naturerecordists
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Re: mosquito windscreen color reaction

Subject: Re: Re: mosquito windscreen color reaction
From: Walter Knapp <>
Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2003 23:34:06 -0400
Rich Peet wrote:
> You will know when you find a group with a color preference.
> I want blue no where near me in my badlands and no where near my 
> recorder.  I also have no use for Cit as the bugs here just laugh at 
> it.

My recorder is in a PortaBrace case model made for it. Those are a shade 
of blue. Hardly ever a bug of any kind lands on that case. Certainly not 
attracted to it.

> Deet has its problems and I am now replacing the adhesive that holds 
> my gps together. but at least it works even though I have been in two 
> urgent care sites for ticks in recent times.

I've used all kinds of repellents during my lifetime. I've not found 
Deet to be any kind of wonder repellent, requires frequent 
reapplication, probably more often than the citronella one I'm using 
now. And deet does not repel our brand of mosquitos. Slows down them 
finding you slightly.

I just simply decided I could do without a repellent that was dangerous 
to my equipment. I've seen far too much ruined by it. I tried the 
citronella in liquid applicator form and found it was of about the same 
effectiveness. Unlike some reports I get all evening with one 
application and that's 6-8 hours or more. Note I'm not talking about the 
candles and such like, they don't work particularly well. You have to 
apply the citronella to you or your clothes.

After comments by several I did not expect it would be effective in 
Canada. I stocked up on some deet in the stronger formulations. I just 
report that what I found over quite a chunk of Canada within a few 
hundred miles of Ottawa was that the citronella was as effective. In 
addition the hover distance was greater with citronella than with deet. 
With deet I had to be careful not to breathe in the mosquitos. And I was 
very careful to keep it off my equipment. As a matter of practice I 
avoid getting citronella on my equipment as well.

I did use citronella on my trip out west a couple years back. I had some 
deet along, but never used it.

In my mountaineering days in Oregon and Washington there were areas the 
reapply frequency to keep from being bitten with deet repellents was 
sometimes as short as 15 minutes.

Though Georgia is full of ticks I've had no problems, very rare to pick 
up a tick. I don't know if the citronella helps or if I just live a 
charmed life. I certainly am in the right environments to collect lots. 
I know in the past I've had ticks climb on right over deet treated 
clothing. I've never trusted a repellent to be reliable for ticks.

Walt






________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the naturerecordists mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU