Category Archives: Mosquito Control

What to do after you get bit by a mosquito

To understand the best way to deal with a mosquito bite it is helpful to first appreciate what is going on in our body when bitten.  And using the term “bite” isn’t entirely accurate.   

Firstly, it is the female mosquito who “bites” as she needs to take a blood meal so she has the protein required to lay eggs.  Every time you are bitten by a mosquito you know you just played a role in a birth of 300 or so mosquito eggs (and the resulting larvae).  The female lands on your body, having located you by your CO2 plumes, and pierces your skin with her proboscis, formed out of 6 needles with sharp teeth on two of them.  These teeth are so sharp that you can’t feel this process as she slices into your skin in search of a blood vessel. 

Once under the skin, she releases a vasodilator to keep your blood flowing while she is feeding.  For a fascinating look into the process, check out this video.  The vasodilator is contained within the saliva of the mosquito, along with all those virus’s we worry about.  In other words, once she is under your skin she will “spit” into you, both numbing and dilating the area to ease her meal.  The proboscis is very flexible, allowing the mosquito to move around under our skin without having to withdraw and start again.  You can watch some incredible footage of this here and here.  On average, a mosquito will drink for about 4 minutes, sucking so hard that the blood vessel can collapse or rupture into the surrounding area. Once she has taken her fill she will withdraw and fly away, without you being aware. 

In response to the injection of a foreign substance (saliva), our bodies mount an immune response.  Histamines are released around the site, causing swelling and that itch that we are all so familiar with.  It is thought that our sensitivity to bites decreases over time, which is why children often have much more substantial reactions to bites than adults.  There are also people who suffer from “skeeter syndrome”, an exaggerated reaction to mosquito saliva, better understood as a severe allergy to mosquito bites.  We have some customers whose children get welts from mosquito bites and use our service to help keep them healthy and playing outside. 

So, what can you do?  Obviously, your best defense is a good offense.  Using Mosquito Joe will keep your yard 95% mosquito resistant.  Using a repellent when leaving the house will also reduce your potential for bites and control that mosquito population in your yard by dumping water after rains and keeping you gutters free of debris.  Remember water = mosquitoes.  Most species come out at dawn and dusk so keep timing in mind when heading outside. As for a “mosquito season”, it is important to remember that mosquitoes will only hibernate when the temperatures remain under 55 degrees for a week, or we have 3 deep freezes in a row.  In the 4 years that Mosquito Joe has been treating in NW Houston and South Brazos, we have only had one week where these conditions have been met, meaning mosquitoes are always out. 

But let’s talk about what you can do once the bite has happened.  In the case of a normal reaction, calamine lotion or a topical anti-itch lotion can help.  You can also take an oral antihistamine such as Benadryl or Claritin.  If you have children who react more strongly using an ice pack can help with swelling and the itch.  Home remedies, including a warm oatmeal bath, can help as well, but garlic and other suggestions won’t do the trick, so stick to simple options.   

Mosquito bites can result in complications, from welts and blisters to sepsis.  The diseases they carry include malaria, West Nile, Zika and meningitis. If you experience a rash, fever over 101, persistent headache, muscle or joint pain or difficulty breathing, seek medical help.  Customers of ours who have West Nile tell us that they never understood the implications of the disease until it was too late.  While we are used to mosquito bites, we should never become complacent about the implications they carry.   

Mosquito Joe of NW Houston & S Brazos Valley 

281-815-0228 

Homemade Mosquito Control

While DEET has long been the recommended go-to for warding off mosquitoes, there are many who prefer an all-natural, homemade option, particularly when they are applying the repellent to their children.  We have some options for you but caution you to remember that all-natural options wear off quickly, so be prepared to re-apply every couple of hours.  Also, please remember that essential oils can trigger skin reactions, particularly in the young, so please do a patch test before using.  Finally, essential oils degrade quickly in sunlight, so it is a good idea to store your homemade repellant in a dark, well labelled bottle in a dark location.  

Mosquitoes, specifically female mosquitoes, bite when they are preparing to lay eggs.  They need the protein to lay and have an uncanny ability to find us from our CO2 plumes.  Repellants are exactly that – they repel the mosquito rather than making us “invisible” to them.  Mosquitoes are put off by certain smells, particularly garlic, although we promise we do not suggest you slather yourself in garlic before leaving the house! 

While mosquito repellant plants don’t really exist (you can check out an earlier blog post for more on that), the fragrance from certain plants, when ground down to the oils, will put mosquitoes off.  These include essential oils from lavender, catnip, eucalyptus, lemon grass and other “mosquito repellant plants” (AKA plant oils).

In all your recipes you will want to combine your essential oil with a carrier oil (Olive, Almond, or Grapeseed are good choices) at a 100 drop to 2 tablespoon ratio.  To preserve your recipe, you will need an alcohol, which you can add at a ratio of ½ teaspoon to 2 Tablespoons of oil.  Isopropyl alcohol or vodka are good options to use.  You will also want to add in some witch hazel.  If you have it lying around (and who doesn’t) a teaspoon of vegetable glycerin will help keep everything combined and reduce settling if you want to try using water instead of oil (we don’t find this to be as effective, especially in our heat and the resulting sweating).  Now for the recipes!  

Base:

2 tablespoons of oil 

100 drops of essential oils 

½ teaspoon of alcohol 

½ teaspoon Witch Hazel 

1. Herb garden:  Add 50 drops of basil and 50 drops of rosemary essential oils 

2. Citrus: 100 drops of lemon grass, or orange, or a combination of both 

3. Geranium: 100 drops 

4. Lavender: 100 drops 

5. Mint:  100 drops 

6. Eucalyptus: 100 drops 

7. Citronella: 100 drops (caveat here, as we acknowledge that this may not be what you want to smell like!) 

You can get inventive with your recipe but don’t lose sight of the fact that we are trying to repel mosquitoes, not delve into perfumery. 

If you would like to keep some stand-by’s available for camping trips or to keep in your car, homemade options may not be a good idea.  Sunlight and heat will degrade them.  We recommend you visit the EPA website for more guidance on skin repellents.  They also have an excellent search tool for finding the one that is right for you.  

If your mosquito issue isn’t limited to camping trips, but instead closer to home in your back yard, we can help.  We offer an all-natural service for your yard to keep those mosquitoes away using a combination of garlic (you won’t notice the smell, but the mosquitoes will!) rosemary and mint.  Even our combination services rely on garlic around flowering plants, as we are very focused on protecting our pollinators and minimizing our impact in a yard.  We want the mosquitoes out, along with their diseases, while keeping birds, butterflies and all other wildlife happy and content.  

Finally, as we cannot harp on about it enough, remember that your number one source for mosquitoes is water.  Just one teaspoon is enough water for them to breed in and managing that is a vital part of what we do.  If you want to reduce the numbers in your yard clean your gutters, remove all containers and dump out water after it rains.  If you want to learn more about our service don’t hesitate to give us a call.  We are always happy to talk mosquito! 🦟