What mosquitoes are afraid of and how to deal with them with the help of smells

Hello! Last summer I sometimes recall with a shudder. The fact is that I can’t stand mosquitoes on the spirit.

I am allergic to their bites, so the very active behavior of insects has become a real test for me. I had to make an effort to prevent them from flying around the house unhindered.

As a result, I still found an effective way to protect myself from the bites of these harmful insects. Want to know what mosquitoes are afraid of? I will share with you my successful experience in dealing with them.

7 odors that mosquitoes fear

Summer picnic without mosquitoes. Fantasy? No, why - quite real. It is enough to know what smells, how mosquitoes are afraid of fire, and use them to protect against these nasty insects.

Fresh elderberry branches, arranged or laid out nearby, scare away mosquitoes.

Finely chop the fresh leaves of bird cherry or mountain ash and rub exposed skin.

The smell of cedar oil will scare away not only mosquitoes, but also flies and cockroaches.

Try the essential oils of cloves, basil, anise and eucalyptus. Lubricate exposed skin (5-10 drops per glass of water), or drip onto a fire source - in a fireplace, bonfire, on a candle or in a heated pan.

Not a single insect will touch the face if you wash it with a decoction of wormwood roots (pour a handful of chopped roots into 1.5 liters of water, bring to a boil, insist for 20-30 minutes).

What are mosquitoes afraid of? Surveillance Tools

Without exaggeration, mosquitoes can be called the most annoying, nasty, vile and thousands of times damned insects of our huge Planet.

Mosquitoes live in the forest, taiga, in the swamps and in our cozy apartments, in general, they don’t care where they live, most importantly, there’s some kind of water source, where the females could lay their eggs, and, in fact, the prey from which they could receive a coveted drop of blood.

What do bloodsuckers eat in the forest?

Mosquitoes in the forest feed on various sugar-containing fluids, flower nectar, etc. Those. they even resemble hummingbirds.

They need sugar to support their livelihoods, and females need mosquitoes for blood to multiply and form eggs, but some part of the blood can still be used by females as food, while males get by with nectar, juice of flowers.

A female mosquito, depending on the species, can lay 30 to 280 eggs every 2-3 days.

How do mosquitoes find their prey?

To search for a victim, the mosquito primarily focuses on the sense of smell, capturing the carbon dioxide released by the victim during breathing. It captures the smell of lactic acid secreted with sweat, already several kilometers from the victim, so mosquitoes often bite those who sweat more.

Mosquitoes also focus on infrared thermal radiation, which mammals, like a lantern, emit heat from their body.A sweaty tourist or hunter in the woods with a large backpack is an ideal target for mosquitoes.

Who bites more?

Mosquitoes bite more often people with high cholesterol in the blood, they catch it with their senses, and such blood seems to them more attractive. Mosquitoes are also attracted to people with a high content of sex hormones: testosterone in men and estrogen in women.

Pregnant women are also attractive prey for mosquitoes due to changes in hormonal levels, increasing blood cholesterol. Before you drink our blood, the mosquito injects her saliva into the bite, which contains anticoagulants that prevent blood clotting.

With saliva, transmitted infections are transmitted, such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, some encephalitis, tularemia (present in the northern latitudes), etc. Saliva causes unpleasant itching, swelling and redness at the site of the bite, and often an allergic reaction.

Overview of the means that insects fear

First of all, it is worth noting that mosquitoes do not tolerate heat, their activity is noticeably reduced already at +25 degrees. On a hot day in the sun, you are unlikely to meet mosquitoes, but towards evening they will remind of themselves.

Clothing. First of all, having gathered in the forest, you need to take care of your clothes. If you are in the middle lane, then you will find mosquitoes relatively few compared to the tundra wastelands, northern taiga forests or the humid jungle.

In the middle lane, you may be able to get by with aerosol sprays based on death metal, but in more remote places you will need a mosquito net, a mosquito hat with a fine net, and clothes with long sleeves.

This is the most reliable remedy for mosquitoes in the forest, and for midges, gadflies, horseflies, which are not affected by death-based chemicals.

