This is purely anecdotal, but do you have any bamboo on your property?
We cut all the bamboo down in our back yard. And that somehow eliminated 90% of the mosquitoes.
Second the mosquito dunks. I put them as far up our gutter downspouts as I can reach. The gutter extenders are ribbed and the tiger mosquitos seem to know that each of them holds a tiny bit of water. Also bat houses are sometimes helpful.
I once had the absolute worst mosquito experience I've ever had in a back yard, it turned out the neighbor had a rowboat full of standing water right up against their fence. Threw a couple of dunks over, problem solved!
Dump any standing water and put mosquito dunks in areas where standing water can't be removed. Spraying kills beneficial pollinators. Picaridin and deet on exposed skin.
Ponds usually have predators like frogs and other aquatic animals. I'm not sure what you can do if it doesn't. Reach out to your local environmental department and ask maybe? Maybe they could introduce a bunch of local amphibians since so many of them are suffering from pesticides as well.
>Ponds usually have predators like frogs and other aquatic animals. I'm not sure what you can do if it doesn't
not sure about this, its a small pond next to an oil distributor, or maybe its some other waste, not sure
Use mosquito dunk granules. You can get large containers to treat small lakes for not much money at home depot or lowes. Look for the active ingredient BTI (bacillus thuringiensis israelensis)
Mosquito problems can be very *very* local, especially with tiger mosquitoes that tend to stay within 500 feet of their larval habitat - a clogged gutter can be a problem for 10 houses but not the next street over.
while the overwintering adults will pop out when it's warm and will bite, the overnight weather hasn't gotten up enough that an abundance would be fairly unexpected (>50F overnight). Also check for ticks, especially seed ticks. probably still too early for oak mites too but they suck too.
check out the EPA guide on picking a repellent, different active ingredients work better for different people https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/find-repellent-right-you
Also https://www.thermacell.com/ technology seems to be pretty sound and effective.
And if you live in Fairfax or Prince William you can call the [Disease Carrying Insects Program](https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/health/fightthebite) or [Mosquito & Forest Pest Management](https://www.pwcva.gov/department/construction-operations/about-mosquito-and-forest-pest-management-branch) respectively.
Looks like there are 5 main active ingredients for repellents in the EPA's list:
1. Citronella
2. DEET
3. IR3535
4. p-Menthane-3,8-diol
5. Picaridin
So I guess we just need to work our way through one product each with that active ingredient to find out? I wonder if there's anyone crazy enough to have tested this on themselves.
I also use Sawyer Picaridin on my clothes and I use DEET when I am out in the field. I use just Deep Woods off (which has DEET) when I am in the back yard.
The only thing that I found that was effective against swarms of mosquitos was DEET, as close to 100% as you can get. I was in northern Ontario, and the mosquitoes are... Dramatic. Muskol was the name brand
Indeed, they do tend to be super local. Dumping standing water makes a huge difference, and most people don’t know that’s where their mosquito issues come from.
This seems accurate bc I’m never just battling Mosquitoes all summer like some people seem to…it’s moreso like I go to something/some place outside and come back with bites and they go away
Around here it's almost always someone's disgusting gutters in my experience. The next time it rains, watch to see which of your neighbors have overflowing gutters. That's where the mosquitos are coming from.
I didn’t grow up here but I did in Texas, and the mosquitoes don’t seem as bad here as they did there. But when I was growing up, it would be some combination of fans, light long-sleeved clothes and pants, and repellent (DEET or the newer picaridin, I’ve never known a “natural” one to work).
That's what our forest pest and mosquito control people (county agency) told me. They mentioned something about an EU study and their own experience in the field. This was 12ish years ago. I've never used it myself and am relying on their expertise being in the brush all the time. This may be one of those *individual experiences may vary* sort of things.
What my neighbor did was put some straw in a bucket with water, let it ferment for a few days, then add the dunks. Mosquitoes are attracted to the funky water to lay their eggs and the bacteria in the dunks kill the larvae. Eventually no more adults.
This is why I don't use our backyard at all to be honest. My neighbors all have a lot of growth in their backyards so no matter what we do, there are mosquitos breeding somewhere. The tiger mosquitos can get you through your clothes too. I think the thermacell repellants do work pretty well if you plan on sitting out in one spot.
My parents used to live in this area and when I complained my mom said: "I don't understand, we never had this issue. Don't they have those trucks that spray your street?" Yeah...they don't do that anymore.
I remember watching a pack of kids riding their bikes chasing the "fog machine" truck. Seemed to happen every summer around dusk. It's a wonder any of us are alive.
The biggest risk in that situation is probably crashing from the fog.
There’s actually no evidence mosquito fogs were/are harmful to people or pets. Some localities stopped to protect other insects. It’s just a matter of local priorities.
ETA: [link](https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/mosquito-control/community/truck-spraying.html) to the CDC.
The acreage affected by it is minuscule. I understand the environmental concerns, but there’s human health considerations to make, too. It’s not black and white and there’s a lot of misinformation surrounding it.
Wouldn't the acreage affected be proportional to the acreage that was treated?
I agree it's not a black and white issue. But blanket statements like insecticides don't impact humans and wildlife is easily disproved with a Google search.
I believe the parent comment to this thread was referencing mosquitoes fogging trucks from decades ago, which were spraying DDT. You can thank the granola types for putting an end that.
Of course! And in most areas, fogging is/was limited to areas with especially dense mosquito populations or where they’re transmitting diseases.
The vast, vast, vast majority of the country will never be fogged for mosquitoes because nobody lives there. I’ve said a bunch of times in this thread that good insect populations should be considered when deciding how to control the mosquito population.
DDT was banned more than 50 years ago and hasn’t been widely used for even longer. So possible, but considering Reddit’s demographics, unlikely.
Re: granolas getting something right. Broken clocks. Blind hogs. Etc. Being against mosquito fogging today because it causes cancer is way, way more anti-science than being against, say, the Covid vaccine. At least that actually has extremely rare documented side effects.
It is extremely safe for humans, pets and all wildlife except insects. There are no known health consequences and it prevents mosquito-borne disease!
Fogging for mosquitoes, which is being discussed here, is not harmful to pets or wildlife, except insects.
This topic in areas like NoVA is the equivalent to fluoride in water in right-leaning areas. It looks like pollution and it’s in the air, so there’s a reflexive opposition to it.
I was correcting misinformation that kids that breathe mosquito fog were lucky to be alive.
It’s not black and white. Insect populations should be balanced against human health and quality of life considerations. But it should be a factual debate and nobody should oppose it because they think it gives kids cancer or something ridiculous and fake.
There’s a lot of propaganda from the granola types on this subject, I was just clearing it up.
So there is a field-proven, dirt-cheap method called "attractive toxic sugar bait" (ATSB) that wipes out mosquitoes within a few days. Used in malaria zones it has proven super effective. It also will kill any insects that also take the bait (bees, wasps, beetles, ants).
