At a point, we have all had these unwanted visitors in our home. We tend to accept our faith and try as much as possible to peacefully reside with them as we have no effective strategy of chasing them out. Whenever you hear that buzzing sound near your ears, you flinch because such sound announces their presence; and their presence is not a good thing for our skin and health in general. Therefore, with no way to get rid of these blood-sucking monsters, you find yourself stuck with them.
Mosquitoes cause malaria, and as we know, malaria is one of the leading causes of death around the world. It is very paramount that we search for the best and effective technique in chasing these insects out of our homes so we can safeguard ourselves and families from malaria and other obnoxious condition that comes with mosquitoes. There is a particular method you can adopt in ridding your home of mosquitoes, and this strategy requires patience; because it involves you waiting. Nothing goes out, and nothing goes in. Since this strategy requires patience, how long should you wait? How long do these insects live indoors? Below is a simple outline for your battle plan.
To execute this plan, you will have to terminate the mosquitoes by outliving them. As time goes by, a mosquito loses its ability to feed; thus, this makes them feeble. With everywhere closed, these obnoxious insects have no escape route, so they are completely trapped and at your mercy. In this plan, patience is your primary weapon. To carry out this plan effectively, you must know the lifespan and life cycle of mosquitoes, as this will enable you to strategize properly. Let's start from the foundation. First, we want to know how long an adult female mosquito can stay alive indoor.
How long do mosquitoes live inside the home
The mosquitoes in your house can live for a very long time; this ranges from around four days to a month. After female mosquitoes are done with their blood-sucking rampage, they can go on to live for about three weeks in your home. But, not all species of mosquitoes can live that long, and just two days of dealing with these terrible insects can look like a year.
A male mosquito can go on to live for around 6-9 days, but you should not be scared of these insects because they can't bite, and they can be gotten rid of in the simplest ways. The difference between the male and female mosquitoes can be spotted quickly; the male mosquitoes are simply attracted to the females while the female mosquitoes are drawn to your blood. The tendency to find mosquitoes in your home depends on your environment. If your house is located in a swamp area, you will certainly have loads of these creatures flying around your home. High-intensity mosquito areas are forests, suburbs, swamps, etc. You hardly find these creatures in cold areas; or area areas close to the seasides.
Why do you have these creatures in your house?
The main reason why you have these unwanted creatures swarming your house is because you leave your window, doors, and other openings open. These insects long for the CO2 in our breath; thus, your home becomes the ideal place to source for this compound. Domestic pets, such as dogs and cats, will also have the same effect.
Also, and surprisingly, mosquitoes move into your home to shield themselves from the cold. Mosquitoes find it very difficult to live below a specific temperature during winter period. Indoor temperature is quite friendly on mosquitoes, making your home the perfect habitat for them. Just as you want to cuddle up by the fireplace when cold, these insects want to also do the same. Isn't that lovely?
Another reason why you find these insects in your home is that they are often on the lookout for a puddle of water to lay their eggs in. After a female mosquitoes has done what it apparently knows how to do best on an unwilling victim, she finds a puddle of water to lay her precious eggs. These are very usual in your home even more than you realize. Below, you will find reasons why this is so.
Can Mosquitoes lay their eggs in your home?
Of course, female mosquitoes will lay eggs in your home, usually around stagnant water. Popular indoor areas that these female mosquitoes find suitable enough to nest are houseplants, garage, shed, etc. You can also find the nest of a mosquito in your kitchen or bathroom.
If you want to get rid of these blood-sucking monsters, then ensure you carry out a thorough check-up on your home, remove any stagnant water that may be present in your house to ensure that these insects don’t create more of themselves. If you fail to get rid of the nestling place of these mosquitoes, then you should be ready to entertain a plethora of these blood-sucking insects.
It might fascinate you to know that during the larvae stage, some mosquitoes tend to eat each other; yes, mosquitoes van be cannibalistic. During the late summer, one thing you should do if you notice the presence of mosquitoes in your home is to refresh your houseplant, and this should be done subsequently. By carrying out this simple act, any nest from insects will die by the plant-care procedure. You could also make use of a certain mosquito repellant like citronella mosquito sticks for your indoor plants; this would chase away mosquitoes from your plants.
Another alternative is to fight these insects with their natural enemies. Some example of mosquitoes natural enemies are, citronella mosquito sticks which are quite effective, and others such as:
- Basil (Tulsi): This plant is mostly utilized by cooks worldwide. The basil has some mosquito repelling properties.
