Mosquitos
 

As one who has been deemed by my friends as "the mosquito magnet" I am always on the lookout for ways to avoid them. As luck would have it, there is a whole colony of them camped out on my front porch around the front door. There is no standing water around that would attract them so I am wondering if there is something else drawing them. Has anyone else had the problem and if so, what is the best way to get rid of them? Of course, I know this is Florida and there will always be mosquitos here but I would like to keep them out of my house as much as possible. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Where are mosquitos?
 

Where do you live that you have mosquitos? I have been in The Villages over 1 1/2 years and have not seen a single mosquito. I go walking in the evening, go walking near water & marshes, go to Lake Sumter Landing - all in the evening and no mosquitos.

My frineds and I have commented many times about how mosquito free The Villages happens to be. We wonder if there is spraying going on at times we do not see it.

Anyhow, I would be interested to know where you find mosquitos.

I have been mosquito bitten outside The Villages many times. I wonder if there are no mosquitos in The Villages because it is age restricted and it is hard to find a 55 year old mosquito?

Maybe this is a problem found at the Lake Weir community or at a Del Webb community? Not The Villages, for sure.

Are you sure that what you are seeing are not "blind mosquitoes" as the locals refer to them? They look extremely similar to the real thing but do not bite and usually fly in swarms. The love to lay their eggs in stagnant ponds that contain run off fertilizer- the ponds around here are perfect. I googled them once - they are a form of gnat.

We've been here since 2007---have only seen one mosquito since we moved here and it got in my bathroom some way. Are you in The Villages? They spray for them here---have seen the airboat with spray on Lake at Sumter Landing. Think they must go through neighborhoods as well.

haha
 

[QUOTE=T. I wonder if there are no mosquitos in The Villages because it is age restricted and it is hard to find a 55 year old mosquito?[/QUOTE]

:mademyday:

Mosquitoes love to bite me. I would be the acid test if they were anywhere around they would find ME.

KathieI talked last year about blind mosquitoes. And I think she said they didn't bite. I don't know why they are called blind mosquitoes either, but someone is gonna tell us.

Maybe the blind mosquitoes are the over 55 ones that LI Snowbird was talking about!

Whether they are blind, non-biting mosquitos or the biting kind, they breed in standing water. So be sure that there are no puddles of water near your porch, such as an overwatered pot, or a blocked gutter on the roof, or a bird bath, etc. Getting rid of standing water will rid you of your mosquitos.

Good suggestion about the clogged gutter. There is a section of gutter around the front porch which may be clogged with debris. I guess I'll never know if they are the blind (non-biting) mosquitos because I don't intend to get around them. Since there appears to be a whole swarm of them, I'm betting that's what they are. Villagers are so smart! BTW, since someone asked, I live in Buttonwood. Since there's a lot of new construction going on maybe they aren't spraying around here yet.

Mosquitoes
 

You might check your rain gutters.

[QUOTE=dsnrbec;347174]As one who has been deemed by my friends as "the mosquito magnet" I am always on the lookout for ways to avoid them. [QUOTE]

I'm also a mosquito magnet, and there certainly are mosquitos in TV! I get a mosquito bite a few times a week. Not many at all compared to the outside world. But they do come out at dusk or when the grass has been mowed. Last year I also got stung in March and again in April by yellow-jacket wasps, and I have an allergy. There are bugs in TV but they're only interested in a few of us.

Mosquitos
 

These swarms are composed of tiny, mosquito-like creatures called "midges" and locally they are called "blind mosquitos". They lack the biting mouthparts of true mosquitos and are harmless. There is a spraying program in The Villages, a sprayer truck makes the rounds late at night(anywhere from 10pm to 1am) in my Santiago neighborhood. This truck sprays every few weeks during the warm weather. The sprayer is loud, the truck has a bright yellow flasher and the spray cloud travels up over the rooftops. I don't know what they spray but it sure keeps the insects down. I've lived her 12 years and have rarely seen a bona fide mosquito.

Best way to avoid them....is to have them avoid you. Simply take a spray bottle and fill with regular old white vinegar. Spray the area...grass...concrete..wherever ....BINGO they will stay away. Going hiking in the woods?... spray yourself with common white vinegar ( 2 bucks a gallon at Wal-Mart ) NO bites ....and ...the smell disappears in 5 or so hours. No need for toxic chemical sprays. As an aside.....If you are bitten by a tick....wet a paper towel with vinegar and apply to the tick....they will let go immediately...Above all tested by me, it works.

Yes, TV does spray for mosquitoes. I don't know when they do it, but they do. I haven't been bitten since I've been here, but have been attacked by red ants many times.

If all of those ponds aren't standing water, I'll eat your hat, K9.:ho:

I still say they are those midges.

We had TRILLIONS last year around the front door and on the garage door.

Not a bite.

But yucky anyhow. I am just grateful they weren't alligators by the trillions.