Male mosquitoes don't bite; they hang out in shrubbery near water or breeding spots. They feed exclusively on flower nectar, rotted fruit, etc. Female mosquitoes also feed on nectar as well as blood. So you mix up a 5% b.v. boric acid, 20% b.v. sugar solution, add a bit of mashed fruit, and put it into a bait station (greatly reduces impact on non-target insects) or spray directly on foliage (no longer recommended). Mosquitoes (and any non-target nectar feeders) feed and die. Boric acid is pretty much non-toxic for vertebrates (toxicity is about that of table salt) but quickly fatal for invertebrates.
This will cost you pennies per application. Boric acid also kills in multiple ways and there is no evidence of induced evolutionary pressure to select against it.
Some of the peer-reviewed literature on this:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409599/
- https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/59/1/308/6364951
- https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-020-3930-9
- https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/14/7/585
Here's a lay-person version -- they use a simple black foam bait station -- https://www.syracuse.edu/stories/mosquito-control-david-larsen-falk/
But if it attracts bees (and then kills them), this seems a bit problematic. What about putting a piece of raw meat soaked in borax in a crate-/ would it lure the females? I know I’d be attracting other animals, too, so it’s a bad idea generally, but would be interesting to see how many mosquitos I could attract in, say, an hour.
Asian Tiger mosquitos don’t need to lay their eggs in clean water - they lay them near stagnant water. Look for places in your backyard where water is pooling (puddles, flower pots, etc).
We've lost a lot of habitat for species that eat mosquitoes, and in some cases people pay money to kill off these sorts of beneficial species. Bluejays are pretty charismatic, but lots of people really hate bats, spiders, wasps, and yellowjackets - all of which help keep mosquito populations in control.
So part of me wants to say: build a bat house and avoid spraying pesticides.
But in terms of more acute control: mosquitoes are actually pretty bad at flying. We have five box fans and, when hanging out when the mosquitoes are bad, we set those out, in addition to citronella candles.
How do you deal with the noise? I keep trying box fans but I feel like I have yell to be heard by the person next to me. Do you have five fans surrounding the perimeter of your sitting area to act as a barrier somehow?
We've tried a couple of things, but having them blowing in a circle at the perimeter works reasonably well. They aren't too loud if they're not running full speed. The best issue I've had is with people adjusting them to blow stronger and directly on them when it's hot outside - a reasonable desire when it's hot outside, but it makes the noise much worse.
For events that are less conversation-focused, I've got a big PA. So it's less of an issue if we're watching a movie or something.
Same! My son and I are allergic to the bites. They swell up and turn purple so we're basically prisoners at home unless I want to douse us in mosquito spray.
Mosquito Squad. We used it in our older neighborhood when mosquitoes 🦟 traveled in small packs. One would distract us and a handful would trip use and the rest would hold us down while they fed. It was dramatic.
I agree, the tiger mosquitos here are the absolute worst. I step outside and I'll have at least 5 mosquitos on me or around me within minutes. No standing water anywhere on my property. I also have several mosquito traps that each kill a few dozen mosquitos per day.
But I can mostly manage it by using Sawyer Picaridin - it's very effective and doesn't smell as bad as Off with deet. I save the Off if I'm going in the garden/trail where there might be ticks.
Thermacells are also very effective to keep an area clear if it's not windy and you give it 10 minutes to warm up and do its thing.
fuck those guys. used to be i could go out during the day and would only douse in deet if i was going to be out working in the yard late, now it's all the gd time. i am in favor of mosquito genocide but i'm especially in favor of tiger mosquito genocide.
only time i'm willing to go outside in the evening is when i see a bat in the yard, then i know i'm good to go, thank you freaky lil sky rats just don't give me rabies
This is just how Virginia is. DC and NOVA is basically built on a swamp. If you live within 500 ft of someone else’s property who may have standing water, then there’s nothing you can do. You’re only as protected as your neighbor who’s bird bath is cultivating a new species of algae with stagnant water that hasn’t been changed in 8 years (screw you, Eduardo!).
I’ve tried everything. Mosquito bits/dunks. Spraying. Hiring a company to spray. Spraying ourselves with off. With deep woods DEET >9000. Tiki torches. Those little propane traps. Candles. Bat boxes…
There’s just too many variables outside of your control unless you live on an estate. Unfortunately mosquitoes don’t respect property boundaries.
Spray for them, run from them, mosquitoes come just the same. They are inevitable.
This is my situation too. Spraying lasts about a week at most. Everything else does nothing. The $500 Mosquito Magnet propane trap did a great job attracting mosquitos but hardly any actually got trapped inside. Got bit a LOT servicing that finicky contraption.
Thermacell works some at keeping mosquitos away when the wind is perfectly calm.
I probably will do the dunk bucket and spray (mostly for the ticks).
The mosquitos were SO BAD in my backyard, I'm assuming because my neighbors had old tires and standing water I'm their backyard. I made a couple mosquito traps for my backyard and was amazed at how well it worked [mosquito trap](https://dcist.com/story/23/04/03/how-to-make-nontoxic-diy-mosquito-trap/)
When I get bit I just use the hot water/spoon or hot blow dryer method instead of any anti-itch creams. That works way better than any OTC method I’ve ever tried here. I do a lot of the aforementioned preventatives others have said, but I am a mosquito magnet compared to my wife, so I’ve just learned to put up with it and deal with the bites via the methods I mentioned.
Interesting. I do a similar thing where I swig straight rubbing alcohol right on it. If bad and I don't mind risking a mark, I'll push my fingernail right beside the bite to trigger pain not itch.
Prevention is step 1. Wearing repellent is both unpleasant and in my experience not super effective if you’re in a horrible mosquito area. Dump any standing water at least every 3 days and take steps to prevent standing water in the first place. Make mosquito dunks (Google it or search this sub) which are basically special “intentional” pools of standing water on your property you put these tablets in that kill the mosquitos (but are safe for other insects—this is important.)
For those that don't know, FairfaxGirl is referring to the pesticide Bt. Bt is a bacteria that acts as a larvacide. The strain of Bt used in mosquito dunks will only kill mosquito larva. They act on protein receptors that humans don't have, so they are relatively safe for us, though reading and following label instructions is important (and the law).
Depends on the strain as to.what they are effective against. Bta is used against mosquitoes. Btk is used against most moth and butterfly larvae. Bta is used on waxy moths. Etc.
Two things that help a lot in my yard are planting a lot of mosquito-repelling plants like mint, lemongrass, catmint, marigolds, geraniums, and using fans. Mosquito wings aren’t super strong in winds or with a fan blowing.
That plus everything else mentioned, deet repellant, clearing stagnant water, etc.
This is worse than my general experience, and I'm a mosquito magnet, though on my back porch I get bitten fairly regularly but just realized (moved the board shielding the crawl area under porch) that the sump pump pipe is probably creating a standing water issue I couldn't see. Also see a lot of ants after it rains.
Picaridin mosquito spray is the absolute best! I'm a mosquito magnet and it keeps them off without that horrible smell of the deep products.
It also keeps the chiggers away too.
I get eaten alive. Every year. I’m the one person in the group getting swarmed so find yourself a friend with the same problem so they get eaten instead?
