Insect Repellents The difficulty with general insect repellent is that no one insect repellent will repel all insects. There are so many different species of insects that nothing will deter them all, so you have to know which insects you want to deter. Some insects in some areas for instance have been particularly targeted, like bed bugs in New York, and so they have built up a resistance to repellents that does not exist anywhere else. This is not such a difficulty if you know the region where you are staying, because you will know the most common insect pests in your region, but what about when you go on vacation? You may take a container of your favourite mosquito cream to Acapulco on your dream holiday only to find that there are no mosquitoes there but that the sand flies are murderous. Mosquitoes are not really difficult in Scotland, but gnats are in the summer and mosquito repellent does not have an effect on midges (or sand flies) even though they get up to the same type of monkey business. The key is local knowledge. Before you go anywhere endeavour to do some research on local nuisance insects. In fact, unless you are sure that your favourite mosquito repellent works where you are going, there is not a great deal of point taking it with you, since the locals will already have the best repellents for their own particular local nuisance insects. The only potential exception is a balm with a high percentage of DEET in it. It may be illegal where you are going to sell a lotion containing over 25% DEET, but you feel far less at risk with 50%. I know that I would feel safer with 50% DEET, if I were going to Gambia, where the world's most deadly mosquitoes live. A different insecticide that kills pretty much all insects (except bed bugs) is permethrin, but you may not be able to get it where you are going. The difference between DEET and permethrin is that DEET deters mosquitoes by confusing their senses - in essence, you slip under their RADAR - but permethrin kills or paralyses insects. This confusion works for plenty of insects that perceive their prey by carbon dioxide emissions like ticks and possibly bed bugs. Permethryn is not so effective against bed bugs because they have a waxy coat which does not permit the chemical to actually reach their skin, where it would kill them. This waxy coat may be got rid of, but you will not have time when on vacation to do it. The overall best solution to most, but not all insect pests is putting DEET at around 25-35% on your skin, which will give you five to eight hours protection and spaying permethrin on your clothes. Permethrin will last for up to six months and will survive several washes. If you are sitting outdoors it is a good idea to hang up a bug zapper - the kind that has an ultraviolet lamp inside a highly charged electric grill. A handheld racquet style bug zapper is also useful for clearing a tent or bedroom of a few mosquitoes or flies before going to bed.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on numerous topics, but is currently involved with Insect Removal. If you have an interest in gaming, please visit our website now at Pest management at Home.