- Marigold: Marigold consists of pyrethrum, which is an organic pesticide ingredient that can be found in insect repellents.
- Lavender: The amazing and potent scent of lavender is a natural mosquito repellent.
- Mint: Mosquitoes hate the scent of mints; thus, mints can be very effective in repelling mosquitoes.
- Garlic: Garlic is a powerful and effective mosquito repellant, and this is because of its strong, pungent smell and larvicidal mosquito properties. The only thing you have to do to make this garlic potent is to crush a few of them and boil them in water for some minutes. After boiling, pour the water in a spray bottle and spray around the room to stop these insects from disturbing you.
- Tea Tree oil: Tea tree oil consists of some anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties, and this makes it one of the best natural mosquito repellant out there. The scent of this oil helps to keep the mosquitoes at bay. You can dilute a little drop of this oil in a few drops of water and use it on your skin to stop mosquitoes from coming near your skin. This oil can also be used to treat bug bites.
How do you discard mosquitoes from your house?
Below are ten effective ways to get rid of these troublesome insects
- Install insect screens and doors: To keep the mosquitoes away, you can purchase insect screens and doors for your window or door. They are quite effective in keeping the mosquitoes at bay.
- Use mosquito repellent on your skin: You could make use of an Avon sunscreen during the summer.
- Purchase a mosquito trap: You can buy mosquito traps from the market, or you can choose to order them online. Mosquito traps can be made; the steps in achieving this is quite easy. To create a mosquito trap, cut plastic into two, afterward, include brown sugar in hot water and mix properly. Once the mixture has cooled off, pour it into the bottom half of the bottle and include yeast. The next thing to do is to put the funnel-like half of the cut bottle on the bottom half in an inverted position (without the cap). Cover the bottle with black tape and place it in areas with an abundant amount of mosquitoes. You will have to change the solution according to directions subsequently.
- Add natural repellents in your house: Take a look at the plant species mentioned above, e.g., lavender, garlic, etc. Including this natural repellent in strategic positions of your home can help chase away these insects.
- Put a bowl of beer outside: Insects are ardent lovers of the beer trap and would certainly fall for this one. This is a straightforward way to discard these troublesome creatures from your home.
- Get rid of puddles: Puddles, as we know, provide the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. If you want to discard these insects from your home, then get rid of the puddles. Those loads of nooks and crannies of your garden that has water, ensure you drain them.
- Make use of scent candles: By filling your home with a scent that these creatures hate, you are giving them the best reasons to stay away from your home.
- Make use of garlic powder: Are you aware that mosquitoes despise garlic as much as vampires do? That is simply because they are all blood-sucking creatures. Use garlic powder to fortify your home from mosquitoes.
- Hit them with a swatter: Electronic swatter is an effective way of killing mosquitoes. They are quite feeble and wouldn't in any way survive the shocks that come with an electric swatter.
- Purchase a canopy for your bed: To stop the mosquitoes from feasting on your blood while you sleep, get a mosquito net, these items are effective in repelling mosquitoes.
Since these creatures are quite tiny, finding them may be very difficult, now that is where your instincts come into play. To kill these small insects, you have to rely on your inner hunting instincts. Since in the day where everywhere is bright, these insects hide. When indoors, you often find it hard to locate mosquitoes, and this is simply because they don't roam about aimlessly but have certain spots where they choose to hide.
The hiding place of mosquitoes
During the day time, you will often find the mosquitoes in the dark corners of your house, and also in moist places. While in hot summer days, a mosquito will stay away from the sun, so it doesn't dehydrate. Indoors, the constant climates will make these insects hide in dark places. Mosquitoes often love to hide in the coolest corners of your house.
So if you are out to hunt mosquitoes during the day time, you are likely to find them in the dark corners of your house. Don’t expect the female mosquitoes to fly towards direction during the day time because they would instead choose not to dehydrate than to go for your blood.
The indoor lifespan of a mosquito
Well, the lifespan of indoor mosquitoes, especially the female ones, is quite long. Between four days to about 28 days. Even a mosquito that feeds daily can survive about three weeks indoors. To eliminate these mosquitos before they get to the peak of their lifespan requires several efforts. Living with a blood-sucking insect indoors is a huge nuisance, so ensure that you adopt whatever means necessary to discard these insects from your home. You can use the natural repellents that were listed in this article; they are eco-friendly and very effective in keeping the mosquitoes at bay.