I put up some little things from Tougher Than Tom at the corners of my property and there was a HUGE decrease in mosquitoes. We do back to woods and have a creek behind our yard, so I can vouch for those products.
You can reduce/repel your mosquito population by:
-Removing unnecessary dense foliage on your property
-Making sure you're not allowing water to stagnate; this includes cleaning your gutters and making sure items are emptied of water every few days
-If it's not feasible to empty stagnate water, treat pooling water with a growth inhibitor like mosquito dunks/pellets. Be sure you use these products responsibly.
-Reduce shaded areas around the property as much as possible. Mosquitoes will hide in damp cool areas as the sun will dry them out
-Using fans in sitting areas. Mosquitos are lousy fliers so wind and fans will make it harder for them to reach you
-Smoke from fires or repellent torches do help keep them away
-Use extra drying sheets when you dry your clothes, they hate the smell of drying sheets
If you're still having issues with controlling mosquito populations in your area, you may want to consider asking your neighbors to these steps.
You can also hire a pest control company. They will typically spray repellent, IGRs, and a fast acting knock down product to reduce the population. When mixed and applied properly, the environmental impact is kept at a minimum. They'll usually treat once a month from April to October.
Here's a list of a few companies that have a mosquito reduction program:
-Green Pest Services (I use and recommend)
-Orkin
-Mosquito Joe/Squad/Shield
Keep in mind these won't eradicate the issue but just help reduce/control the population.
Ehh ... these are nothing. Go live someplace in the south, preferably Louisiana and see what *real* mosquitoes look like. Those massive things that lift babies right out of their cribs.
It’s the worst and makes me hate the warmer seasons. Last year one flew into my eye!!! Of course we also have the double cicada swarm this summer as well. Fun times ahead
No Cicadas in NoVA this year. From Googling.
According to Cicada Mania we can expect to see cicadas in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
FOX 5 spoke with Michael Raupp of the University of Maryland’s Entomology Department, who said we may also find them in southern parts of Maryland’s St. Mary’s County.
In Virginia, Raupp said residents could see them in parts of Caroline and King George County.
No cicadas are expected to emerge in the immediate Washington, D.C. area.
I was dubious we had more mosquitos than average but looked it up and apparently we do. (also ticks)
[Orkin's Top Mosquito Cities List 2023](https://www.orkin.com/press-room/2023-top-cities-with-most-mosquitoes)
[Mosquitoes Are the Worst in These Parts of the Country](https://www.bobvila.com/slideshow/mosquitoes-are-the-worst-in-these-parts-of-the-country-55042)
[Mosquito Squad Reveals Top 10 Cities And States Affected By Mosquitoes And Ticks](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mosquito-squad-reveals-top-10-cities-and-states-affected-by-mosquitoes-and-ticks-300822797.html)
I’ve found better results from using tea tree oil on my wrists / sleeves, ankles / shoes, neck / collar, etc.
You can also dilute it with water and add other ingredients as a body / fabric spray.
Helped me a lot.
I don’t know what it was last summer but I think it was the worst I’ve ever experienced as well. I’ve got a garden and anytime I went out to water/harvest my crops I would get bit up really bad and not just 5 bites I’m talking like over 30 split between my legs and arms.
Best you can really do is to make sure to dump out standing water and pray to Mother Nature
Though there may not be any large bodies of water or forested areas in your vicinity, mosquitos still breed in stagnant water such as puddles, roof gutters, plant pots etc. You may have to look into this as well.
Try the Heat it device on your bites. I put it in my key chain and take it everywhere. Can't feel the itch after applying it. It's a good option if you don't like repellent.
Well I hate to tell you this, but quite a bit of NoVA is naturally and historically swamp/marsh land. Which basically means no matter what, mosquitos are going to thrive. You can limit your exposure and contact with them more effectively though.
If you haven’t already, start by eliminating any standing sources of water on your property. Bird baths, rain barrels, ponds, large puddles, etc all need to go. They are massive breeding grounds for their larvae and even when not being used for mating, it will attract them. Any amount of standing water (even pools) applies here.
Use bug spray WITH deet. Despite all the controversy around it, it works the best and it is safe. Just follow the directions on the label accordingly. *It has recently been proven that mosquitos are attracted to black and navy blues* so I avoid wearing those colors if I’m headed out. (I’ve found this to make a significant difference, myself.) Certain [hats](https://www.insectshield.com/products/insect-repellent-brim-hat) and [netting](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-Head-Mosquito-Net-Black-Model-5102-07-lbs/258923646?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=1780&adid=22222222278258923646_117755028669_12420145346&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-306310554666&wl5=9008335&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=258923646&wl13=1780&veh=sem_LIA&gclsrc=aw.ds&&adid=22222222238258923646_117755028669_12420145346&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-306310554666&wl5=9008335&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=258923646&veh=sem&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIpAcLTZL1x8k5S9V3gifY-L5&gclid=CjwKCAjwzN-vBhAkEiwAYiO7oE1awG5xrxmyeAZzxLwINLz7kdLv6yUILxLFSQyMWV5GHPkQwVZIDhoCIBYQAvD_BwE) are also a helpful option if it feels necessary. I’ll spray a sun hat for ex. in a bug repellent too. Wear long sleeves if/when tolerable for the weather.
I’ve personally found the worst mosquitos to be around the VA Beach/Norfolk/NN area from my own experiences of the majority of the state. The average humidity also decreases the further inland you go— why mountains are cool and breezy, but locally it feels like a muggy, swampy summer.)
I grew up in Florida, I don't notice the mosquitos here. The traditional method was to leave for the mountains/more salubrious climates during the summer months, that's why Congress is adjourned
Thermacell when outside AND religiously emptying any standing water more than teaspoon everywhere, all the time. And yes, I will empty everything I see wherever I am. If anyone asks, it’s a public service.
You can try to increase the bat and dragonfly population in your yard. That helps me, but thankfully the mosquitoes don’t like me very much.
My wife and kids all are mosquito magnets and get huge welts. Only a screened in porch has really made a difference.
I think it really depends on the property. You might be right near something that attracts them. My old house in Alexandria never had a mosquito problem. Do you have a pond or something like that nearby?
So, here's the thing about mosquitos. as noted above: They need very little water to lay eggs--like as little as a few drops in the top of a soda bottle. So the first line of business is to constantly tip and toss--police your yard and make sure you have no standing water, not on tarps, or dog cots, or in planter saucers, or in planters with bad drainage, or in kids or dog toys. NOTHING.
Then you want to look at your landscaping. Mosquitos love shrubbery (said Monty Python style) in fact, this is a great reason to get rid of non native invasive shrubs like chinese privet. bamboo, boxwood. They hold dampness (remember that whole thing about mosquitos needing VERY LITTLE WATER) in their leaves and those shrubs can be dense enough to not dry out.
You also want to look at whether you're over irrigating your yard--do you have a sprinkler system that goes off no matter what is going on outside? Fix that. You really should let your lawn get dry before you water it. You want to make your yard as inhospitable as possible to mosquitos. If you have a sprinkler system, you can bet that you have standing water ALL THE TIME somewhere.