Chemical repellents based on DETA. Ointments, aerosols. The most popular mosquito repellents are sprays and ointments containing diethitoluamide (DEET). They are applied both to clothing and to exposed parts of the body, such as the face, hands. The main goal of repellents is to scare away mosquitoes.

The mosquito, smelling the same carbon dioxide, lactic acid and seeing infrared radiation, approaches you, but does not dare to touch, sensing, in addition, a substance dangerous to him. “Life is more expensive,” the mosquito’s wife thinks. However, with intense perspiration, even the most effective ointments will not last you long.

Many argue about brands, one tool helps someone, does not help someone, but according to experienced taiga, the most effective are Off, Moskitol, and Gardeks.

You can also use other means, for example, "Taigu", Cologne "Clove", gasoline, etc. When applying chemicals to bare parts of the body, for example, the face, after heavy perspiration, the skin begins to burn.

Electric fumigators. There are two types of electrofumigants that repel / kill mosquitoes. The first, such as "Raptor", "fumitox" - they are based on a heating element and a plate saturated with chemicals that inhibit the action of mosquitoes.

The second ones are ultrasonic scarers that do not kill mosquitoes, but only scare them away, not letting them come closer than 1 meter to themselves.

They emit ultrasonic vibrations inaudible to the human ear, which the female mosquito is afraid of. These vibrations are nothing more than an imitation of the ultrasound that a male mosquito emits.

Experienced taiga argue about the technical feasibility of scaring off with the help of such a device in general, and many are skeptical of these devices, considering them to be ordinary money bumpers. Your humble servant did not have the pleasure of using such ultrasonic devices, so I can not recommend them to you.

Folk remedies. The most popular folk remedy for repelling mosquitoes in Russia was considered birch tar. It was extracted from smoldering birch bark and mixed with some kind of oil, because in its pure form tar cannot be used.

Tar scares away mosquitoes, as well as midges and other vile, which is a huge misfortune of the taiga zone of Eurasia. From midges it also helps to use vanillin. Mix with baby cream and apply to areas of the body.

If you forgot all the repellents at home, i.e. for hopelessness, you can use one folk method. Find an anthill in the forest, sit next to it, stretch your hands with your palms down at a distance of just about a centimeter from the anthill. Hold it for about 2 minutes, then wipe unprotected parts of the body with these palms.

If the ants bite you slightly, then there’s nothing to worry about, so maybe even better. Most likely, the problem is formic acid, which is secreted by ants. Such a tool should at least somehow alleviate your suffering and your fate as a forest donor.

How to relieve itching after a bite?

Most likely, the most popular way to relieve unpleasant itching after a bite is alcohol, as well as colognes and various liquids containing alcohol.

Also salicylic alcohol, boric alcohol, tincture of calendula, corvalol and valocardine, a solution of soda, a weak solution of vinegar, kefir, sour cream, tea tree oil, and of various ointments sold in pharmacies.

Folk remedies for mosquitoes and midges

For protection, you can use folk remedies for mosquitoes and midges. Mosquitoes and midges are afraid of simple folk remedies no less than the purchased chemistry.

The skin begins to redden and swell, severe itching begins. After some time, the redness disappears, and the itching and swelling still persists. So the local allergic reaction is manifested. In some cases, urticaria, itching and general weakness are manifested.

There are severe cases in which abdominal pain, vomiting, shortness of breath begin, dizziness. If a person cannot tolerate a mosquito bite, there are even shock conditions. Bites of mosquitoes and midges lead to combing, and this leads to infections.

Now in our country, cases of malaria infection are being recorded. The source of infection is malaria mosquitoes.

People often think that malaria mosquitoes are huge mosquitoes, centipedes. In fact, centipedes are completely harmless. And malaria mosquitoes look almost like ordinary ones, only a little larger, and the body is raised up.

Previously, the vulture was destroyed with the help of toxic chemicals. The processing of vast territories was carried out. This method was considered one of the most effective. Currently, mass processing is not performed, but done only on a commercial basis.

So, for example, we are processing camps for children who are in the forest zone. Therefore, the number of bloodsuckers does not decrease, but only grows.

We have to think about ourselves, we have to invent a variety of methods of protection. Can be used to repel repellents.

A good effect is given by folk remedies.

