Mosquitoes

[Astroscot2]

10 hours ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

Apparently they can smell it before they taste, or if they do bite...........they hate it and go elsewhere with no ill effect to you. 

I saw this on a show on BBC4 (the only tv channel worth watching after 9pm).

Now the weather has cooled down a bit, the Mozzie and Gnat levels have dropped, but have been replaced by Greenfly.

I was bitten quite a bit while on holiday recently,  the rest of the family returned bite free, I recon I smell nice to them. First day back home I cut the crass and was bitten by a Clegg below my knee, my leg ballooned up.  Ive had a few dermatofibromas removed over the years due to insect bites, I'm on the insect menu.

[Alfian]

1 hour ago, Astroscot2 said:

First day back home I cut the crass and was bitten by a Clegg

Years ago on a holiday at Arisaig I was bitten several times by what I was told was a "clegg" and although I've always assumed it was some kind of horse fly, I had not heard the term "clegg" since. I assume its a Scottish term for such but you would have thought it should have originated in Yorkshire. Nasty not so little blighters that draw blood, you have my greatest sympathy. I sometimes wonder that if midges were the size of horse flies they would be lethal.

[Beulah]

They are called No See-'ems in the States...

[LukeSkywatcher]

Ive been bitten by a horse fly. Damn my arm swelled up and it was painful.

Whats a Clegg? 

Im guessing you were not bitten by a politician.

[Stub Mandrel]

Clegg is a small horsefly ?

I stopped counting at 50 bites, a few weeks ago. I'm covered with  little scabs and scars as it's impossible to itch even with an antihistamine pill and hydrocortisone cream double whammy ? I even had one swell up into a fluid-filled blister!

We have a flooded gravel pit/country park behind our house. In a normal summer you see the beasts swarming over the tops of the trees:

This year they are swarming in the garden every evening and regularly in the house. I took this nearby when looking for Mercury. This isn't a flock of seagulls...

Of course it's great for swifts, swallows and house martins... but my astro adventures have got me bitten so much, added to the ones in my 'office' I have started really swelling up, like for a horsefly bite. A few days ago both hands swelled up, one literally like a small balloon. Last night both upper arms were bitten (indoors!) the worst one is like a second bicep (not easy photographing your own arm...):

I've tried allsorts, repellent bands, dilute kitchen bleach spray on hands (worked but not very pleasant), different sprays/deos, extra clothes (in this heat!), a high-pitched keyring and citronella candles. I think the only solution is sealing myself inside a noddy (NBC) suit as per Salisbury.

I am worried that I'm getting hypersensitive and could get a nasty allergic reaction as they just keep getting more severe.

[AndyH]

Cleggs are the stealth fighters of the insect world. You don't realise they've bitten 'til you notice the blood running down your leg. Evil scum.

Andy

ps: I was in my mid twenties before I had heard them called a horse fly.

 

[AndyH]

9 hours ago, Alfian said:

............... I sometimes wonder that if midges were the size of horse flies they would be lethal.

Noooooooooooooo !!

 

[AndyUK]

Jungle formula deet spray seems to work pretty well for me... but I'm still constanly twitching/rubbing my arms, neck and hands (just in case), and of course shorts are a total no-no.  I too come up in blisters.  A few years ago a clegg got me on the back of my hand - It went rock-hard and hot, and then blistered, which travelled up my arm.  I decided it might be a good idea to see a Dr when it got past my elbow and he shoved me on a course of anti-biotics and a double dose of anti-histamine PDQ. 

@Stub Mandrel - I really sympathise with you, Neil - If I saw clouds of the beggars like that, the only way I'd go out would be in an asbestos suit...

[Alfian]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Clegg is a small horsefly ?

I stopped counting at 50 bites, a few weeks ago. I'm covered with  little scabs and scars as it's impossible to itch even with an antihistamine pill and hydrocortisone cream double whammy ? I even had one swell up into a fluid-filled blister!

We have a flooded gravel pit/country park behind our house. In a normal summer you see the beasts swarming over the tops of the trees:

This year they are swarming in the garden every evening and regularly in the house. I took this nearby when looking for Mercury. This isn't a flock of seagulls...

Of course it's great for swifts, swallows and house martins... but my astro adventures have got me bitten so much, added to the ones in my 'office' I have started really swelling up, like for a horsefly bite. A few days ago both hands swelled up, one literally like a small balloon. Last night both upper arms were bitten (indoors!) the worst one is like a second bicep (not easy photographing your own arm...):

I've tried allsorts, repellent bands, dilute kitchen bleach spray on hands (worked but not very pleasant), different sprays/deos, extra clothes (in this heat!), a high-pitched keyring and citronella candles. I think the only solution is sealing myself inside a noddy (NBC) suit as per Salisbury.

I am worried that I'm getting hypersensitive and could get a nasty allergic reaction as they just keep getting more severe.

That must be hell. I don't think I have the right now to complain ever again, but I suppose  I will. Given the source of the swarms is there nothing that can be done by the council or environment agency or DEFRA - anybody?

 

[LukeSkywatcher]

Damn, that's your arm after a horse fly bite. 

[DeepSkyBagger]

On 19/06/2018 at 06:54, jock1958 said:

+1 for the spray from Avon.

Ive heard it’s used by the SAS and the Army in the jungle....good enough for them good enough for me ?

They don't bother me, but my wife gets eaten alive, and she swears by this stuff. 

[jock1958]

4 minutes ago, DeepSkyBagger said:

They don't bother me, but my wife gets eaten alive, and she swears by this stuff. 

My wife gets badly bitten as well and has had some nasty reactions, but the Avon spray has helped a lot!

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

23 hours ago, Alfian said:

That must be hell. I don't think I have the right now to complain ever again, but I suppose  I will. Given the source of the swarms is there nothing that can be done by the council or environment agency or DEFRA - anybody?

 

There is a solution, but I don't think anyone listens to the International Panel on Climate Change...

Seriously though, this area is full of gravel pits, rivers, stream, ponds and canals, so it goes with the territory and those gribblies support a huge amount of wildife. I just object to supporting the gribblies, but in the grand scheme of things I'm taking a lot more out of the ecosystem than the few microlitres of blood I'm putting back in ?

With climate change anopheles mosquitos are now far more widespread and there's a real risk malaria could return to south east England.

[Alfian]

17 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

There is a solution, but I don't think anyone listens to the International Panel on Climate Change...

Seriously though, this area is full of gravel pits, rivers, stream, ponds and canals, so it goes with the territory and those gribblies support a huge amount of wildife. I just object to supporting the gribblies, but in the grand scheme of things I'm taking a lot more out of the ecosystem than the few microlitres of blood I'm putting back in ?

With climate change anopheles mosquitos are now far more widespread and there's a real risk malaria could return to south east England.

That's an interesting and considerate take on it, giving up your blood so magnanimously does you credit. Would though it would take the pain away. 

[Stub Mandrel]

15 minutes ago, Alfian said:

That's an interesting and considerate take on it, giving up your blood so magnanimously does you credit. Would though it would take the pain away. 

I do have to confess that squashing mosquitos makes me feel better ?

[JOC]

Horseflies can be very dangerous bite wise due to the way their jaws work when they cut into you. If you really want to scare yourself Google horsefly bites on the image search!  Apparently there have been greater than usual numbers this year.  Some of the pictures make a Wasp sting look really tame in comparison!