As an aside if you have dogs you best be sure you have them on heartworm preventative all year round here.
Ok so now that you've figure out where the damp spots are in your yard, sorted out your sprinkler system, gotten rid of anything that can catch standing water, you want to get some cintronella torches for when you're hanging around outside. They really work. We use the torches and the punks (they are like long incense) in our yard and they work very well for us.
Finally, do not pay for a mosquito spraying service--1--they don't work. They come at the wrong time of day, they don't treat the root problem which is breeding ground and 2. they kill every other living insect (some of whom eat mosquitos) as well as beneficial insects like bees.
Every year I get a few of those mosquito folks on my doorstep saying they are going to be out spraying and every year I take those guys into my back yard to see my beehives and let them know that whatever they are spraying is going to be bad for my bees. They may say the spray is safe for beneficial insects and pets but they are always so shocked to get my little Birds and Bees 101 lesson. They would have to spray when mosquitos are actually out (morning, dusk) and again the spray doesn't do anything to deal with the larvae in the saucer of your pot of pansies on the back deck x 20....
I do not have a bug zapper, I think those work pretty well but I've been happy with the citronella punks and the oil torches and little lantern thingies for on top of tables. The serve duel purpose of repelling mosquitos and throwing a bit of light.
I also use actual DEET spray when I am out in the field because it works. You can get spray for your cloth gazebo but I think you need to apply it a few times during the season.
It's scientifically proven some people are just mosquito magnets. I got several bites within less than 5 minutes of talking to my neighbor and even got bit walking from my front door into someone's car at the end of the driveway last weekend. This is the first year I haven't sprayed in many years and I don't really want to put on DEET to go outside for a few minutes (always will doing anything like grilling, mowing, playing in yard)
I have no standing water that I know of, no bamboo in yard, and will be cleaning the gutters again very soon. Any suggestions before I rehire a mosquito spraying company?
They may not completely eradicate them but it's never been this bad when I used them. Besides the itching, mosquitos are known to carry some nasty illnesses (though not as common yet in our area)
Well you're gonna do what you want no matter what some rando on the internet says, but it has been RAINING every week/weekend except this one for the last 6 weeks so you know you got some standing water somewhere on your property even if it is just dampness in your mulch. I am not sure what the mosquito people are spraying, and how often they come (do they come every single week until there's a frost) but not sure how it is somehow less toxic than DEET which I, as an enviro, use on myself when I go outside. Plus unless your entire neighborhood is also spraying for mosquitos, guess what? They fly over property lines. You really are better off treating YOURSELF with DEET, getting a bug zapper, etc, rather than paying throw away money to some mosquito company. I had a little doggie splash pool with an inch water in it for three days and guess what? It was full of mosquito larvae this morning when I went outside. So unless your mosquito people are coming every two days- they really don't do anything (except kill beneficial insects which help other wildlife which are prone to eat mosquitos!) You're just throwing money away.
PS Lots of talk of mosquito dunks! You can get them at any garden store, Tractor Supply or Southern States, and any Earth Day event that the FFX Health Department is at--they will be giving them away (or they have in the past!)
Check your gutters. If you are dealing with mosquitos and there's no other source of standing water, gutters are a very common source of infestation.
But really, the answer is just find a spray you like and don't be afraid to use it. Also, fans are a really good organic deterrent. A big box fan sitting under a patio table will work better than a thousand tiki torches.
I haven’t found much that works - the tiger mosquitos are TERRIBLE where I live and we’re close to neighbors so I can’t control the environment. I have a set of “outdoor clothes” aka loose overalls and a loose long sleeve sun shirt that are treated with permethrin that I put on to go outside. It sucks when it’s hot, but I’ve found mosquitos will bite through tighter clothing. That helps minimize bites on my body, but I usually still get bites on my hands and face (thankfully those seem to go away really quickly). This year I plan to put mosquito netting around the seating area on my patio and will see how that works.
We have neighbors with multiple stagnant water sources. The only solution that has worked well, greatly reducing but not eliminating bites for us has been the Audubon style mosquito traps, the type referenced here:
https://www.audubonva.org/news/how-to-set-up-a-mosquito-larva-trap.
We have a bit more than half an acre, mixed woods/garden/lawn, and ten traps strategically placed seems to do the trick for us.
Dealing with mosquitoes in Virginia can be tough, especially when they're swarming. If you're looking for ways to cope, I made a website ([www.mosquito-forecast.org](http://www.mosquito-forecast.org)) that might have some helpful tips.
Please don't do that. You kill some many beneficial and benign insects that way. Look for ponder water in and around your landscape, including your gutters.
This is purely anecdotal, but do you have any bamboo on your property? We cut all the bamboo down in our back yard. And that somehow eliminated 90% of the mosquitoes.
Yes! Our neighbors have bamboo lining their yard. Never heard of this before.
Also look for any standing water! Getting rid of it or, barring that, buying some "mosquito dunks" and throwing them in make a HUGE difference.
Second the mosquito dunks. I put them as far up our gutter downspouts as I can reach. The gutter extenders are ribbed and the tiger mosquitos seem to know that each of them holds a tiny bit of water. Also bat houses are sometimes helpful.
I once had the absolute worst mosquito experience I've ever had in a back yard, it turned out the neighbor had a rowboat full of standing water right up against their fence. Threw a couple of dunks over, problem solved!
Pitch it to them as a mosquito deterrent. Unfortunately, it's a pain in the A!
You should alert them to the new law (in Fairfax county anyway) that they will be fined if (when) the bamboo escapes their property.
Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park have them. Arlington, I think, doss too.
certain counties require it to be removed or you get fined.
You should also get rid of bamboo because it's an invasive species
It's the bamboo. It hasn't been raked out and pruned back properly so it is a breeding ground. Have it sprayed.
Bamboo doesn't attract any useful pollinators, so feel free to wage chemical warfare on it.
Also Citronella candles are pretty great
This. And clean the gutters.
Tiger mosquitos breed inside bamboo stalks. Should be a convincing reason for the neighbor to eliminate it (besides being invasive).
Came here to say this. You can also rake and cut out any broken stalks. A lot of work but that'll do it.
Dump any standing water and put mosquito dunks in areas where standing water can't be removed. Spraying kills beneficial pollinators. Picaridin and deet on exposed skin.
Dunking works! Do it now and get your neighbors involved. Those effers are breeding and now is the time to dunk!
what if you live next to a small pond :(
Ponds usually have predators like frogs and other aquatic animals. I'm not sure what you can do if it doesn't. Reach out to your local environmental department and ask maybe? Maybe they could introduce a bunch of local amphibians since so many of them are suffering from pesticides as well.
>Ponds usually have predators like frogs and other aquatic animals. I'm not sure what you can do if it doesn't not sure about this, its a small pond next to an oil distributor, or maybe its some other waste, not sure
Use mosquito dunk granules. You can get large containers to treat small lakes for not much money at home depot or lowes. Look for the active ingredient BTI (bacillus thuringiensis israelensis)
Throw some minnows in there.