And if you are still bitten by a mosquito or midge, learn to cope with this disaster with the help of folk remedies. To relieve swelling and itching, treat the sore spot with boric alcohol. Suitable for this and tincture of calendula, valocordin, corvalol.

To reduce itching and swelling come in handy:

• onion slice,
• sour cream,
• nettle juice.

A cold compress from ammonia, or apple cider vinegar, drinking soda and even vodka will also help. To make a compress, you need to dissolve 1 teaspoon of the product in a glass of water. It is good to wipe the sore spots with the prepared solution.

We prepare it this way: mix salt with water, apply to a sore spot. Usually at the beginning there is a slight tingling, and then there are no traces and marks, the skin does not comb.

What the bloodsuckers can't stand?

There are a lot of folk remedies for insect bites, however, not all of them are equally effective, we will tell you about the best:

Folk remedies for mosquitoes

What do you associate the word summer with? Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is a vacation, a warm sun, a sea beach, sand, walks or “outings” into nature, and ... mosquitoes.

Yes, these little bloodsuckers can completely ruin the most picturesque picture. And then the question arises: is there really no salvation from these harmful and annoying insects? Of course there is.

Method one. You need to drop a couple drops of citronella essential oil into a tablespoon and leave it in the room in which you are located. The essential vapors of this oil will scare away all mosquitoes and they will leave this room.

If you want to spend the evening on the open veranda, then drop this oil on your skin. Remember, citronella oil must be natural, and in no case perfume. Otherwise, you will not get any effect.

Second method. Get products that are based on catnip. Since ancient times, people have revealed that its aroma repels not only mosquitoes, but any other insects flying and biting humans.

And if you find this grass, you can cover it with the threshold of your house, and it will turn into a real wall impervious to mosquitoes.

Method three. Surely, you know such a widespread weed as wheat grass. So in the old days a couch of wheatgrass saved from bloodsucking insects.

During the cooking process, the aroma that spreads indoors - drives mosquitoes out of there, and if you grease exposed areas of the body with a ready-made broth - you can walk in the evening near a reservoir and not be afraid of bites for three hours.

Fourth method. For about two hours of an evening walk through the fresh air, a decoction made according to the following recipe will save you: take five grams of cloves and boil them in a glass of water for no more than fifteen minutes.

Fifth method. If you have your own house and you are often overwhelmed by the persistent infamous in early summer, plant elderberry bushes under the windows. Every year, with the advent of the first leaves on the bushes, your home will be out of reach for mosquitoes and midges.

Fifth method. This method is very simple. Our great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers also noticed that mosquitoes absolutely cannot stand the extremely specific aroma that tomato leaves emit. Therefore, it is worth placing a bed with tomatoes under the windows. And they scare away all the mosquitoes from your home.

Sixth method. You can scare away mosquitoes using the smells of valerian, camphor or tobacco smoke. Even a very large room can be completely cleaned of any vile if you evaporate about a hundred grams of camphor over the burner.

Eighth method. From mosquitoes, it is good to use essential oils of eucalyptus or anise. Little bloodsuckers are afraid of these smells and will fly around you if you apply a few drops of oil to exposed areas of the body. Moreover, these aromas will imperceptibly positively affect your body’s immune and nervous systems.

If you just decided to sit with friends on the street, put a lighted candle nearby and drop a drop of oil into the fire. Then, not only you, but your whole company will be under strong ether protection from the vile flying and biting creatures.

Ninth method. Tea tree oil works well as a mosquito repellent. And even if you come under the "mosquito distribution" and got a few bites - grease the wounded area with this oil. It will very quickly relieve swelling and completely eliminate itching.

Therefore, having smeared yourself with this “magical” means, sung by many poets, you will protect yourself one hundred percent from mosquito troubles.

And a few more tips ...

By lightly sprinkling the head of the bed with carbolic acid, you protect your sleep all night from attack.

Soybean oil or soy sauce will also help you get rid of "mosquito insomnia." One has only to drop them on a plate and put it in the head of the bed or on the bedside table.

Garlic! The smell of garlic is poorly tolerated not only by some people, but also by mosquitoes. Therefore, if you are not afraid to scare your friends, eat more garlic, and mosquitoes will not fly up to you for a cannon shot.

