they are small with stripes … it’s the Asian Tiger mosquito

#11

Mosquitos are the bane of my life. I’m a gourmet meal to them. I’ve even been bitten through jeans in the winter in a suburban garden in Melbourne. Here, I’ve found those plug in pesticide dispensers work. That and never having a screen-free window open. One way they’ve made their way into our apartment is on washing that was drying outside. Now I give everything a good shake before I bring it in. If you do get a net, be sure not to sleep next to it as they can and will bite you through it.

#12

I had a mosquito net and they work very well at keeping the mosquitoes out. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true: they do a good job at keeping them in, and somehow, they will get in.
Okbun’s suggestion of turning on a ultraviolet light a couple of hours before you sleep is a splendid idea and for me that has worked well. The old wive’s tale of eating plenty of garlic also seems to work well at repelling mosquitoes, but also has the often annoying side effect of repelling other people.

#13

Works great for vampires too!

#14

Yeah, vampires can be almost as annoying as the mosquitoes.
You go to bed, and when you’re just about to drop off to sleep you get that tell-tale breath on your neck. I hate that. So then you get up and turn on the light and the damn thing turns into a bat and then disappears behind the wardrobe. I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent with a broom handle trying to get one to come out from between the back of the closet and the wall in the early hours of the morning, but believe me, over the years it must have added up.
I’ve had limited success with garlic. I used to hang up solar panels around the room to make them paranoid, but they get wise to that pretty quickly. However, they have those electric stakes down at Carrefour now, which are based on those electric tennis raquets for mozzies. If you go for the one endorsed by Anthony Head, it has a built in flashlight and laser pointer so you can get a good shot at the heart area. It’s a bit more expensive than the others on display, but reasonable at $749NT.

Works well on Goths and Emos too, so it’s worth taking it out in a rucksack sometimes in case you come across one whilst on the MRT.

#15

we are using bed nets for more than a decade (buy a new one every 2 years or so).

I think a net is as effective as … a condom. Nothing is 100% and it depends on usage etc.
As Super Hans rightly remarked if a mosquito manages to come in, the net keeps it from leaving,
but it’s more like it is trapped. You can easily spot & kill em sitting on the inside on the net.

I love the net. It feel like a magic veil that protects me in sleep and it kind of helps to reduce a strong
air stream from a fan to just about the right feel as well.

#16

Ah, yes, but will a net keep out vampires? I think once it is in, it is not as easy to kill as a mosquito…unless you happen to have one of those electric stakes Super Hans mentioned. :slight_smile:

#17

OP - how close are you to the river?

Check that there are no sources of stagnant water nearby to your house - for example buckets or spouting where the water does not flow properly.

PS: I just read something interesting on a mosquito website regarding bug zappers:

[quote]
What’s wrong with bug zappers?
They kill beneficial insects, attract mosquitoes but don’t kill them, help mosquitoes find standing water to lay their eggs, and spray insect fragments into the air. The Ultra Violet (UV) light from zappers attracts all night-flying insects. Each night zappers kill about 3,000 beneficial insects such as moths and butterflies, which pollinate flowers, but only a handful of mosquitoes. A Notre Dame University study in South Bend Indiana showed that people with a zapper in their backyard got bit 10% more than people without one because zappers attracted mosquitoes but did not kill them. UV light also helps mosquitoes find water where they lay their eggs. When UV light is reflected off the surface of water it is polarized. Like polarized sunglasses that reduce glare and help you see objects more clearly, the mosquitoes follow the polarized light to the water to lay their eggs. Because they attract large bugs, they are purposefully designed to explode them so they don’t accumulate and become a fire hazard. Exploding bug-fragments drift on the air. People and food [/quote]

#18

The article is correct about the bug zappers. However, I think this is only true if you put them outside.
How many colourful bugs and beetles do you get flying around your bedroom only to be zapped by one of these machines? Whenever I empty a tray (to be honest, I don’t have one but my place of work does), all I find are mosquitoes and the odd house fly.
As most houses in Taiwan are protected by mosquito panels and doors, anything bigger than a mosquito seldom gets through anyway.

I guess in other countries, like where the above research was carried out, it might be different as houses in general don’t have the level of fortifications against mozzies that Taiwanese homes do.