Which Insect Repellents Should You Take On Holiday?
Posted by Owen Jones in Uncategorized, tags: disease, health, hobbies, home improvement, insects, landscaping, leisure, nature, other, outdoors, pests, recreation, Uncategorized, vacationsThe difficulty with all-purpose insect repellent is that no one insect repellent will repel all insects. There are so many different types of insects that nothing will stop them all, so you have to know which insects you want to deter.
Some insects in some regions for example have been particularly focused on, like bed bugs in New York, and so they have developed a tolerance to repellents that does not exist elsewhere.
This is not such a problem if you know the region where you are staying, because you will know the most common insect pests in your area, but what about when you go on vacation?
You may take a box of your favourite mosquito cream to Acapulco on your dream holiday just to find that there are no mosquitoes there but that the sand flies are lethal.
Mosquitoes are not really a problem in Scotland, but midges are in the summer and mosquito repellent does not have an effect on midges (or sand flies) even though they get up to the same sort of monkey business.
The key is local knowledge. Before you go anywhere endeavour to do some research on local problem bugs.
In fact, unless you are sure that your favourite mosquito repellent works where you are going, there is not a great deal of use taking it with you, because the locals will already use the best repellents for their own particular local nuisance insects. The only potential exception is a cream with a high percentage of DEET in it.
It might be illegal where you are going to sell a lotion containing more than 25% DEET, but you feel far less at risk with 50%. I know that I would feel far less at risk with 50% DEET, if I were going to Gambia, where the planet’s most deadly mosquitoes live.
Another insecticide that kills pretty much all insects (except bed bugs) is permethrin, but you may not be able to buy it where you are going. The difference between DEET and permethrin is that DEET deters mosquitoes by confusing their senses - basically, you slip under their RADAR - but permethrin kills or paralyses insects.
This masking works for lots of insects that perceive their prey by carbon dioxide emissions like ticks and possibly bed bugs. Permethryn is not so effectual against bed bugs because they have a waxy coat which does not permit the chemical to actually reach their skin, where it would kill them.
This waxy coat can be removed, but you will not have time if on vacation to do it. The overall best solution to most, but not all insect pests is putting DEET at around 25-35% on your skin, which will give you five to eight hours protection and spaying permethrin on your clothes. Permethrin can last for up to six months and can survive several washes.
If you are sitting outside it is a good idea to hang up a bug zapper - the form that has an ultraviolet lamp inside a highly charged electric grill. A handheld racquet style bug zapper is also useful for clearing a tent or bedroom of a couple of mosquitoes or flies before going to sleep.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is at present concerned with Insect Removal. If you want to know more, please go over to our website now at Pest Management at Home.
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