And in the open air ammonia applied to the body helps a lot.

In the treasury of folk wisdom there are many more recipes and tips that you can use without fear of harming yourself and your loved ones. After all, if you look into the past, you can see how much healthier and more viable our ancestors were. So, it’s worth learning from them. Is not it?

11 herbs that drive mosquitoes away

Citronella - This is one of the most popular ingredients in repellents - mosquito repellents. It is very simple to grow citronella on the beds or on the windowsill. This is a perennial grass that grows in bunches, rises quite high.

In our latitudes in the open ground, the plant turns into an annual. If you want lush bushes, then plant citronella in containers, which you will remove in the winter in warm rooms.

Other uses:

• dried chopped citronella - seasoning for meat and vegetables;
• leaves smelling like lemon - an additive to tea;
• decoction of leaves - an antiseptic, helps with colds.

Melissa. Unlike citronella, lemon balm can survive the winter outdoors. We are used to brewing leaves as an additive to tea and do not know that they can be used to repel mosquitoes. Melissa grows quickly, spreads by itself, you do not need to take care of it.

Other properties of lemon balm:

Lemon cattle. Lemon catnip, which is often called catnip, looks like lemon balm. Cats really love this grass and react to its aroma with a loud purr. Mosquitoes have a different opinion about this plant.

Other properties:

• it has a calming effect on a person;
• used in training cats;
• improves digestion.

Marigold. Traditional city flowers. Driving away mosquitoes and other insects. Able to grow along busy roads, they will survive even after landing with inept hands. Drop them around the cottage so that mosquitoes do not want to fly to visit.

Other properties:

1. disinfect the soil around their growth sites;
2. used as a seasoning for meat dishes;
3. strengthen immunity.

Basil. Two in one! Seasoning and mosquito repellent. The basil has many varieties that differ in shape and color, so that even a window sill or garden bed can be decorated with unusual combinations. The plant is annual, it is grown quite simply.

Other properties:

Lavender. A beautiful plant with a calming aroma, which is best grown in pots (or to help it survive the cold winter). What just do not aromatize with lavender! But mosquitoes do not like its essential oils.

Other uses:

• dried flowers - seasoning for pastries and confectionery;
• used as an antiseptic;
• sachets with lavender are used to protect things from moths.

Peppermint. Mosquitoes cannot stand the smell of peppermint. And not only mosquitoes. The essential oil of this plant is one of the best remedies for scaring off spiders (from which it is almost impossible to find special remedies).

And if the mosquito did bite you, rub the plant juice into the bite to relieve itching.

Additional properties:

Garlic. Mosquitoes don't care how much garlic you ate. Insect odor is not an obstacle. But the green shoots of garlic on a flower bed will scare away mosquitoes away from the arbor.

Additional properties:

1. possesses antibacterial properties;
2. garlic juice is a natural glue;
3. stimulates hair growth when rubbing juice into the scalp.

Mint. This type of mint smells very strong, so many people do not like its sharp aroma. But in open areas where the smell does not concentrate in space, it helps to cope with mosquitoes. And her flowers attract many butterflies.

Other properties:

Rosemary. Ways to use rosemary are usually concentrated in cookbooks. But in the flowerbed, the plant behaves as well as marsh mint: drives away mosquitoes and attracts butterflies.

Other properties:

• rosemary oil is a good preservative;
• decoctions and infusions improve the condition of oily skin;
• improves memory.

Geranium. Garden geraniums have one main purpose - to please the eye. It is easy to plant, easy to care for, and the choice of species and varieties is beneficial to landscape design. And, of course, garden geranium repels mosquitoes.

10 odors that mosquitoes fear

Mosquitoes have a very sensitive sense of smell. Scent is the main locator on the path to prey - to people and animals, sources of tasty and warm blood. The carbon dioxide exhaled by us and the complex mixture of secretions of our skin are an irresistible bait for annoying bloodsuckers.

However, there are smells that mosquitoes vehemently hate and fear. They can be used to keep mosquitoes at bay. Without using chemicals and other means of mass destruction. Here are 10 commonly available herbal remedies that drive mosquitoes away.

