Indoor NYC mosquitos. KILL THEM ALL
August 22, 2013 11:34 AM Subscribe
There are mosquitoes in my NYC apartment. I need a solution for getting rid of them.
There is no standing water (we even are wiping down the sink and the dishrack nightly at this point) and there are no tears in any screens. We are currently running a ceiling fan, and two box fans pointed at the bed from different angles in hopes of creating such turbulent airflow that they can't attack us. I sleep wearing bugspray (a non DEET one from OFF!, since I don't want to sleep in DEET marinated sheets). It doesn't work.
There are, however, frightfully annoying mosquitoes that are biting us in the night. I can only kill them when they are fat with our blood and lazy in the morning. Which is obviously not the time when I want them dead (I'll take it, but I'd rather they be dead before they attack me)
They are somehow suriving 3 fans, bugspray and sheets to bite out legs and arms, primarily focusing on knuckles, knees and anklebones, which of course are bony and therefore more itchy. I am taking vitamin B in efforts that that will make me less tasty.
The bugs are very clearly mosquitoes, since we are killing them regularly, just not before they get us.
I am am a terrible sleeper under the best of times, and getting woken up several times a night by bugbites is making me more neurotic than usual. I need a solution. Please help.
The last question about indoor mosquitoes was from 2009, and I've already got the basic advice down. I'm getting desparate and maybe there is some new technology will help us?
There is no standing water (we even are wiping down the sink and the dishrack nightly at this point) and there are no tears in any screens. We are currently running a ceiling fan, and two box fans pointed at the bed from different angles in hopes of creating such turbulent airflow that they can't attack us. I sleep wearing bugspray (a non DEET one from OFF!, since I don't want to sleep in DEET marinated sheets). It doesn't work.
There are, however, frightfully annoying mosquitoes that are biting us in the night. I can only kill them when they are fat with our blood and lazy in the morning. Which is obviously not the time when I want them dead (I'll take it, but I'd rather they be dead before they attack me)
They are somehow suriving 3 fans, bugspray and sheets to bite out legs and arms, primarily focusing on knuckles, knees and anklebones, which of course are bony and therefore more itchy. I am taking vitamin B in efforts that that will make me less tasty.
The bugs are very clearly mosquitoes, since we are killing them regularly, just not before they get us.
I am am a terrible sleeper under the best of times, and getting woken up several times a night by bugbites is making me more neurotic than usual. I need a solution. Please help.
The last question about indoor mosquitoes was from 2009, and I've already got the basic advice down. I'm getting desparate and maybe there is some new technology will help us?
Can you get a mosquito net? That would allow you to sleep without being bitten.
posted by Too-Ticky at 11:46 AM on August 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Too-Ticky at 11:46 AM on August 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: oh, I forgot to mention that we tried the homemade co2 traps. I think we caught 1 mosquito over 3 weeks, and we're assuming it was a particularly dumb mosquito.
Mosquito netting is something we've discussed, but weren't sure if that was our only option. Also we are not the most graceful of morning people, so I could see the netting solution ending horribly as one of us smashes it apart one morning as we head for caffeine.
posted by larthegreat at 11:51 AM on August 22, 2013
Mosquito netting is something we've discussed, but weren't sure if that was our only option. Also we are not the most graceful of morning people, so I could see the netting solution ending horribly as one of us smashes it apart one morning as we head for caffeine.
posted by larthegreat at 11:51 AM on August 22, 2013
I'm not saying that a mosquito net is your only or best or final option, but it's a quick fix that would allow you to get some sleep while figuring out where the mozzies come from.