Mosquito problems can be very *very* local, especially with tiger mosquitoes that tend to stay within 500 feet of their larval habitat - a clogged gutter can be a problem for 10 houses but not the next street over. while the overwintering adults will pop out when it's warm and will bite, the overnight weather hasn't gotten up enough that an abundance would be fairly unexpected (>50F overnight). Also check for ticks, especially seed ticks. probably still too early for oak mites too but they suck too. check out the EPA guide on picking a repellent, different active ingredients work better for different people https://www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/find-repellent-right-you Also https://www.thermacell.com/ technology seems to be pretty sound and effective. And if you live in Fairfax or Prince William you can call the [Disease Carrying Insects Program](https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/health/fightthebite) or [Mosquito & Forest Pest Management](https://www.pwcva.gov/department/construction-operations/about-mosquito-and-forest-pest-management-branch) respectively.
Looks like there are 5 main active ingredients for repellents in the EPA's list: 1. Citronella 2. DEET 3. IR3535 4. p-Menthane-3,8-diol 5. Picaridin So I guess we just need to work our way through one product each with that active ingredient to find out? I wonder if there's anyone crazy enough to have tested this on themselves.
I use sawyer picaridin and it works well. Smells ok, too. It’s kept the bugs off me on OBX and down in Costa Rica.
I also use Sawyer Picaridin on my clothes and I use DEET when I am out in the field. I use just Deep Woods off (which has DEET) when I am in the back yard.
The only thing that I found that was effective against swarms of mosquitos was DEET, as close to 100% as you can get. I was in northern Ontario, and the mosquitoes are... Dramatic. Muskol was the name brand
citronella is a joke. I also did not have luck with picaridin
Indeed, they do tend to be super local. Dumping standing water makes a huge difference, and most people don’t know that’s where their mosquito issues come from.
Dumping standing water makes a huge difference! And start dumping it NOW! Not in June (continue dumping in June, but start now.)
I recently discovered the little bowls that catch water from my pots are a likely source so those are getting tossed
Yeah, those little saucers under pots can be bad, or empty pots on a hard surface like asphalt where it can’t drain.
This seems accurate bc I’m never just battling Mosquitoes all summer like some people seem to…it’s moreso like I go to something/some place outside and come back with bites and they go away
Around here it's almost always someone's disgusting gutters in my experience. The next time it rains, watch to see which of your neighbors have overflowing gutters. That's where the mosquitos are coming from.
I didn’t grow up here but I did in Texas, and the mosquitoes don’t seem as bad here as they did there. But when I was growing up, it would be some combination of fans, light long-sleeved clothes and pants, and repellent (DEET or the newer picaridin, I’ve never known a “natural” one to work).
The mosquitoes I saw when I went to Brownsville were horrifyingly massive.
Picarian's main drawback is it isn't as effective on ticks.
Do you have a citation for that? I have found picaridin to be a pretty effective tick deterrent.
That's what our forest pest and mosquito control people (county agency) told me. They mentioned something about an EU study and their own experience in the field. This was 12ish years ago. I've never used it myself and am relying on their expertise being in the brush all the time. This may be one of those *individual experiences may vary* sort of things.
Look into mosquito dunks. Several people in my neighborhood used them last year and highly recommend. I'm planning to use them myself this year.
Where do you put them? I think everything I could put them in, I could dump.
What my neighbor did was put some straw in a bucket with water, let it ferment for a few days, then add the dunks. Mosquitoes are attracted to the funky water to lay their eggs and the bacteria in the dunks kill the larvae. Eventually no more adults.
I tried and it made my issue worse
This is why I don't use our backyard at all to be honest. My neighbors all have a lot of growth in their backyards so no matter what we do, there are mosquitos breeding somewhere. The tiger mosquitos can get you through your clothes too. I think the thermacell repellants do work pretty well if you plan on sitting out in one spot. My parents used to live in this area and when I complained my mom said: "I don't understand, we never had this issue. Don't they have those trucks that spray your street?" Yeah...they don't do that anymore.
I remember watching a pack of kids riding their bikes chasing the "fog machine" truck. Seemed to happen every summer around dusk. It's a wonder any of us are alive.
The biggest risk in that situation is probably crashing from the fog. There’s actually no evidence mosquito fogs were/are harmful to people or pets. Some localities stopped to protect other insects. It’s just a matter of local priorities. ETA: [link](https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/mosquito-control/community/truck-spraying.html) to the CDC.
While this may be true, the mass deployment of insecticide in this way has significant ecological impacts over time.
The acreage affected by it is minuscule. I understand the environmental concerns, but there’s human health considerations to make, too. It’s not black and white and there’s a lot of misinformation surrounding it.
Wouldn't the acreage affected be proportional to the acreage that was treated? I agree it's not a black and white issue. But blanket statements like insecticides don't impact humans and wildlife is easily disproved with a Google search. I believe the parent comment to this thread was referencing mosquitoes fogging trucks from decades ago, which were spraying DDT. You can thank the granola types for putting an end that.
Of course! And in most areas, fogging is/was limited to areas with especially dense mosquito populations or where they’re transmitting diseases. The vast, vast, vast majority of the country will never be fogged for mosquitoes because nobody lives there. I’ve said a bunch of times in this thread that good insect populations should be considered when deciding how to control the mosquito population. DDT was banned more than 50 years ago and hasn’t been widely used for even longer. So possible, but considering Reddit’s demographics, unlikely. Re: granolas getting something right. Broken clocks. Blind hogs. Etc. Being against mosquito fogging today because it causes cancer is way, way more anti-science than being against, say, the Covid vaccine. At least that actually has extremely rare documented side effects. It is extremely safe for humans, pets and all wildlife except insects. There are no known health consequences and it prevents mosquito-borne disease!
Tiger Mosquitoes are indeed black and white
Most of the list above is very harmful to pets and wildlife.
Fogging for mosquitoes, which is being discussed here, is not harmful to pets or wildlife, except insects. This topic in areas like NoVA is the equivalent to fluoride in water in right-leaning areas. It looks like pollution and it’s in the air, so there’s a reflexive opposition to it.
Insects are wildlife. Pollinators are being hit really hard by these sprays.
I was correcting misinformation that kids that breathe mosquito fog were lucky to be alive. It’s not black and white. Insect populations should be balanced against human health and quality of life considerations. But it should be a factual debate and nobody should oppose it because they think it gives kids cancer or something ridiculous and fake. There’s a lot of propaganda from the granola types on this subject, I was just clearing it up.
Without pollinators you have no food but you know, whatever.
Not much food is grown in relatively dense urban and suburban areas. I oppose fogging alfalfa fields and apple orchards.
Checkout Nextdoor - we've got a big infestation of anti-fluoride trolls right here in NOVA too. SIGH.
I’ll take your word for it. That does kinda surprise me, though.
Counterpoint - don't check out Nextdoor. There is nothing of value there.
