Bugged
Photos of me during my childhood show a fairly happy kid, at least from the knees up. From the knees down, the picture ain’t so pretty. My bare, pale shins and calves appear perpetually covered in red bumps and scabs. Chicken pox? Shingles? Leprosy? No, mosquitoes, the bane of my summers on the Gulf Coast. Everyone got bit, but I was consumed, persecuted. I even asked my dad once, while my mom was dipping me in my daily Calamine Lotion bath, “If there’s a God, why did he make mosquitoes?” My dad said it was so scientists would have a pest to study.
What have these scientists have been doing the last 20 years? Well, researchers in Amsterdam found that sweaty feet and Limburger cheese whet the appetites of mosquitoes. Limburger cheese? Supposedly, it smells a lot like the “toe jam” found between people’s toes. Scientists are working long and hard to recreate this smell to use in mosquito traps. (I think my husband Richard could help them out with a lifetime supply of the stuff.)
At Florida A&M University, entomologists are studying cannibal mosquitoes who, in the larval stage, eat the larvae of other mosquitoes. As adults they feed on plant nectar, so are harmless to people. They’re also experimenting with microscopic arthropods, called copepods, that feed on newly hatched mosquito larvae.
Until they’ve perfected their synthetic toe cheese, cannibals, and microbes, what do we use to control these blood suckers? Well, we’ve already come a long way from the muggy days of my youth when we used to pour motor oil on water puddles to suffocate larvae and a giant truck drove through our neighborhood fogging everything with DDT, including all the kids — including me — who raced behind the truck on their bikes to catch the fog. (Dr. Brian Lee, a toxicologist with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, says that DDT is safer than today’s organo-phosphates as far as acute toxicity. If I’ve made it this far, I’m probably okay; it’s the kids that fell off their bikes right away that we should worry about.)
Now, we have Altosid, an insect growth regulator and bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterial insecticide. Both are environmentally safe, but not always effective. Birds, bats, spiders, and fish are also natural enemies of mosquitoes and their babies. One of the easiest ways to fight the bite around your house is to scout out every possible source of standing water-bottle caps, the condensation tube from the AC, the saucers under potted plants, the gutters — eliminate it like it’s the plague itself. Get your neighbors to do the same. And reduce the amount of lighting around your property; biting flies are attracted to light.
As for personal defense, there are a multitude of sprays, from the common and controversial DEET, which is either a) completely safe or b) causes seizures and Gulf War Syndrome. Depends on which report you read. At the very least, follow the advice of New York’s Department of Health and avoid anything with more than 30% DEET. A survey conducted by Backpacker magazine found that strong citronella sprays and lotions, like Naturapel, performed almost as well as the low-percentage DEET products. Three-in-one products combining bug repellent, sunscreen, and moisturizers failed miserably. It’s also helpful to know mosquitoes are attracted to dark clothing, carbon dioxide, scents or perfumes, and body odors. Funny: They have the same tastes as New Yorkers.
I’m attracted to fan mail and reader’s questions. Send them to: Suzebe@aol.com or snail mail ’em to: The Austin Chronicle, PO Box 49066, Austin, TX 78765.
This article appears in May 16 • 1997 and May 16 • 1997 (Cover).