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The difficulty with all-purpose insect repellent is that no one insect repellent will repel all insects. There are so many different species of insects that nothing will deter them all. Some insects in some areas for example have been especially focused, 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 area where you are staying, because you will know the most prevalent insect pests in your area, but what about if you go on holiday? You may take a box of your favourite mosquito ointment to Acapulco on your dream vacation only to find that there are no mosquitoes there but that the sand flies are murderous.

Mosquitoes are not really difficult 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 type of monkey business. The key is local information. Before you go anywhere attempt to do some research on local problem insects.

In fact, unless you know that your favourite mosquito repellent works where you are going, there is not a lot of point taking it with you, since the locals will already have the best repellents for their own specific local problem insects. The only potential exception is a cream with a high percentage of DEET.

It may be illegal where you are going to sell a cream containing over 25% DEET, but you feel safer with 50%. I know that I would feel far less at risk with 50% DEET, if I were going to Gambia, where the world’s most toxic mosquitoes lives.

Another pesticide that kills pretty much all insects (except bed bugs) is permethrin, but you might not be able to buy it where you are going. The difference between DEET and permethrin is that DEET repels mosquitoes by confusing their senses – basically, you slip under their RADAR – but permethrin kills insects.

This confusion works for plenty of insects that perceive their prey by carbon dioxide emissions like ticks and possibly bed bugs. Permethrin is not so effectual against bed bugs because they have a waxy coat which does not allow 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 answer to most, but not all insect pests is putting DEET at about 25-35% on your skin, which will give you five to eight hours protection and spaying permethrin on your clothes. Permethrin can last up to six months and can survive several washes.

If you are sitting outdoors it is a good tactic to hang up a bug zapper – the kind that has an ultraviolet lamp inside a highly charged electric grill. A handheld racquet style bug zapper is also good for clearing a tent or bedroom of a few mosquitoes or flies before retiring.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our web site at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

The study of insects is known as entomology. Entomology is a sub-section of biology and is one of the oldest sciences. Man has studied the habits of insects, normally with a view to eradicating them, since the first plague of locusts landed on primitive farmers’ crops tens of thousands of years ago. However, entomology was not really recognized and learned as a science until the Sixteenth Century.

Entomology has had many famous devotees but the most famous was Charles Darwin. More recent entomologists are Karl von Frisch the Nobel Prize winner for medicine in 1973 and E. O. Wilson the two time Pulitzer prize winner.

Entomologists are also often credited with helping solve murders by studying the insects that are found on and in the dead body. This is very possible and not only a trick used in Hollywood films.

The first thing to realise is that not all bugs are insects. For instance, spiders are not insects, but numerous entomologists are not so strict and have an interest in arachnids (spiders), worms, slugs and snails.

All insects pass through a number of stages of life, but there are two kinds of insect development ’simple metamorphosis’ and ‘complete metamorphosis’.

The first sort includes most beetles and bugs like bed bugs. They are born as eggs and hatch into larvae (nymphs), which, if not perfect copies of their parents do look a lot like them

The second sort are also born as eggs, also hatch into larvae, but they look nothing like their parents – so dissimilar in fact that if you do not know what they are, you could not imagine. The larva then grows into a pupa when it appears to become dormant, this is not the case though, there is plenty going on and when it comes out from the pupal stage it is unrecognizable. Butterflies are like this.

If you would like to study insects, you have to focus because there are at least 1.3 million species of insects that we have found so far and there are lots more to name and classify.

You would be forgiven for thinking that these unknown insects, worms, slugs and beetles et cetera are all in remotest Africa or in deep jungles, but last year a carnivorous slug was discovered in a backyard in the centre of Cardiff in the UK.

In order to study insects, you usually have to catch them without killing them. This means nets and traps. it is simple enough to get a butterfly net (or fishing net) and you can create your own pitfall traps for ground beetles. You will also need a good book to help you classify your find and a magnifying glass to be able to better see it.

One word of caution though: you may think that there are too many insects and that no one really cares about them, but this is not the case. There are numerous insects in every country that are protected and you will be breaking the law by taking them or hurting them, so the first thing to do is find out which ones you may study and which ones it is better to leave alone.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on a number of topics, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our web site at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

The majority of insects will defend themselves if they feel threatened. This is fairly amazing when you think about how small insects are compared with the mammalian interloper. Most insects will only atttack if you wander into their territory. There are also insects that have to drink blood and they actively seek their prey. This type includes insects such as mosquitoes and fleas.

Ants form the largest section of biters. All ants will try to bite if they feel the need, but most black ants just do not have big enough mandibles (or jaws) to get a grip. The big exception in all ant and ant-like varieties are the soldiers, which have huge mandibles compared to the workers.