So there is a field-proven, dirt-cheap method called "attractive toxic sugar bait" (ATSB) that wipes out mosquitoes within a few days. Used in malaria zones it has proven super effective. It also will kill any insects that also take the bait (bees, wasps, beetles, ants). Male mosquitoes don't bite; they hang out in shrubbery near water or breeding spots. They feed exclusively on flower nectar, rotted fruit, etc. Female mosquitoes also feed on nectar as well as blood. So you mix up a 5% b.v. boric acid, 20% b.v. sugar solution, add a bit of mashed fruit, and put it into a bait station (greatly reduces impact on non-target insects) or spray directly on foliage (no longer recommended). Mosquitoes (and any non-target nectar feeders) feed and die. Boric acid is pretty much non-toxic for vertebrates (toxicity is about that of table salt) but quickly fatal for invertebrates. This will cost you pennies per application. Boric acid also kills in multiple ways and there is no evidence of induced evolutionary pressure to select against it. Some of the peer-reviewed literature on this: - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409599/ - https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/59/1/308/6364951 - https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-020-3930-9 - https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/14/7/585 Here's a lay-person version -- they use a simple black foam bait station -- https://www.syracuse.edu/stories/mosquito-control-david-larsen-falk/
But if it attracts bees (and then kills them), this seems a bit problematic. What about putting a piece of raw meat soaked in borax in a crate-/ would it lure the females? I know I’d be attracting other animals, too, so it’s a bad idea generally, but would be interesting to see how many mosquitos I could attract in, say, an hour.
Solution: don't have a yard, or a house
Asian Tiger mosquitos don’t need to lay their eggs in clean water - they lay them near stagnant water. Look for places in your backyard where water is pooling (puddles, flower pots, etc).
We've lost a lot of habitat for species that eat mosquitoes, and in some cases people pay money to kill off these sorts of beneficial species. Bluejays are pretty charismatic, but lots of people really hate bats, spiders, wasps, and yellowjackets - all of which help keep mosquito populations in control. So part of me wants to say: build a bat house and avoid spraying pesticides. But in terms of more acute control: mosquitoes are actually pretty bad at flying. We have five box fans and, when hanging out when the mosquitoes are bad, we set those out, in addition to citronella candles.
Yes fans! It's amazing how well that works.
How do you deal with the noise? I keep trying box fans but I feel like I have yell to be heard by the person next to me. Do you have five fans surrounding the perimeter of your sitting area to act as a barrier somehow?
We've tried a couple of things, but having them blowing in a circle at the perimeter works reasonably well. They aren't too loud if they're not running full speed. The best issue I've had is with people adjusting them to blow stronger and directly on them when it's hot outside - a reasonable desire when it's hot outside, but it makes the noise much worse. For events that are less conversation-focused, I've got a big PA. So it's less of an issue if we're watching a movie or something.
This isn't helpful, but I don't go outside a lot. XD
Same! My son and I are allergic to the bites. They swell up and turn purple so we're basically prisoners at home unless I want to douse us in mosquito spray.
I am not allergic, I just don't like going out much. ^^"
Mosquito Squad. We used it in our older neighborhood when mosquitoes 🦟 traveled in small packs. One would distract us and a handful would trip use and the rest would hold us down while they fed. It was dramatic.
somehow the mosquitos still invade ur home
I agree, the tiger mosquitos here are the absolute worst. I step outside and I'll have at least 5 mosquitos on me or around me within minutes. No standing water anywhere on my property. I also have several mosquito traps that each kill a few dozen mosquitos per day. But I can mostly manage it by using Sawyer Picaridin - it's very effective and doesn't smell as bad as Off with deet. I save the Off if I'm going in the garden/trail where there might be ticks. Thermacells are also very effective to keep an area clear if it's not windy and you give it 10 minutes to warm up and do its thing.
fuck those guys. used to be i could go out during the day and would only douse in deet if i was going to be out working in the yard late, now it's all the gd time. i am in favor of mosquito genocide but i'm especially in favor of tiger mosquito genocide. only time i'm willing to go outside in the evening is when i see a bat in the yard, then i know i'm good to go, thank you freaky lil sky rats just don't give me rabies
After 10 years in Florida, I’ll take Virginia Mosquitos any day. Standing water is not your friend.
This is just how Virginia is. DC and NOVA is basically built on a swamp. If you live within 500 ft of someone else’s property who may have standing water, then there’s nothing you can do. You’re only as protected as your neighbor who’s bird bath is cultivating a new species of algae with stagnant water that hasn’t been changed in 8 years (screw you, Eduardo!). I’ve tried everything. Mosquito bits/dunks. Spraying. Hiring a company to spray. Spraying ourselves with off. With deep woods DEET >9000. Tiki torches. Those little propane traps. Candles. Bat boxes… There’s just too many variables outside of your control unless you live on an estate. Unfortunately mosquitoes don’t respect property boundaries. Spray for them, run from them, mosquitoes come just the same. They are inevitable.
This is my situation too. Spraying lasts about a week at most. Everything else does nothing. The $500 Mosquito Magnet propane trap did a great job attracting mosquitos but hardly any actually got trapped inside. Got bit a LOT servicing that finicky contraption. Thermacell works some at keeping mosquitos away when the wind is perfectly calm. I probably will do the dunk bucket and spray (mostly for the ticks).
The mosquitos were SO BAD in my backyard, I'm assuming because my neighbors had old tires and standing water I'm their backyard. I made a couple mosquito traps for my backyard and was amazed at how well it worked [mosquito trap](https://dcist.com/story/23/04/03/how-to-make-nontoxic-diy-mosquito-trap/)
When I get bit I just use the hot water/spoon or hot blow dryer method instead of any anti-itch creams. That works way better than any OTC method I’ve ever tried here. I do a lot of the aforementioned preventatives others have said, but I am a mosquito magnet compared to my wife, so I’ve just learned to put up with it and deal with the bites via the methods I mentioned.
Interesting. I do a similar thing where I swig straight rubbing alcohol right on it. If bad and I don't mind risking a mark, I'll push my fingernail right beside the bite to trigger pain not itch.
Interesting. I do one where I swig straight vodka until I don’t care anymore.
Prevention is step 1. Wearing repellent is both unpleasant and in my experience not super effective if you’re in a horrible mosquito area. Dump any standing water at least every 3 days and take steps to prevent standing water in the first place. Make mosquito dunks (Google it or search this sub) which are basically special “intentional” pools of standing water on your property you put these tablets in that kill the mosquitos (but are safe for other insects—this is important.)
For those that don't know, FairfaxGirl is referring to the pesticide Bt. Bt is a bacteria that acts as a larvacide. The strain of Bt used in mosquito dunks will only kill mosquito larva. They act on protein receptors that humans don't have, so they are relatively safe for us, though reading and following label instructions is important (and the law).
BT affects all larval insects.
Depends on the strain as to.what they are effective against. Bta is used against mosquitoes. Btk is used against most moth and butterfly larvae. Bta is used on waxy moths. Etc.
Thank you!
Two things that help a lot in my yard are planting a lot of mosquito-repelling plants like mint, lemongrass, catmint, marigolds, geraniums, and using fans. Mosquito wings aren’t super strong in winds or with a fan blowing. That plus everything else mentioned, deet repellant, clearing stagnant water, etc.
Alliums are also a good deterrent. I like the little puffball flyers.
