The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #121525   Message #2657523
Posted By: semi-submersible
16-Jun-09 - 05:56 AM
Thread Name: Kendall - update (June 2009)
Subject: RE: Kendall - update (June 2009)
Good stories!

I agree with Ebbie: many of these northwestern mosquitos boldly hover or land where they can be swatted with relative ease. I guess that's good strategy around deer and other large animals lacking hands.

Thailand boasts sneaky mosquitos which know how to get away with biting alert primates. Compared to my sociable neighbourhood mosquito, they:

- are small
- usually fly without singing
- prefer to stay below waist height, well below our eye level
- choose bottom surfaces to perch on (landing upside-down underneath tables, beneath leaves, on the back of your thigh when you're sitting in a chair)
- take to the air (silently) at the slightest movement, and don't hover about. They'll rapidly fly off to shelter if it isn't safe to land again immediately on you.
- wait a few minutes after being disturbed, before attacking again, and
- stay alert for your reaction for a while after landing, before committing themselves to probing for blood.

When attacked by one or a few of our bumbling local mosquitoes, I can often see them coming, hear them around me, and catch them in the air, or as they land and immediately begin to probe. If my first swat is a clean miss, usually the mosquito presses the attack again within a minute, while I am still alert. None of this is true of the highly-evolved Asian "stealth mosquito"!

Wish I had a camper to lend you. May joy and healing come swiftly.
Maureen in BC