Red ants can bite with or without poison and some sting too. Formic acid is their normal chemical weapon. Some ants inject it, which is what we feel when we get bitten by red ants, but other ants spray it into the eyes of its aggressors.

The most agonizing sting of any insect is delivered by the Bullet Ant of Central and South America. The Bullet Ant’s sting has the top rating possible on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. The scale goes from zero to four; zero being painless (to humans) through two for bees and wasps to four for excruciating pain.

The Fire Ant, which is famous for its painful bite ranks a 1.2 on this scale, but level 1.8 is likened to having a staple shot into your cheek. The European honey bee is on level two and the Red Harvester Ant is on level three.

Some bites and stings are not so high on the scale but can still be fatal. The Jack Jumper Ant is in this category and people, especially hypersensitives, have been known to die from Fire Ant stings, which inject piperidine alkaloids instead of formic acid.

The mandibles of the Trap Jaw Ant are the fastest closing jaws in the animal kingdom. They have been measured at 230 KPH (143 MPH). Another extraordinary ant defence is carried out by a Malaysian species: it ejects its stomach unto its aggressor. The stomach acids contain acetophones which completely immobilize insects. Unfortunately, the soldier dies because its stomach has been torn out.

Bees, ants and wasps are all related in the order known as Hymenoptera. Bees and wasps just sting although some wasps do have large jaws as well. One definition of a wasp is ‘any insect of the order Hymenoptera that is neither a bee nor an ant’ (Wikipedia).

Not all wasps are black and yellow. There are not many insects that do not have a type of wasp preying on it, which makes them very important in the biocontrol of harmful insects. A lot of wasps do not sting their prey to kill it for food, they sting it to paralyze it.

When paralyzed, the wasp lays her eggs in the prey, which becomes fresh food for her young when they hatch out. This is usually the only time that a wasp eats flesh in its whole life, because adult wasps eat nectar and honey like bees.

When a bee stings it releases pheromones which encourage other bees nearby to sting as well. The most aggressive stingers though are vespid wasps (common black and yellow wasps).

Fleas, ticks and bed bugs, unlike mosquitoes, really feed on blood, that is they use it for food, whereas the mosquito uses it as the ‘white’ of her eggs. There have been times in our history when losing a few drops of blood to a flea was not the worst thing about being bitten by them. They also carried the Plague, which wiped out a large percentage of the population of Europe a number of times.

Spiders and scorpions make up the causes of the majority of insect bites but they are comparatively rare.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on a number of topics, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

There are over 3,500 species of the mosquito and they have been around for more than 30 million years. The word mosquito derives from the Spanish and Portuguese word for little fly. They are similar to crane flies and chironomid flies. Mosquitoes are a member of the Culicidae family, which means midge or gnat.

Both males and females feed on nectar and plant juices, but in some species, the female has to feed on humans, because she needs the nutrients protein and iron to help her produce eggs. The females? feeding on humans causes many contagious diseases that has an effect on millions of humans every year.

The adult female lays her eggs in still water. This could be a lake, bucket of water, a puddle, and in some cases, a few droplets on a plant.

The mosquito is a holometabolous insect. This means that it will go through four phases which are outlined here:

The first stage is the larvae. This is the recently hatched stage of various insects that differ considerably from the adult.

The next phase is known as the pupa. This is a non-feeding time that takes place between the larvae and the adult phases.

The pupa floats on the water and the adult mosquito will emerge from the pupa at this time. The adult mosquito lives between four and eight weeks.

The mosquito has three senses. They are chemical, visual, and heat. There are certain things that attract a mosquito to a human.

Carbon dioxide and lactic acid appeal to a mosquito. These are found in warm blooded mammals and birds. Normal breathing puts out these kinds of gases. Some perspiration will also send off these gases.

Garments that contrast with the background will attract a mosquito also. Heat is easily detected by a mosquito.

Mosquitoes can be found in a cool spot during the day while it is hot. If they are disturbed, they will bite during this time. They are more lively whilst it is cooler.

Mosquitoes are known to infect humans with numerous kinds of illnesses. They carry viruses and parasites from human to human. Some common viral diseases are malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, and Chikungunya.

It is likely that more than two million people die from these diseases annually. It has been discovered that most of these illnesses are carried by ?elderly? females.

There are many products on the market to help prevent mosquito bites and chancing acquiring a deadly infection. Lots of these products contain DEET. It is extremely recommended. DEET can also be applied full strength, but 20-50% is normally powerful enough.

Some of the brand name insect repellents are: Off, Cutter, White Mountain, and Repel. There are also candles, wipes, nets, traps, and foggers available on the market. There are also organic repellents on the market. You can also create your own repellent.

Smoke from campfires and mud or clay assists keep mosquitoes from biting. Some herbs, such as Rosemary, will also keep mosquitoes away.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on a number of topics, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.