The joys of the tropics - flies and mosquitos

[OzKiwiJJ]

10 minutes ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

my mum got bitten on the grand princess last week while going thru the fjords and also in port Chalmers.

I'm a mozzie magnet, I stayed inside 

That may have been a sandfly not a mozzie.

 

When I lived in NZ the sandflies never came near me. However after moving to Australia the next time I went to sandfly country (lower South Island) the little sods were all over me! Ouch!

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Maybe I forgot to mention that I live in a fisherman's fibre shack, one of the few left in Anglers Paradise.  But a few are still there, treasured by their owners. The positive is like living in a tent with a cool sea breeze, but the negatives are the mossies, flies, sand flies. My soil is sand.  Usually after a period of torrential rain and local flooding, the Council sprays.  At present the Council has bigger issues like people still without power and water (Mt Tamborine).  Our local library and tavern lost power, so my next problem is how to return a pile of library books and a glass I "borrowed" from the tavern.  I have been assured my latest library request will remain on shelf awaiting collection until I return to my local library. Trees are still down everywhere, but in neater cut up piles.  Workmen are working on the traffic lights all around us.  My neighbour's fence is looking like falling down in the next storm. (He built up his land, under Council regulations, to build a house without steps.  It now shows on flood maps as flood free.)  My lasting memory of the Christmas storm is a heavy tree branch which went through the top of my tall paling fence, delicately splitting the palings in three places.  Only Mother Nature could do that! 

Is there no way you could attach some sort of flyscreening over windows? Doors would be trickier though but Bunnings have these https://www.bunnings.com.au/pillar-160-x-200cm-black-magnetic-flyscreen-door-curtain_p3962037.

Edited January 6 by OzKiwiJJ

[MicCanberra]

Sounds like they can just come in via walls and such, as it is just netting., (fisherman's fibre)

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Sounds like they can just come in via walls and such, as it is just netting., (fisherman's fibre)

Cover the netting with flyscreen mesh?

[MicCanberra]

5 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Cover the netting with flyscreen mesh?

Or just replace it with flyscreen.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

Or just replace it with flyscreen.

Regular flyscreen is quite soft and fine so might not be suitable for walls on it's own but the flyscreen mesh could easily be attached to the existing netting.

[MicCanberra]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Regular flyscreen is quite soft and fine so might not be suitable for walls on it's own but the flyscreen mesh could easily be attached to the existing netting.

I was thinking the security mesh which is quite rigid., it would also allow for you to hang art/ paintings on it.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

I was thinking the security mesh which is quite rigid., it would also allow for you to hang art/ paintings on it.

That's expensive though whereas you can get 30 metre rolls of flyscreen mesh much cheaper.

[mr walker]

This talk of flyscreens on windows & screen doors reminded me of those renovation shows on TV, where they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars renovating houses & when they are finished, not a single one of them has window screens or screen doors. Apparently, screens detract from the appearance of the house???? Really practicable, not!!!!!!! 

 

The final straw for me was when on the blockhead show they built 5 x multi-million-dollar homes in the Victorian countryside with everything that opens & shuts & turns on (using green energy & being 'sustainable'), most of them totally overkill to make the sale price higher and no fly screens to be seen. I'm sure there are no flies around that area in the middle of summer. Spend millions & then have to arrange fly screens to be installed next day 🙂 

[yes!yes!yes!]

4 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

That may have been a sandfly not a mozzie.

 

When I lived in NZ the sandflies never came near me. However after moving to Australia the next time I went to sandfly country (lower South Island) the little sods were all over me! Ouch!

she said they were sandflies.

in my experience the sandflies are everywhere in New Zealand 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, yes!yes!yes! said:

she said they were sandflies.

in my experience the sandflies are everywhere in New Zealand 

I don't recall ever encountering them in the North Island. Certainly not around Auckland or north of there.

[MicCanberra]

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

That's expensive though whereas you can get 30 metre rolls of flyscreen mesh much cheaper.

Security screens keep out more than bugs.

[OzKiwiJJ]

14 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Security screens keep out more than bugs.

True but if you're only worried about the bugs they are an expensive option. 

[MicCanberra]

Just now, OzKiwiJJ said:

True but if you're only worried about the bugs they are an expensive option. 

Maybe proper sealed walls would be better.

