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Monday, November 7, 2011

Which Insect Repellents Should You Take On Holiday?

By Owen Jones


The problem with general insect repellent is that no one insect repellent will deter all insects. There are so many different species of insects that nothing will stop them all, so you have to know which insects you want to deter.

Some insects in some regions 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 elsewhere.

This is not such a difficulty if you know the area where you are staying, because you will know the most prevalent insect pests in your area, but what about if you go on holiday?

You might take a box of your favourite mosquito ointment to Acapulco on your dream holiday just to find that there are no mosquitoes there but that the sand flies are lethal.

Mosquitoes are not really a problem in Scotland, but gnats are in the summer and mosquito repellent does not affect midges (or sand flies) even though they get up to the same sort of monkey business.

The key is local information. Before you go anywhere try to do some research on local nuisance pests.

In fact, unless you are sure that your favourite mosquito repellent works where you are going, there is not a great deal of use taking it with you, because the locals will already use the best repellents for their own particular local nuisance insects. The only potential exception is a cream with a high percentage of DEET in it.

It might be illegal where you are going to sell a lotion containing more than 25% DEET, but you feel far less at risk with 50%. I know that I would feel far less at risk with 50% DEET, if I were going to Gambia, where the planet's most lethal mosquitoes live.

A different pesticide that kills fairly 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 repels mosquitoes by confusing their senses - in essence, you slip under their RADAR - but permethrin kills or paralyses insects.

This masking works for lots of insects that detect 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 get to their skin, where it would kill them.

This waxy coat can be got rid of, but you will not have time if on vacation to do it. The overall best answer 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 can last for up to six months and will survive a number of washes.

If you are sitting outdoors it is a good tactic 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 good for clearing a tent or bedroom of a few mosquitoes or flies before retiring.




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