Where I live, they're easy to get and cheap. I'm not sure if that's the case for you.
posted by Too-Ticky at 11:55 AM on August 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Where I live, they're easy to get and cheap. I'm not sure if that's the case for you.
posted by Too-Ticky at 11:55 AM on August 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
If you got CO2 traps out and sat there for three weeks waiting for them to work I bet you have some aggression towards them to work out. I have found a great deal of both success and satisfaction from the Bug-A-Salt gun I've got.
posted by Blasdelb at 11:57 AM on August 22, 2013
posted by Blasdelb at 11:57 AM on August 22, 2013
Best answer: I also suffer from indoor mosquitoes. Here are some ways I mitigate them:
1) I sleep under a bednet: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007IS78M/
2) I put stoppers over all my drains to cut off their water source: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036CNKSI/
3) I use an electric flyswatter to kill any I see: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MU2MJA/
Those three things helped a lot, but the mosquitoes didn't really disappear until a few giant spiders took up residence just outside my door and began catching and eating the mosquitoes before they had a chance to get inside.
posted by Jacqueline at 12:03 PM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
1) I sleep under a bednet: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007IS78M/
2) I put stoppers over all my drains to cut off their water source: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036CNKSI/
3) I use an electric flyswatter to kill any I see: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MU2MJA/
Those three things helped a lot, but the mosquitoes didn't really disappear until a few giant spiders took up residence just outside my door and began catching and eating the mosquitoes before they had a chance to get inside.
posted by Jacqueline at 12:03 PM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Bednets are the first and only way to go, in my experience. (At least, if your housing has no screens, no AC, and is situated on reclaimed land in a swamp. YMMV.)
posted by fifthrider at 12:15 PM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by fifthrider at 12:15 PM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Have you tried mosquito coils or similar? These seem to work quite well for keeping a limited area clear for a number of hours in my experience.
Also (though it could be confirmation bias on my part!), as Jacqueline suggests, I let the spiders gently coexist in my house (there aren't a shocking number despite this, because as far as I can tell they are really not that thrilled about living with people anyway), and we don't suffer from much mosquito trouble... or any other insect-y thing – except a relatively few number of mostly invisible spiders, which is perfectly okay with me if they control the other creepycrawlies – but of course, your mileage and tolerance may vary.
But also, I'd expand beyond any possible standing water in your place now that you've fixed all that, and look at what is outside your apartment, starting with closest first, because this is going to be the source.
posted by taz at 12:34 PM on August 22, 2013
Also (though it could be confirmation bias on my part!), as Jacqueline suggests, I let the spiders gently coexist in my house (there aren't a shocking number despite this, because as far as I can tell they are really not that thrilled about living with people anyway), and we don't suffer from much mosquito trouble... or any other insect-y thing – except a relatively few number of mostly invisible spiders, which is perfectly okay with me if they control the other creepycrawlies – but of course, your mileage and tolerance may vary.
But also, I'd expand beyond any possible standing water in your place now that you've fixed all that, and look at what is outside your apartment, starting with closest first, because this is going to be the source.
posted by taz at 12:34 PM on August 22, 2013
Best answer: there are no tears in any screens.
Time to get all space station-y/chemical attack defense on this then. Are there ANY gaps around any of the screens? what about where one pane of the window meets the other when it slides open?(these little seals can go bad, and sometimes the little brushy bits don't block much. at one of my places the gap was like AN ENTIRE INCH when the window was open)
How big is the gap under any exterior, or hallway in the building doors? Slap one of of those adhesive door-bottom strips that rides on the floor/carpet to guard the area under your door. The gap at my current place is seriously enough that i can slide my entire hand under my front door.
Go around your entire house looking for mosquito points of entry, as if you're the secret service casing a hotel the president is going to stay in. Leave no stone unturned.
In addition to all this, i'd consider just hanging a big mesh net with a zipper in the middle(maybe repurpose a bed net?) in my entryway a few feet in the door to create an "airlock".
