Cyprus-Forum.com

[eternal]

if you guys are anything like me, i'm always forgetting to put lotions/sprays for the mossies when going out, but what helps take the itching and redness away is Tea-tree oil, works wonders, its one of the strongest natural antiseptics you can get.

[JenLawler]

EEeee I'm bringing bottles of mozzie repellent then!! I'm gettin bites over here..and they are soo soar! I HATE them.

[devil]

You need to be particularly careful if you live within a couple of km or so of any airport. Malaria can be easily imported. There was a case a few years ago of a bloke in Meyrin, Geneva who died of malaria and he had never left the country.

Don't forget that Cyprus was noted as a terrible malaria hotspot until the 1946-53 eradication campaign, where every mm² of the whole island was sprayed with DDT twice a year, inside and out. Unfortunately, it had enormous effects on other species, including many predatory insects. The whole entomology of the island was changed and this, in turn, changed the vegetable species with changes in pollination vectors. It is possible that the dramatic reduction in raptors since the early 1950s may also be partially ascribed to DDT in the food chain. It is possible that it could reintroduce itself.

Window screens are useless: the small beast fly straight through the mesh. The larger mosquitoes are strong enough to bash their way through the mesh.

Where we are, it is not mosquitoes that are the problem. We have two vicious biters. One is a fly that looks like an ordinary housefly, perhaps a tad smaller. It digs its proboscis in and leaves behind a good dose of poison. On some occasions, I've seen red swellings a good 5 cm across. It is worst in the afternoon. The other is the ubiquitous no-see'um. This is a gnat, about 1½ mm long, flesh coloured body, small rounded wings. It is very difficult to see against the body and it will have left before you start to feel an intense itch. If you do not touch it, the itch goes away after ~30 minutes, but it can last for over a day if you keep scratching it.

[Niki]

Yes I think it was the no-see'ums.

We looked everwhere in our rooms before bed with no luck (they can hide) and they don't make a noise. My daughter reacts badly and one of her bites went up as a huge 5cm lump on her arm.

The housefly looking bug actually 'cut' Mr Niki's foot. Vicious!!

[Southerner]

Don't forget that Cyprus was noted as a terrible malaria hotspot until the 1946-53 eradication campaign, where every mm² of the whole island was sprayed with DDT twice a year, inside and out.

That probably explains why we didn't have a problem in the mid 60s, one thing that I have been told is that a good number of the hundreds (maybe thousands) of swimming pools are left unattended for quite a long time out of season therefore providing a breeding environment for mossies.

[devil]

Not to mention pithares (sp??) which form the most ideal breeding ground. There are tens of them in the village here. Only one that I know of has a litre of motor oil therein to stop the breeding.