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Title: Bug Wars, Part I: Know Your Enemy
Article Summary: A look at summer pests and effective ways to protect you and your family from them.
Word Count: 738
First Published: 2002

Contact Info:
Paula Polman
paula@TheLearningCenterForEntrepreneurs.com
780-270-8146 MST
Edmonton AB Canada


Hot days, cool drinks, splashing water, sunshine, sand, camping, backyard barbeques and fun. However, with the arrival of the glorious summer also arrives the newest generation of buzzing, bloodsucking, irritating, carnivorous bugs.

The Bug Wars have begun.

Take the mosquito, for example, one of the most highly adapted blood sucking pests on earth, it can be found on virtually every landmass on the planet, except the Antarctica. In Canada alone 74 species have been identified. With names like Aedes vexans, Aedes excrucians, and Mansonia perturbans it's not hard to figure out just where they sit in our regard.

It is only the female that feeds on blood, to provide protein for the development of her eggs. Both the female and the male dine on plant nectar for their own diet needs. The male will die after mating but the female can live up to two months, laying numerous batches of eggs. The life cycle of the mosquito requires standing water for the larvae to grow. Thus the most effective way to reduce a local population of mosquitoes is to eliminate sources of standing water, such as old discarded tires, clogged gutters, planters, bird baths, or tree stump holes.

Over the centuries people have rubbed rancid animal fat on their skin, bathed in various herbal concoctions, utilized smudge pots, devised special clothing and more recently, sprayed on chemical repellants. Anything to gain a few moments of relief from the buzzing and the biting.

The importance of repellants these days is clear. With people travelling worldwide the spread of blood bourne disease is a very real concern. A number of infectious agents, such as malaria, Lyme disease and the West Nile virus, have been quite adaptable at utilizing haemophagous (blood feeding) insects to spread and reproduce. Worldwide 700,000,000 people are infected annually by mosquitoes alone.

Besides personal repellents, bug fighting tools in the mechanical arsenal include carbon dioxide emitters which seem to help reduce mosquito populations in a localized area, sonic repellers which have been proven to generally be a waste of money and bug zappers which are good for feeding flash fried bugs (and not mosquitoes) to your bird friends and not much else. On the natural side are the much touted citronella candles which look pretty at night, and citrosa plants which make a lovely patio plant. Neither, unfortunately have proven to do much else besides that. Wrist bands are a newer entry and seem to provide temporary but localized relief.

What makes us so attractive to bugs? The majority of studies involve mosquitoes and they have shown that there are a number of attractants including carbon dioxide levels, lactic acid, warmth, scent, movement and moisture. Sometimes the combination is too tempting to resist for the flying biters. As it turns out, some smells that are repulsive to us are highly tempting to mosquitoes.

Several years ago, Willem Takken and his colleagues at Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands found that a particular mosquito called Anopheles gambiae loves both stinky feet and Limburger cheese. One of the bacteria used to make Limburger can also be found on the human foot, accounting for the similarity in odour, Takken says. This was taken one step further by an entomologist Daniel L. Kline who tested the attractiveness of his own feet to mosquitoes. He wore the same pair of socks 12 hours each day for 3 days. By themselves, the socks did not draw many mosquitoes. However, when combined with carbon dioxide, the socks lured many mosquitoes, including disease-carrying species.

Another study done in Africa showed that pregnant women attract twice as many mosquitoes as non-pregnant women, and it appears to be due to a number of factors, including increased CO2 emissions and warmer basal body temperatures. The alarming detail here is that it appears mosquitoes infected with malaria are even more attracted to pregnant women than non-infected bugs. While tests have not been done with regards to skeeters infected with the West Nile Virus, it would be prudent for pregnant women to take extra precautions on protecting themselves from bites.

So if you're going camping, either take someone with stinky feet or someone who sweats a lot with you. Let them act as a decoy for the bugs and you can enjoy your time in the great outdoors.

Coming next: Bug Wars Part II: Repelling the Enemy. A look at the options available for personal repellents and their relative effectiveness.

Paula Polman, B.Sc. ran a natural cosmetics and toiletries company for 6 years and has been an entrepreneur for over 20 years. She is now involved in offering online instructional courses for small business at The Learning Center for Entrepreneurs, supporting the growth of small business thorugh extended learning. Email her at paula [at] TheLearningCenterForEntrepreneurs [dot] com or visit http://www.TheLearningCenterForEntrepreneurs.com

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