I would never be happy with a solution that involved a bed net and dealing with the mosquitos in the rest of my house. i'd really really want to just stop them getting in to any of my living areas in the first place.
posted by emptythought at 12:38 PM on August 22, 2013
Time to get all space station-y/chemical attack defense on this then. Are there ANY gaps around any of the screens? what about where one pane of the window meets the other when it slides open?(these little seals can go bad, and sometimes the little brushy bits don't block much. at one of my places the gap was like AN ENTIRE INCH when the window was open)
How big is the gap under any exterior, or hallway in the building doors? Slap one of of those adhesive door-bottom strips that rides on the floor/carpet to guard the area under your door. The gap at my current place is seriously enough that i can slide my entire hand under my front door.
Go around your entire house looking for mosquito points of entry, as if you're the secret service casing a hotel the president is going to stay in. Leave no stone unturned.
In addition to all this, i'd consider just hanging a big mesh net with a zipper in the middle(maybe repurpose a bed net?) in my entryway a few feet in the door to create an "airlock".
I would never be happy with a solution that involved a bed net and dealing with the mosquitos in the rest of my house. i'd really really want to just stop them getting in to any of my living areas in the first place.
posted by emptythought at 12:38 PM on August 22, 2013
How are the fans deployed? We've got one blowing across our bed from the direction they'd never come from towards the direction (door) they would come from.
Are you sure mosquitoes? Could it be another critter? Either way, you probably don't have lizards up there (Northern Curly Tails are not city critters), but I'd agree on finding some beneficial spiders to move in with you (mason jar trap? Look for sacs in dusty places?).
posted by tilde at 12:45 PM on August 22, 2013
Are you sure mosquitoes? Could it be another critter? Either way, you probably don't have lizards up there (Northern Curly Tails are not city critters), but I'd agree on finding some beneficial spiders to move in with you (mason jar trap? Look for sacs in dusty places?).
posted by tilde at 12:45 PM on August 22, 2013
I don't have a solution for getting rid of the mosquitoes, but I do have a suggestion for dealing with the itchy bites: the hot spoon trick from Lifehacker. Hot water in the shower works too.
posted by bedhead at 12:47 PM on August 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by bedhead at 12:47 PM on August 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Could they be coming from ventilation?
posted by ringu0 at 12:54 PM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ringu0 at 12:54 PM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
These repellents seem to work on our back porch. I don't know what to expect of them indoors (if they are safe, whether the bugs have an exit, etc.) but I am a mosquito attractor and they don't come near me when this thing is on.
posted by juliplease at 12:57 PM on August 22, 2013
posted by juliplease at 12:57 PM on August 22, 2013
You might try using some "bug bombs" (foggers) in your apartment.
In order to do so safely, you will need to carefully read and follow the label directions. Do not use too many or too few foggers for the size and layout of your apartment, and pay attention to the safety measures on the label.
Proper application of a good fogger (containing pyrethrins and one or more hormonal insect growth regulators) should kill any exposed mosquitoes in your apartment, and also prevent mosquito larvae in the treated areas from being able to mature into adult mosquitoes. Although the active pesticide dissipates quickly after application, the growth regulators stick around and continue to prevent insects from maturing for several months.
It seems to me that this, in conjunction with the physical methods others have mentioned, ought to improve your situation rapidly and for the long run.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 1:37 PM on August 22, 2013
In order to do so safely, you will need to carefully read and follow the label directions. Do not use too many or too few foggers for the size and layout of your apartment, and pay attention to the safety measures on the label.
Proper application of a good fogger (containing pyrethrins and one or more hormonal insect growth regulators) should kill any exposed mosquitoes in your apartment, and also prevent mosquito larvae in the treated areas from being able to mature into adult mosquitoes. Although the active pesticide dissipates quickly after application, the growth regulators stick around and continue to prevent insects from maturing for several months.
It seems to me that this, in conjunction with the physical methods others have mentioned, ought to improve your situation rapidly and for the long run.
posted by Juffo-Wup at 1:37 PM on August 22, 2013
Seconding CO2 traps - I've only used them outside, but they work well. Also, try calling Green Apple Pest Management in NYC and see what they suggest - they've done great work for me in the past.
posted by iamscott at 1:37 PM on August 22, 2013
posted by iamscott at 1:37 PM on August 22, 2013
Eating garlic will make you less tasty.