For a resident of the New World, this is a plant of the bluegrass family - the first thing that comes to mind when talking about fighting mosquitoes. The names of lemon sorghum, lemongrass or cymbopogon are more common in Russian.

Citronella oil is widely used in the manufacture of household sprays, spirals and insect candles. It has a citrus aroma, pleasant to the human nose, but terribly irritating to mosquitoes.

Peppermint. Mint aroma really does not like the sensitive smell of mosquitoes. The slightest presence of mint in the garden makes these pesky neighbors stay away. Personal protection can be prepared from plants by finely crushing mint leaves and rubbing the skin with this mass.

For mosquitoes you will become unbearable! If you have already undergone an insect bite, then mint will help to quickly remove swelling and inflammation.

Basil. This unpretentious plant is not just a delicious seasoning for your favorite Italian cuisine. It is also a natural mosquito repellent that is always at hand.

Garlic. Like its close relative, onions are an edible repellent. When we eat a clove of garlic, its active ingredient allicin mixes with our natural odor and makes it extremely unattractive to mosquitoes.

We look for them a kind of spoiled product, which is better to fly around. But garlic can be used against insects without eating it.

Finely chop the cloves of garlic and sprinkle with slices the territory of your site. Garlic chips can also be mixed with aromatic oils (lemon balm, lemongrass, etc.) to make the smell more intense and fill the whole yard with it.

Grinding the mixture in a blender, you can prepare a protective ointment for the body, the main thing is to prevent it from getting into the eyes and sensitive mucous membranes. Believe me, to a person who smells of garlic, no self-respecting mosquito will fly up for any gingerbread!

Melissa. This peppermint plant has a soothing scent that all unwanted insects find extremely unpleasant. But bees, butterflies and people love the smell of lemon balm. Plant this pretty plant in an area that needs to be protected from mosquitoes.

Use the crushed parts of the plant for the preparation of anti-mosquito ointments. Well, and the leaves will always find application in the process of making herbal teas as an excellent sedative.

Lavender. People devote songs to this flower, but mosquitoes strongly disagree with them. They do not like the pungent smell of these purple flowers and try to stay away from them at all costs.

Calendula. These bright flowers, which we call marigolds, are notable for their sharp aroma and healing properties. On mosquitoes, calendula acts simply stunning. Plant these bright orange flowers in your garden and in the yard and mosquitoes will not stick their nose out.

From time to time, flowers can be cut and placed in vases in rooms to prevent the bloodsuckers from trying to get into the holy of holies - your home. Marigolds are not only the decoration of the site, but also an excellent antimicrobial and antifungal agent and seasoning component.

Catman. He is often called catnip for the love that mustaches and stripes have for this weed. Alas, the mosquitoes of this weakness of our furry pets do not share in any case and are afraid of it like fire.

The plant is planted in open ground and in boxes to protect the garden and garden from mosquitoes and small flying midges. Leaves can be added to tea as an excellent sedative and sleeping pill.

Rosemary. Another plant, suggesting its most diverse use in the household. Planted in the garden, a fragrant flower works wonders, easily coping with any creeps of small midges and mosquitoes.

If you are cooking a barbecue, it is enough to apply a few drops of juice from rosemary leaves on the wire rack and mosquitoes will not be close to your site and thirty steps away, because they are frightened by the aroma of this plant, which human smells really like.

Eucalyptus. The British colonists discovered the unique properties of this tree shortly after landing in Australia. There was no malaria in the eucalyptus groves! Along with citronella, eucalyptus is one of the most effective plants in the fight against mosquitoes.

Eucalyptus essential oils repel and disorient not only mosquitoes and mosquitoes, but also ticks. Entering the atmosphere of a eucalyptus tree, arthropods cannot detect prey and eventually die of starvation.

It is very difficult to grow a eucalyptus tree far from the tropics and subtropics, but it is worth using ready-made sprays with eucalyptus oil to protect against mosquitoes throughout the entire period of activity of blood-sucking insects.

The above tools only help to drive annoying insects from your site, but are not able to significantly reduce their numbers.

Mosquito exterminator traps cope with this task much more efficiently! Do not give mosquitoes a single chance!

