The Mosquito Book: An Entertaining, Fact-filled Look at the Dreaded Pesky Bloodsuckers - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Brett Ortler is an editor at Adventure Publications. While at Adventure, he has edited dozens of books, including many field guides and nature-themed books. In addition to this book, he’s authored “The Firefly Book.” His own work appears widely, including in “Salon,” “Good Men Project,” “The Nervous Breakdown,” “Living Ready” and in a number of other venues in print and online. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and their young children.

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Get Rid of That Standing Water!

If you hate mosquitoes, make sure your yard isn’t inadvertently giving them a place to reproduce! While all mosquitoes require water to reproduce, they don’t need much, and they reproduce just as easily in the old tires in your backyard as in a seaside marsh. So the first step to fighting mosquitoes is to look around for places that can collect water—everything from the stagnant water in the birdbath to clogged-up gutters and the tarp covering the boat in the backyard. Dumping the water out will kill any larvae present, and removing the container will force female mosquitoes to look elsewhere to lay their eggs.

While you’re dumping out the water, fix your window screens. Even a small puncture is enough for mosquitoes to make their way into your home—and several disease-carrying species have no qualms about doing so. Repair kits are cheap and easy to apply, and can make a world of difference if you are in an area with a lot of mosquito activity.

If you have a birdbath, consider buying a “water wiggler.” These devices are cheap and agitate the water enough to prevent mosquitoes from laying their eggs there.

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Location, Location, Location—and Time

Like the DMV, political ads, and other less pleasant facts of life, mosquitoes are here to stay. Nonetheless, if you know something about their habitat and behavior, you can avoid the worst the swarms have to offer.

Mosquitoes can be found almost anywhere, but some areas are generally much worse than others. Ideal mosquito habitats include heavily wooded areas or areas with lots of vegetation, especially if they are near stagnant water. Examples include floodwater areas, tidal marshes and swamps. Mosquito species are also often active at specific times of day. While some species—including the Asian tiger mosquito—bite all day long, most mosquitoes rest in cool, shaded areas during the heat of the day and venture out in the afternoon, evening, and early morning.

These two tips are basically cumulative—if you avoid ideal mosquito habitat and are active when they usually aren’t, you’re far less likely to encounter them. On the other hand, if you decide to take a summertime after-dinner hike near a river, you might be running back to your car.

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Time for Payback

If you hate mosquitoes, you should book a ticket to Finland so you can visit tiny Pelkosenniemi, where the World Mosquito Killing Championship is held each year. The rules are simple: Whoever can kill the most mosquitoes in five minutes by hand wins. The current record holder is Henri Pellonpa¨a¨, who killed 21 mosquitoes, eclipsing the previous record of 7.

Finland has a number of other strange world championships, including the wife-carrying championship, the mobile phone-throwing championship and an air guitar championship.