Mosquitos and plants which repel them!

The only advice I would give is to spray yourself with a good 'Repelente', like Autan or similar. We live in the mountains and there have been loads of the little sods this year. Planting various herbs and shrubs that are supposed to deter them makes no difference at all, and using an expensive perfume only seems to attract them as well. There are also loads of flies around as well this October, not sure if it's a seasonal thing due to the warm weather we've had all summer. Re Spaying, you would have tp spray a very large area if you were to have any sucess.

Have just come back from Sardinia same there we went out and bought an electric zapper for the house.For once the little b*ggers seemed to like Autan.

... and although the plants you mention might mean you don't get as many, they will NOT stop them (as spraying won't unless as stated you do half of Italy...). We also have noticed many more flies around this year... But as stated in the subject, last January we actually had a number of tiger mozzies turn up in the warm sunshine... Still we would rather have them as company as not have the sun....  

If you do get bitten, use a piezo zapper as soon as you can and you won't suffer the itch. These things really work - I've had one or two around the house for years now and find them really effective. Amazon do them, but I also found them in Sainsbury's so guess they are widely available.

We spent last week on the Costiera Amalfitana and the mozzies ate me alive. I bought al kinds of expensive citronella candles, etc, and ended up buying "Autan". It was the only thing that worked. Back in Bagni di Lucca and even if we are on the river, I do not have any problems. I keep the Autan bottle nearby, just in case...

SirTK, I have something called a 'click it' from Boots (tho made in Italy) sounds like the same thing you are talking about. A small plastic thing that gives a small electric shock and kills the sting, also works with nettle stings. It's brilliant I carry it with me all the time and whip it out whenever needed. The Italians love it but can't find em over here anywhere.

We get bitten like mad but our next door neighbour says she doesn't get any and puts it down to the big fish tank in the living room. She reckons they eat the mossies. No idea if it's true!

We have a outside pond, populated by frogs and vipers at the moment. The problem is that you need a pump as well to circulate the water, as mozzies breed in still water. Best remedy we found for mozzie bites was Tiger Balm. It is what the Thais use and our friends there put us onto it.

If we have not been to Thailand, then you can get it from these places: http://www.asiaminimart.it/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=12_37 http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/tiger-balm_v_493.html  

Do put goldfish or red fish which eat larvae into any large water reservoirs or vascas. It does help. Penny, Neptuno in Sanremo is the place to buy them......

Thank you all for solving my enigma. I was perplexed by the fact that the mozzies were leaving me alone here, keeping in mind that we are literally hanging on one of the river banks; however, opposite our place, there are two spots which are official fishing competition sites and there are plenty of trouts of all sizes there. My husband is the one who ventures into the area as there are too many rocks for me to walk, but he says that he regularly sees the trouts feeding on insects. I can see them from my windows, but not in so much detail. So that is my maintenance-free fish pond. Thank you for letting me know.

i can't speak for what to do in the garden vs mosquitos.However whatever your plans are for your house i would suggest as a sine qua non to have insect screens installed on all windows.You may be suprised to know that the worst period for things coming in is NOT in the summer but from September thru to December this is because as it gets cooler all the things want to enter.It would be wrong to consider them as mosquito screens they keep out flies,wasps,bees,hornets,small birds,spiders,flying bugs,beetles,bats and mosquitos.I know some people to whom i suggested this to,they did not have them put in then one day they invited us to some kind of buffet...the whole place was full of flies... as far as the garden is concerned don't have a pond or any other stagnating water,spray the bushes in the vicinity of the house at the begining of spring,put up ultra violet lights if you have a pergola,and keep the aiutan on hand..i think thats all you can do.Another problem is that the tiger mosquito from asia since about 10 yrs has become native to Italy these are particularly fastidious because they bite during the day too not only during the evenings like the euro mossie(they have striped markings)

For bites the best thing is Urtica urens Arnica, guaranteed to work, it's a natural homeopathic remedy, that you can get your Chemist (preferable one that sells homeopathic medicines) to make up for you. Dilute it and spray on or use undiluted for severe bite or stings; works for burns as well.

Tiger mosquitos are really awful. As Sebastiano says, they bite day and night. Also, it seems to us that they are a lot faster than normal mosquitos and that they're much better at dodging. We have wondered if their stripey colouring somehow makes them harder for our eyes to track since it breaks up their outline. It does remind me of the camouflage pattern used on WWI era navy ships. In any case, they're a real pain. I completely agree with Sebastiano's suggestions about built in roller screens. This year, we've finally learned to be very disciplined about having these down at all times and to never - no matter how hot the weather might be - open any door for anything more than the minimum necessary to come or go. It does seem to us that annoying flying things queue up outside doors just waiting for them to be opened. Even so, we've still had to deal with a few flies, shield-bugs and mosquitos. I'm less enthusiastic about Sebastiano's suggestion that you should use insecticide to nuke the area near your house in spring. I don't want to sound all tree-hugger here, but there are a lot of beneficial insects killed by indiscriminate use of insecticide. Also, creating a zone of death once a year may make you feel like you're achieving something, but there's about 300,000 square kilometers of Italy ouside your fence that's full of creeping, flying insects and they'll soon fill up any vacancies you create in your garden. Also, UV bug zappers are good if you can believe that every snap means that a nasty biting insect has bit the dust. However, our experience of using UV traps indicates that what you mainly attract are harmless moths and a few flies. In order to make any sort of dent in the local mosquito population, specialised equipment which attracts, traps and then kills mozzies is required. These machines are not cheap to buy or operate, but they do seem to be very effective and they might be justified if you have, for example, a restauant with an outside terrace. Apart from that, all you can really do is try to ensure that there is absolutely no stagnant water anywhere on your land. I forget the figure, but I'm sure I've read that Tiger Mosquitos can happily breed in something like a tablespoon of water. One small trick we've used is to fill the trays under planters with sand. They still catch excess water, but not even Tiger Mosquito larvae can swim in damp sand. Al

Good idea Al, off to get a bag of sabbia later, with all this rain the trays are overflowing and I've just spotted 2 tigre zanzare 'resting' on our screens. We had new windows installed this spring, nice hand made chestnut double glazed jobbies, and having the roller type screens fitted has been great, and being able to have a breeze run through the house at night and not have to worry about flying things has been a boon. Best €6k i've ever spent... ....

The best repellant I've ever used is skin so soft by Avon as used by the SAS and Navy Seals You have to make sure it's the dry oil) - it's amazing stuff - not branded as mosquito repellant - dirt cheap - does an amazing job - smells good and non-toxic.  I get bitten viciously and if I so much as leave a cm unsprayed they get me. I understand that Avon now delivers to Italy - link below http://avonshop.co.uk/product/skin-so-soft/skin-so-soft-original-dry-oil... I also use the coils that burn available from supermarkets - double neurotic but I don't care as long as I don't end up bitten!! 

Tomorrow I am going to the Betti Pharmacy in Bagni to get the Arnica preparation recommended by Flip (thanks) as my ankles and wrists are still inbad shape after my week on the Costiera. No problems at home in Bagni, but I was massacred in the south...