Allegedly, it’s a good year for mozzies – the wet is leaving lots of little pools of standing water for them to breed in. Tiny little buggers, they wake up around dusk and go hunting. On locating a suitable victim, she (only the females do it) inserts her sneaky little proboscis and injects a local anaesthetic. After slucking up a spot of blood, she moves on a few centimeters and repeats the performance. A while later, you notice the itch. By then it’s far too late – the perpetrator is gone, and you’ve been devoured. My personal best is six bites in one night. They itch maddeningly for two or three days.
It’s more than a nuisance. Up in the Far North, there’s an outbreak of Dengue Fever. I’ll have two large scoops of Not Catching That, please. Time for some better living through chemistry.
DEET. Blocks their little noses up a treat
N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide. It binds to mozzie olfactory sensors, rendering them unable to smell us. Works a treat.
*A hearty ‘Well Done’ to the first person to understand this reference