[ilikeanswers]

16 hours ago, Mareblu said:

 He’s a B blood type, can’t remember which specifically atm, but when I researched this topic, I found that Os are targeted, while Bs are generally ignored if there’s an O around.

 

Maybe try some coconut scented soap. Apparently mozzies don't like coconut scent:

You really are a mosquito magnet. Here’s what you can do about it.

[cruiselvr04]

We are coming over at the end of the month.  Your thread gives me the itch already.  I’ll bring some sprays and wipes but everything bites me!  I had one cruise in the Caribbean pretty much ruined when some sand fleas bit me so bad I needed steroids. The itching was so intense I didn’t sleep at night. Ugh!

[MMDown Under]

11 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We are coming over at the end of the month.  Your thread gives me the itch already.  I’ll bring some sprays and wipes but everything bites me!  I had one cruise in the Caribbean pretty much ruined when some sand fleas bit me so bad I needed steroids. The itching was so intense I didn’t sleep at night. Ugh!

Bring your best remedy with you.  You can't bring sprays on flights  I remember taking Avon "Skin so Soft" to Canada on someone's recommendation.  Wear light cotton long sleeved clothing to give the sand flies less skin.  Try to go inside before dusk.  It all helps.  

[lyndarra]

It seems I am lucky as I live in an almost bug free zone. My house has five access doors, four of which have screens (two are Crimsafe) and I often leave one or two propped open during the day so my cats can come and go without using the kitty door. The occasional fly may wander in and if it settles it gets sprayed. Mozzies? Almost zero, I can't even remember the last time I was bitten. Also get the occasional (big) sand fly which really give a bite but these are slower moving and easily swatted. I live in an area which is sandy, topped with ash (courtesy of BHP)  and well drained so pooling of rainwater is not a problem. It's also a low lying coastal area with sea breezes, which probably helps. However there places within, say, a half hour drive which are really bad for mozzies e.g. Newcastle Uni. which is near Shortland wetlands.

Oddly enough, there was a time when flys were a pest but not for the last 4-5 years - global warming? Hmm.

[yes!yes!yes!]

13 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I don't recall ever encountering them in the North Island. Certainly not around Auckland or north of there.

I have

[Jean C]

13 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

The occasional fly may wander in and if it settles it gets sprayed. 

Hahaha, spraying is my last resort - I chase them through the house and splat them with a fly swat, best done on windows for ease of mopping up the mess 😄 My neighbours have a bird bath in their garden and I blame that for the occasional mozzie that comes my way. Also, something, maybe sandflies, bite my ankles when I hang around my raised vege garden for too long 🙁

Edited January 6 by Jean C

[MMDown Under]

 

Check for any stagnant water.  A visitor noticed I had some water in the bottom of an old metal container, which I quickly emptied.  I hate to think I compounded my problem. Water doesn't hang around where I live because I live on sand.

[Kristelle]

18 hours ago, mr walker said:

This talk of flyscreens on windows & screen doors reminded me of those renovation shows on TV, where they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars renovating houses & when they are finished, not a single one of them has window screens or screen doors. Apparently, screens detract from the appearance of the house???? Really practicable, not!!!!!!! 

 

 

When I used t o be on a home building and renovation forum - many people built houses without flyscreens, seemed ludicrous to me too  - or had to pay their builder extra t o get them.

 

Here in SA they are standard - and I think it would be really silly to not have fly screens on windows.

 

Front door maybe not if they are a feature door but I have an amplimesh screen door on mine as well as the solid door.

My laundry door does not have a screen door - omitted it in purpose so I could install a doggy door on back door.

[Jean C]

I live in a semi rural area of mostly new homes so gardens don't have anything accumulated outside that could hold stagnant water. There is a flowing creek not too far away so there could be some stagnant water areas there. As compensation we get lots of kingfishers in the garden. Our soil is free draining volcanic soil, lovely for gardening but it can dry out very quickly in the summer ☀.

[OzKiwiJJ]

16 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Maybe proper sealed walls would be better.

Probably but then you'd lose the effect and ambience of the fisherman's fibre shack.

[Jean C]

Have you seen amongst the gazillion home reno/home buying programmes, homes in the likes of Florida and the hotter parts of Europe, where they have a huge "room" attached to the outside of their houses made entirely of mesh and a framework, for outdoor living to keep the nasties out? You often see swimming pools in them, or simply just an outdoor patio.