Wearing socks and light cotton gloves will at least prevent the most annoying bites.
posted by yohko at 1:57 PM on August 22, 2013
Wearing socks and light cotton gloves will at least prevent the most annoying bites.
posted by yohko at 1:57 PM on August 22, 2013
You should also consider calling 311 and reporting the problem - Some neighborhoods have reported infestations in the past, and enough complaints can get the city to deal with them if it's an external problem. Are your neighbors having problems too?
posted by Mchelly at 2:37 PM on August 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Mchelly at 2:37 PM on August 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Wish I could help with the infestation problem, because that's probably my worst nightmare. But, as you're working toward a solution, apply a rubbing alcohol soaked cotton ball to fresh bites and it should seriously minimize the resulting welt in size/itchiness/duration. I'm a mosquito magnet and I get HUGE HORRIBLE welts from mosquito bites that seriously used to last upwards of 3 weeks, and this alcohol trick has pretty much changed my life. From my experience, it works best when applied to fresh bites, but has definitely still had a beneficial effect on existing welts.
Good luck! I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.
posted by Gonestarfishing at 2:54 PM on August 22, 2013
Good luck! I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.
posted by Gonestarfishing at 2:54 PM on August 22, 2013
Best answer: There are Raid plug ins that work really well for us at our beach house where mosquitos abound. There is more than one type; ours are tabs that you put into a plug, and their effect lasts up to 24 hours.
We plug them in with a fresh tab every evening at sundown, making sure to close doors and windows at that time too (the house has no mosquito nets). The odd mosquito may get in every once in a while but it generally works very well.
posted by ipsative at 4:07 PM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
We plug them in with a fresh tab every evening at sundown, making sure to close doors and windows at that time too (the house has no mosquito nets). The odd mosquito may get in every once in a while but it generally works very well.
posted by ipsative at 4:07 PM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: One thing that helps noticeably against most of the 80 species of mosquitoes found in Florida, is lowering the room temperature to 68°F or lower, usually by air conditioning. Many homes here have both a central air conditioning system for the whole house, and an additional one that can be run just in the main bedroom, or bedroom zones. Mosquitoes do not like cool, dry air, and many of the species most likely to bite humans are active for only a few hours after sunset, so that the application of air conditioning need not be around the clock, to be notably effective.
Also, if you have a warm blooded pet or pet(s), try to keep them out of your bedroom. The CO2 they produce in respiration is an additional, and as equally attractive mosquito bait as that which you produce by breathing, and the pet(s) may have the advantage of wearing flea/tick control solutions which may offer incidental mosquito repellent properties, that you generally don't.
posted by paulsc at 4:49 PM on August 22, 2013
Also, if you have a warm blooded pet or pet(s), try to keep them out of your bedroom. The CO2 they produce in respiration is an additional, and as equally attractive mosquito bait as that which you produce by breathing, and the pet(s) may have the advantage of wearing flea/tick control solutions which may offer incidental mosquito repellent properties, that you generally don't.
posted by paulsc at 4:49 PM on August 22, 2013
Fly tape.
posted by windykites at 7:04 PM on August 22, 2013
posted by windykites at 7:04 PM on August 22, 2013
Where's the access panel to your bathroom? I aim a fan at mine on high to dry out any teeeeeeny little drops of water that have snuck beneath the floor and become a mosquito baby playground.
posted by desuetude at 10:48 PM on August 22, 2013
posted by desuetude at 10:48 PM on August 22, 2013
Seconding or tenthing a mosquito net. I used one for a couple of weeks in mosquito infested Thailand and it worked without fail. It's also exotic to sleep under. Just tie it to the ceiling and raise it when you don't need it. Get one big enough that you don't pull it down.