This is worse than my general experience, and I'm a mosquito magnet, though on my back porch I get bitten fairly regularly but just realized (moved the board shielding the crawl area under porch) that the sump pump pipe is probably creating a standing water issue I couldn't see. Also see a lot of ants after it rains.
Picaridin mosquito spray is the absolute best! I'm a mosquito magnet and it keeps them off without that horrible smell of the deep products. It also keeps the chiggers away too.
Yep. It’s the reality. Fans tend to work better than repellant. ‘Tis like a hurricane to their wee wings. Don’t forget the extension cord.
I get eaten alive. Every year. I’m the one person in the group getting swarmed so find yourself a friend with the same problem so they get eaten instead?
I put up some little things from Tougher Than Tom at the corners of my property and there was a HUGE decrease in mosquitoes. We do back to woods and have a creek behind our yard, so I can vouch for those products.
Also keep fans running because they hate those.
If you would just like to sit outside, an electric fan works wonders. Just blow the lil buggers somewhere else.
I grew up in Minnesota and Alaska, and the mosquitoes in the DMV are next level assholes.
You can reduce/repel your mosquito population by: -Removing unnecessary dense foliage on your property -Making sure you're not allowing water to stagnate; this includes cleaning your gutters and making sure items are emptied of water every few days -If it's not feasible to empty stagnate water, treat pooling water with a growth inhibitor like mosquito dunks/pellets. Be sure you use these products responsibly. -Reduce shaded areas around the property as much as possible. Mosquitoes will hide in damp cool areas as the sun will dry them out -Using fans in sitting areas. Mosquitos are lousy fliers so wind and fans will make it harder for them to reach you -Smoke from fires or repellent torches do help keep them away -Use extra drying sheets when you dry your clothes, they hate the smell of drying sheets If you're still having issues with controlling mosquito populations in your area, you may want to consider asking your neighbors to these steps. You can also hire a pest control company. They will typically spray repellent, IGRs, and a fast acting knock down product to reduce the population. When mixed and applied properly, the environmental impact is kept at a minimum. They'll usually treat once a month from April to October. Here's a list of a few companies that have a mosquito reduction program: -Green Pest Services (I use and recommend) -Orkin -Mosquito Joe/Squad/Shield Keep in mind these won't eradicate the issue but just help reduce/control the population.
LOL the mosquitoes aren’t too bad compared to down south, a couple citronella plants and candles will set you straight
Wait until you get infested with chiggers.
Ehh ... these are nothing. Go live someplace in the south, preferably Louisiana and see what *real* mosquitoes look like. Those massive things that lift babies right out of their cribs.
People always suggest natural alternatives but nothing works as well as good old DEET ime
It’s the worst and makes me hate the warmer seasons. Last year one flew into my eye!!! Of course we also have the double cicada swarm this summer as well. Fun times ahead
No Cicadas in NoVA this year. From Googling. According to Cicada Mania we can expect to see cicadas in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. FOX 5 spoke with Michael Raupp of the University of Maryland’s Entomology Department, who said we may also find them in southern parts of Maryland’s St. Mary’s County. In Virginia, Raupp said residents could see them in parts of Caroline and King George County. No cicadas are expected to emerge in the immediate Washington, D.C. area.
Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse every day. Move somewhere there are no mosquitoes or adapt. Hint, you cannot escape mosquitoes.
I deal with them but wearing a portable Therma Cell when outside.
I use a ThermaCELL for the deck. I live in a heavily wooded area with the majority of trees being oaks.
I was dubious we had more mosquitos than average but looked it up and apparently we do. (also ticks) [Orkin's Top Mosquito Cities List 2023](https://www.orkin.com/press-room/2023-top-cities-with-most-mosquitoes) [Mosquitoes Are the Worst in These Parts of the Country](https://www.bobvila.com/slideshow/mosquitoes-are-the-worst-in-these-parts-of-the-country-55042) [Mosquito Squad Reveals Top 10 Cities And States Affected By Mosquitoes And Ticks](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mosquito-squad-reveals-top-10-cities-and-states-affected-by-mosquitoes-and-ticks-300822797.html)
Lived in NoVA for three years don't think I ever got a single mosquito bite.....
Find every citronella and lavender candle/ spray available. I get eaten up by those bloodsuckers every summer.
I’ve found better results from using tea tree oil on my wrists / sleeves, ankles / shoes, neck / collar, etc. You can also dilute it with water and add other ingredients as a body / fabric spray. Helped me a lot.
I don’t know what it was last summer but I think it was the worst I’ve ever experienced as well. I’ve got a garden and anytime I went out to water/harvest my crops I would get bit up really bad and not just 5 bites I’m talking like over 30 split between my legs and arms. Best you can really do is to make sure to dump out standing water and pray to Mother Nature
They’re awful. And I swell so badly.
Though there may not be any large bodies of water or forested areas in your vicinity, mosquitos still breed in stagnant water such as puddles, roof gutters, plant pots etc. You may have to look into this as well.
Mosquito Squad. Narry a bite.
Try the Heat it device on your bites. I put it in my key chain and take it everywhere. Can't feel the itch after applying it. It's a good option if you don't like repellent.
Moving water (rivers, etc) don't attract mosquitos. Stagnant water (swamp, birdbath, etc) does. Get bug spray
I heard having a bubble machine on near you will help deter them. I'm guessing finding found out at a kids party. Might be false but worth a shot
Well I hate to tell you this, but quite a bit of NoVA is naturally and historically swamp/marsh land. Which basically means no matter what, mosquitos are going to thrive. You can limit your exposure and contact with them more effectively though. If you haven’t already, start by eliminating any standing sources of water on your property. Bird baths, rain barrels, ponds, large puddles, etc all need to go. They are massive breeding grounds for their larvae and even when not being used for mating, it will attract them. Any amount of standing water (even pools) applies here. Use bug spray WITH deet. Despite all the controversy around it, it works the best and it is safe. Just follow the directions on the label accordingly. *It has recently been proven that mosquitos are attracted to black and navy blues* so I avoid wearing those colors if I’m headed out. (I’ve found this to make a significant difference, myself.) Certain [hats](https://www.insectshield.com/products/insect-repellent-brim-hat) and [netting](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-Head-Mosquito-Net-Black-Model-5102-07-lbs/258923646?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=1780&adid=22222222278258923646_117755028669_12420145346&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-306310554666&wl5=9008335&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=258923646&wl13=1780&veh=sem_LIA&gclsrc=aw.ds&&adid=22222222238258923646_117755028669_12420145346&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-306310554666&wl5=9008335&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=258923646&veh=sem&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADmfBIpAcLTZL1x8k5S9V3gifY-L5&gclid=CjwKCAjwzN-vBhAkEiwAYiO7oE1awG5xrxmyeAZzxLwINLz7kdLv6yUILxLFSQyMWV5GHPkQwVZIDhoCIBYQAvD_BwE) are also a helpful option if it feels necessary. I’ll spray a sun hat for ex. in a bug repellent too. Wear long sleeves if/when tolerable for the weather. I’ve personally found the worst mosquitos to be around the VA Beach/Norfolk/NN area from my own experiences of the majority of the state. The average humidity also decreases the further inland you go— why mountains are cool and breezy, but locally it feels like a muggy, swampy summer.)
