Mosquito remedies (bug, look, Arizona)

[beTucsonan]

So it's the time of year when we must balance our urge to be outdoors with our desire not to be eaten alive by these pesky critters.

What is everybody's favorite/most successful remedy? Do the bug zappers or ultrasonic repellents work? Will I need to resort to some spray or burning of some chemical (which detracts from the enjoyment of being outdoors in the first place)?

[seedy]

Head net. Summit Hut probably has.

[tijlover]

I didn't think mosquito's were a problem in any part of the Southwest! When I lived in Phoenix for 3 years (1993-1996) I never encountered a mosquito, never encountered one here in Las Vegas in 19 years, so why would Tucson have mosquito's? More precipitation?

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by tijlover

I didn't think mosquito's were a problem in any part of the Southwest! When I lived in Phoenix for 3 years (1993-1996) I never encountered a mosquito, never encountered one here in Las Vegas in 19 years, so why would Tucson have mosquito's? More precipitation?

I'm with you on this one, TijLover . . .

I relocated to Tucson almost 20 years ago and have yet to be bothered by a Mosquito. Maybe once or twice during the Monsoon Season I'll spot one of those tiny little buggers but that's about it.

By comparison . . . check the Southeast or Upper Midwest during the Summer where Mosquitos are about the size of SMALL CATS.

! ! ! !

[Jukesgrrl]

I live in the Northwest suburb and I've only had two mosquito bites in my entire ten years here. Quite a change from my days on the Jersey Shore. There we used the reasonably priced Avon Skin So Soft body lotion. I think it was the scent (not flowery or unpleasant but it's not scent-free) that was supposed to repel mosquitoes but it has SPF, too, and for some reason people advocate that as necessary, too. I see that Avon is now selling Skin So Soft specifically AS a mosquito repellent.
Avon Skin So Soft: Really repels mosquitoes? - PurseForum

Avon's specific bug guard now comes in many forms. Pump spray, aerosol spray, lotion, etc., with or without the addition of Picaridin. The original SSS was a body lotion and also came as a bath oil. You can get Avon SSS products via Amazon, too.
https://www.avon.com/search/skin_so_...soft_bug_guard

[Jukesgrrl]

Originally Posted by tijlover

I didn't think mosquito's were a problem in any part of the Southwest! When I lived in Phoenix for 3 years (1993-1996) I never encountered a mosquito, never encountered one here in Las Vegas in 19 years, so why would Tucson have mosquito's? More precipitation?

Tij, I've heard that there are properties within the City of Tucson where issues with a lack of drainage after monsoon rains can breed mosquitoes. I remember seeing something in the paper about the city government doing some spraying one summer to alleviate the problem. (I remember the article because it seemed weird to me.)

But where I live all the homes have desert landscaping and we have rocks placed specifically to direct water to the storm drains in the street. Water that runs off the roofs generally is soaked up immediately into the ground if it's not collected for later use in gardening (which some people in Tucson do, using rain barrels). Even after a huge rain the sidewalks are usually dry after a couple of hours, so there are no standing puddles to attract mosquitoes.

Saving rain while discouraging mosquitoes:

[beTucsonan]

Yeah - mosquitoes are a pretty well acknowledged issue in Tucson. Even the city knows it (https://www.tucsonaz.gov/water/mosquito-information), and if there's one thing we can all agree on it's that the city of Tucson is not exactly 'responsive.' If you don't have them, awesome, but many people do and I live near a couple of arroyos where there's no shortage of pools of water for the things to breed in (as of this morning there was still a trickle of actual flowing water in part of the Anklam Wash - kind of blew my mind).

[tijlover]

It wouldn't surprise me that in a few areas of Tucson you might run into mosquito's, deducing that from the precipitation totals that Tucson receives.

Here, In Las Vegas, we get around 4 inches of precip. a year, moving south to Phoenix we're looking at 7-8 inches and with Tucson 10-11 inches, so my intuition tells me, just from that and that alone, the potential for mosquito's correspond with precipitation totals, and it varying with the seasons.

I'm looking at relocating to the Stella Mann/Carson's Corner area of Tucson.

[TroutDude]

As a long-time fisherman in bug country, I've been bitten many thousands of times and no longer react. They're still a nuisance though.

The only truly effective repellent I've found over the years (and I tried everything) is one with DEET. The higher the concentration, the more long-lasting and effective. For many years, I used a lotion that was 95% DEET. But some folks' skin reacts badly to that high a concentration, so you'll most commonly find it in concentrations up to 25% these days.

I've never found any electronic gizmo claiming to repel them to be anything other than a waste of money. And bug zappers are indiscriminate killers. Mosquitoes aren't as attracted to the light as are moths and other flying critters. So for every fried skitter, you might kill a dozen harmless moths.

Mosquitoes aren't great flyers and I'll sometimes set up a fan outside and create a breeze that deters them somewhat. I'll occasionally light a citronella candle but it's warding-off properties are arguable and weak. But it gives off a pleasant (to some) smell and adds ambiance to a summer evening.

Otherwise, I suggest light-coloured clothing (they're attracted to dark tones) and head nets or bug jackets if there's a high concentration of the little buggers.