posted by nevan at 4:32 AM on August 23, 2013
posted by nevan at 4:32 AM on August 23, 2013
I had a problem earlier this summer in my screenless upstairs room. I made it possible to sleep by A) using a fan near my bed or B) burning incense in front of where they were coming in (a smokescreen!) and by the bed. It made things at least tolerable and I got far fewer bites.
posted by RedEmma at 8:29 AM on August 24, 2013
posted by RedEmma at 8:29 AM on August 24, 2013
Response by poster: So, we've run the ac all weekend (seems a little silly given how nice it is outside), and that alone definitely cutback on the amount of bites we got (and added benefit, the mosquitoes fly slower when its cold). We pointed one of the fans across the bed, and one out the door, in the effort of keeping airflows super turbulent.
We think they are coming from outside, (and 1850s NYC old brownstone, so no vents), so went around the 4 windows that we have very carefully.... turns out the one near some plants has a small tear.... and there were def mosquitoes in the plants outside it. I ductaped down all the cracks, so we'll see if that helps.
The mosquito net is on order from the internet, although we haven't figured out how we will rig it up yet (plaster ceilings).
I'm sort of surprised how well turning on the ac works. It is ultimately pretty expensive, but definitely helps to catch up on sleep.
We couldn't find the raid anti mosquito plugins locally, but we'll keep an eye out for them.
Also we are totally down with spiders, but this is the most spider free apartment I have ever lived in.
posted by larthegreat at 7:59 AM on August 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
We think they are coming from outside, (and 1850s NYC old brownstone, so no vents), so went around the 4 windows that we have very carefully.... turns out the one near some plants has a small tear.... and there were def mosquitoes in the plants outside it. I ductaped down all the cracks, so we'll see if that helps.
The mosquito net is on order from the internet, although we haven't figured out how we will rig it up yet (plaster ceilings).
I'm sort of surprised how well turning on the ac works. It is ultimately pretty expensive, but definitely helps to catch up on sleep.
We couldn't find the raid anti mosquito plugins locally, but we'll keep an eye out for them.
Also we are totally down with spiders, but this is the most spider free apartment I have ever lived in.
posted by larthegreat at 7:59 AM on August 25, 2013 [1 favorite]
Did your methods work? We have a similar issue and I'm planning to try flooding the room with scents from essential oils. The CDC approves the use of lemon eucalyptus, so making a spray out of that and cover the upper corners of the room where they seem to be nesting. Running a fan and burning lavender candles...May or may not be working :).
posted by TymArtist at 11:27 AM on July 30, 2014
posted by TymArtist at 11:27 AM on July 30, 2014
Response by poster: The mosquito net worked in theory, but was a pain in the ass- you try getting out of that thing to find your alarm in the morning without destroying the universe!
This year we've been pretty much ok with just the fan method- a box fan at the foot of the bed, and a second one on the inside of the windoscreen pointed at the bed for cold air. the food of the bed fan basically runs every single night- AC or not and probably makes the biggest difference. It's also much colder this year- no super intense heat wave in NYC so far (fingers crossed) so that's probably as well. I think it was the worst when it was super hot.
We did buy citronella candles, and use those as mood lighting as we wind down for the evening... not sure if those help THAT much, but they are a pleasent-ish scent.
posted by larthegreat at 12:35 PM on July 30, 2014
This year we've been pretty much ok with just the fan method- a box fan at the foot of the bed, and a second one on the inside of the windoscreen pointed at the bed for cold air. the food of the bed fan basically runs every single night- AC or not and probably makes the biggest difference. It's also much colder this year- no super intense heat wave in NYC so far (fingers crossed) so that's probably as well. I think it was the worst when it was super hot.
We did buy citronella candles, and use those as mood lighting as we wind down for the evening... not sure if those help THAT much, but they are a pleasent-ish scent.
posted by larthegreat at 12:35 PM on July 30, 2014
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posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:44 AM on August 22, 2013