At last count, 53 species of mosquitoes exist in California (compare that to about 3500 worldwide). In addition to the itchy bites, they are capable of transmitting a number of potentially deadly diseases: West Nile Virus, Saint Louis encephalitis, canine heartworm, western equine encephalitis, and malaria. The Asian Tiger mosquito has been found in Southern California and can transmit chikungunya, dengue, and malaria. Last year the Aedis aegypti mosquito (AKA “yellow fever mosquito”) that also spreads Zika was found in Citrus Heights.
Here are some proven methods for mosquito bite prevention.
Dress for success. Cover your body - long pants, long sleeves. Make it even better by using clothing pretreated with the insecticide permethrin or spray your own clothes with permethrin. This insecticide should not be sprayed directly on your skin.
Cover exposed skin with an EPA-approved insect repellant. Do not apply the repellant under your clothes. EPA-approved products contain DEET, Picaridin, IR3535, 2-undecanone, Oil of lemon eucalyptus or para-menthane-diol (PMD). A word of caution: the last two should not be used on children less than 3 years of age. If you also are planning on wearing sunscreen, the order of application is sunscreen first, repellant second.
Go out on mosquito patrol. Check your home for places that they can get in and then repair the access points like holes in screens and gaps under doors. Do you have plant saucers, birdbaths, toys, tires, or just low areas where water collects and mosquitoes can lay eggs? Empty plant saucers. Change birdbath water daily and scrub the birdbath at least weekly. The same goes for outdoor pet bowls. If you need those old buckets, dump the water in them and store them upside down. Cover the tops of rain barrels. Clean out gutters. Fill in low areas and don't over-water. Keep your pool treated. If it's your neighbor's pool that has been left untreated and is the source of the problem, you can call the Solano County Mosquito Abatement District at 707-437-1116. Mosquitoes don't recognize property lines. As little as a half-inch of water in a water bottle cap can play host to an innumerable amount of mosquito larvae. Be diligent and aggressive.
Recently, some gardening websites have posted articles about mosquito-repellent plants. A quick search of my trusted references revealed that a plant alone can't repel mosquitoes. Yes, the oil can be extracted from the leaves of some plants and made into an effective repellent, but the plant just sitting there in the pot or in the ground, unfortunately, can't.
Limit outdoor activities when many mosquitoes are often most active – early morning and evening. You may think an electric bug zapper will take care of the problem. Unfortunately, bug zappers kill the very bugs that can kill the mosquitoes. Citronella candles can repel mosquitoes but only when there is no or barely any air movement and they can only be used outdoors. It all comes back to prevention. Control mosquitoes by preventing them from laying their eggs.
As a teen living in Tampa, Florida, almost every summer afternoon brought lightning and rain followed by the mosquito abatement planes that swooped in low and dropped spray over the whole city. It did help cut down on the number of bites. In California, we don't get nearly that amount of rain during our mosquito season. We don't usually need plane-loads of insecticides dropped on us. Let's work together to limit mosquito bites and mosquito-transmitted diseases.