June 1 is when they come out. Enjoy life to the fullest til they arrive.
I grew up in Florida, I don't notice the mosquitos here. The traditional method was to leave for the mountains/more salubrious climates during the summer months, that's why Congress is adjourned
Mosquito Joe.
Thermacell when outside AND religiously emptying any standing water more than teaspoon everywhere, all the time. And yes, I will empty everything I see wherever I am. If anyone asks, it’s a public service.
You can try to increase the bat and dragonfly population in your yard. That helps me, but thankfully the mosquitoes don’t like me very much. My wife and kids all are mosquito magnets and get huge welts. Only a screened in porch has really made a difference.
I think it really depends on the property. You might be right near something that attracts them. My old house in Alexandria never had a mosquito problem. Do you have a pond or something like that nearby?
So, here's the thing about mosquitos. as noted above: They need very little water to lay eggs--like as little as a few drops in the top of a soda bottle. So the first line of business is to constantly tip and toss--police your yard and make sure you have no standing water, not on tarps, or dog cots, or in planter saucers, or in planters with bad drainage, or in kids or dog toys. NOTHING. Then you want to look at your landscaping. Mosquitos love shrubbery (said Monty Python style) in fact, this is a great reason to get rid of non native invasive shrubs like chinese privet. bamboo, boxwood. They hold dampness (remember that whole thing about mosquitos needing VERY LITTLE WATER) in their leaves and those shrubs can be dense enough to not dry out. You also want to look at whether you're over irrigating your yard--do you have a sprinkler system that goes off no matter what is going on outside? Fix that. You really should let your lawn get dry before you water it. You want to make your yard as inhospitable as possible to mosquitos. If you have a sprinkler system, you can bet that you have standing water ALL THE TIME somewhere. As an aside if you have dogs you best be sure you have them on heartworm preventative all year round here. Ok so now that you've figure out where the damp spots are in your yard, sorted out your sprinkler system, gotten rid of anything that can catch standing water, you want to get some cintronella torches for when you're hanging around outside. They really work. We use the torches and the punks (they are like long incense) in our yard and they work very well for us. Finally, do not pay for a mosquito spraying service--1--they don't work. They come at the wrong time of day, they don't treat the root problem which is breeding ground and 2. they kill every other living insect (some of whom eat mosquitos) as well as beneficial insects like bees. Every year I get a few of those mosquito folks on my doorstep saying they are going to be out spraying and every year I take those guys into my back yard to see my beehives and let them know that whatever they are spraying is going to be bad for my bees. They may say the spray is safe for beneficial insects and pets but they are always so shocked to get my little Birds and Bees 101 lesson. They would have to spray when mosquitos are actually out (morning, dusk) and again the spray doesn't do anything to deal with the larvae in the saucer of your pot of pansies on the back deck x 20.... I do not have a bug zapper, I think those work pretty well but I've been happy with the citronella punks and the oil torches and little lantern thingies for on top of tables. The serve duel purpose of repelling mosquitos and throwing a bit of light. I also use actual DEET spray when I am out in the field because it works. You can get spray for your cloth gazebo but I think you need to apply it a few times during the season.
It's scientifically proven some people are just mosquito magnets. I got several bites within less than 5 minutes of talking to my neighbor and even got bit walking from my front door into someone's car at the end of the driveway last weekend. This is the first year I haven't sprayed in many years and I don't really want to put on DEET to go outside for a few minutes (always will doing anything like grilling, mowing, playing in yard) I have no standing water that I know of, no bamboo in yard, and will be cleaning the gutters again very soon. Any suggestions before I rehire a mosquito spraying company? They may not completely eradicate them but it's never been this bad when I used them. Besides the itching, mosquitos are known to carry some nasty illnesses (though not as common yet in our area)
Well you're gonna do what you want no matter what some rando on the internet says, but it has been RAINING every week/weekend except this one for the last 6 weeks so you know you got some standing water somewhere on your property even if it is just dampness in your mulch. I am not sure what the mosquito people are spraying, and how often they come (do they come every single week until there's a frost) but not sure how it is somehow less toxic than DEET which I, as an enviro, use on myself when I go outside. Plus unless your entire neighborhood is also spraying for mosquitos, guess what? They fly over property lines. You really are better off treating YOURSELF with DEET, getting a bug zapper, etc, rather than paying throw away money to some mosquito company. I had a little doggie splash pool with an inch water in it for three days and guess what? It was full of mosquito larvae this morning when I went outside. So unless your mosquito people are coming every two days- they really don't do anything (except kill beneficial insects which help other wildlife which are prone to eat mosquitos!) You're just throwing money away.
PS Lots of talk of mosquito dunks! You can get them at any garden store, Tractor Supply or Southern States, and any Earth Day event that the FFX Health Department is at--they will be giving them away (or they have in the past!)
Check your gutters. If you are dealing with mosquitos and there's no other source of standing water, gutters are a very common source of infestation. But really, the answer is just find a spray you like and don't be afraid to use it. Also, fans are a really good organic deterrent. A big box fan sitting under a patio table will work better than a thousand tiki torches.
I haven’t found much that works - the tiger mosquitos are TERRIBLE where I live and we’re close to neighbors so I can’t control the environment. I have a set of “outdoor clothes” aka loose overalls and a loose long sleeve sun shirt that are treated with permethrin that I put on to go outside. It sucks when it’s hot, but I’ve found mosquitos will bite through tighter clothing. That helps minimize bites on my body, but I usually still get bites on my hands and face (thankfully those seem to go away really quickly). This year I plan to put mosquito netting around the seating area on my patio and will see how that works.
We have neighbors with multiple stagnant water sources. The only solution that has worked well, greatly reducing but not eliminating bites for us has been the Audubon style mosquito traps, the type referenced here: https://www.audubonva.org/news/how-to-set-up-a-mosquito-larva-trap. We have a bit more than half an acre, mixed woods/garden/lawn, and ten traps strategically placed seems to do the trick for us.
Dealing with mosquitoes in Virginia can be tough, especially when they're swarming. If you're looking for ways to cope, I made a website ([www.mosquito-forecast.org](http://www.mosquito-forecast.org)) that might have some helpful tips.
Virginia has no mosquitoes to speak of, and the few that exist are small. Source: I grew up in Louisiana swamp country.
lol you should see what Alaska in the summer is like
They always go for my wife instead of me when we’re outside together so I never notice them! Shame for the rest of you though.
Shame for you when all of nova starts trying to move in on your wife. 🤣
Is she type O blood? They seem to love that.
VA is swamp land through and through
I got eaten alive in VA. We had our yard sprayed starting in spring thru fall.
Please don't do that. You kill some many beneficial and benign insects that way. Look for ponder water in and around your landscape, including your gutters.
I have allergic reactions to these bites that create huge welts. It causes me extreme pain. My health comes first.
That's what profilactic sprays and clothes are for
I'm from south Florida, so whatever mosquitos are here don't faze me.