Folk recipes

Summer and the sun are wonderful, if only mosquitoes could be put somewhere ... Or at least find a way to protect themselves from them. I don’t feel like spraying and spraying with special means all the time - this is solid chemistry, in addition, they are especially harmful to children.

But are there any folk remedies that are harmless? It turns out that cunning and wise people really can get rid of mosquitoes and midges with the help of simple methods.

Seven Ways to Get Rid of Parasites

Clove decoction. No, no, we don’t have to cook in a saucepan the “symbol of revolution” - red cloves. It's about spices. You need to buy dried clove buds on the market or in the spices department.

There is an even simpler way - to buy the cheapest odorous cologne in the store. But this tool is not for the faint of heart. Refined ladies, accustomed to a French perfume, are hardly suitable.

Aromas of oil. Of course, not vegetable oil, but essential. It is necessary to create intolerable conditions for mosquitoes - for example, scare them with a smell that they really do not like. And mosquitoes can not stand the smells of anise, cloves, eucalyptus and basil.

A few drops of any of these essential oils should be mixed with cream or milk, after which you can be smeared without restrictions. Only the skin will become softer, because essential oils are very useful! At home, oil can be dripped on the aroma lamp, on the street - on some firebrand in the fire.

And by the way, if the bloodsucker has already bitten you, you can lubricate the site of the attack with essential oil, it quickly relieves itching and irritation. It seems that this fragrant remedy is perfect, first of all, for children.

In addition to aromatic oils, we recommend using cedar oil in the forest. Mosquitoes cannot stand him. And it, at the same time, has very valuable healing properties - you can smear it directly on the skin.

Ancient tar. This is a primordially Siberian, taiga folk remedy. You can’t smear their body, you can burn it, first you need to mix a little tar with cream. And even better - smear a fine mesh with tar and throw it on a panama hat or cap. Mosquitoes, as well as midges, as well as horseflies, hornets and other riffraff, will immediately be carried away.

Moreover, tar also repels ticks. But this year, ticks in Tomsk simply brutalized! Here is such a universal, wonderful folk remedy.

Bonfire. As we already said, mosquitoes do not like a lot of smells (which, however, are picky!), And among them are coniferous aromas. Throw spruce and pine cones, coniferous branches into the fire, and this smoke will instantly disperse mosquitoes. And also those who are sitting by the fire ...

In the garden - elderberry. If in your garden, according to a popular saying, a large elderberry has grown, pick up branches from it and put this armful in the room. Mosquitoes will immediately be removed from there.

Like in a candy store. You can still get rid of mosquitoes, but from midges ... Small, annoying, indestructible, they penetrate everywhere. However, midges really do not like such a festive, such a wonderful smell of vanilla.

Mosquitoes and midges also do not like the smells of camphor, valerian, lemon, lavender, frankincense, they are afraid of tomato leaves, flowers and leaves of a bird cherry, the smell of “Caucasian chamomile” - feverfew, decoctions of wormwood or wheatgrass roots.

Folk remedies that help after a bite

As well as other blood-sucking creatures. The delicate baby skin is especially difficult for bites. Be sure to treat the bite areas so that the arms and legs of the child are not covered with red blisters. Elementary things will help us in this - we will use what is at hand:

• Cut the onion and attach briefly to the bite site until the swelling subsides. You can use garlic.
• Tear off fresh parsley or mint leaves, chop them lightly and attach to the wound.
• Find a sheet of plantain, rinse, make several cuts and attach to the bite for 15-20 minutes.
• Attach to the wound a leaf of aloe, which you always need to have for such purposes and in the country.
• It relieves irritation well ... aftershave cream. And also toothpaste.
• A simple and effective tool is a solution of soda (1 tsp per half a glass of water)
• Keep in your medicine cabinet the "good old" Zvezdochka balm. It not only helps after bites, but also repels mosquitoes.

What mosquitoes love

Well, and finally, information for the curious:

1. Mosquitoes love heat and humidity
2. Mosquitoes bite women more than men
3. Mosquitoes love pregnant women
4. They prefer to bite obese people (probably because they sweat more)
5. Mosquitoes bite more temperamental, energetic people than nerdy melancholy
6. Mosquitoes like dark clothes, so go in the summer in light.