# How do mosquitos get in house?



## yong321 (6 mo ago)

I haven't opened any window for two months. I only open the side door about once a day. The door opens to the driveway with no or very few mosquitos, and I open and close the door quickly. But I still get mosquitos indoors almost every day. Where do they come in from? All window and doot seals look fine to me. I just covered the kitchen sink drains and will keep them covered. Will see if it makes any difference. Two bathrooms have fans that can push air to the outside. Can mosquitos come in from there?


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## YaterSpoon (Dec 1, 2016)

They follow us through the door. 

Put some citronella or lemon eucalyptus stuff by the door. 

Supposedly some sort of garlic spray works, too. (That's one of the secrets at Disney World in FL)


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## Msradell (Sep 1, 2011)

They can sneak in almost anywhere and once they get in they can even be breeding in your home in the traps of sinks etc. Several could sneak and every time you open the door.


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## runagate (6 mo ago)

Hang a simple plastic curtain, inside.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Do your windows have screens? If so, look closely; mosquitoes can sneak through teensy holes in them.


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## yong321 (6 mo ago)

Thanks all! I'm very careful when opening and closing the door, and I do that quickly. I did spray Off! to the door frame. I seriously doubt they come in through the side door which is the only one I open lately. All windows have screens. A few have tiny holes, big enough for a fruit fly but not as big as a mosquito. Besides, even if they enter the screen, they can't enter the glass. I haven't opened any window (I mean the glass panel) for quite some time.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

a inward opening door creates a perfect negative pressure for misquotes to enter . the faster the door is opened the better for mrs mosquito and they sometimes enter on our clothing without our consent . i read there is mosquito screen that has 400 openings / sq. inch . whether that's the problem idk .


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## Carpet (Jan 1, 2018)

I had a pest problem in my living room near the window with mosquitos, flies and wasps -- they'd always get in and eventually die around the windows. I couldn't figure out how they were getting in until I had the siding replaced, there was a 1/4" gap in the old siding they creeped in and squeezed through the window casing and trim gaps. I'd look around outside to see if there are any gaps in siding/trim that you can fill up with caulking or foam rods.


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## yong321 (6 mo ago)

@Carpet Thanks for the tip. Very interesting! My house is all bricks on all four sides. But I'll check for cracks.


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## Steve2444 (Sep 28, 2020)

https://www.nbcnews.com/video/watch-laser-zap-this-mosquito-407811651903?v=a


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## carpdad (Oct 11, 2010)

If you're just annoyed by bites, this really works. It's a dab applicator and it's called AfterBite. Mine smells like ammonia which is known home remedy but some amazon reviews say ammonia was taken out? I still need to wait 15 minutes or so not scratching.


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## yong321 (6 mo ago)

@Steve2444 Thanks. I heard of that technology although I didn't watch the video before. The problem is not killing mosquitos per se, but finding them, because indoors, I always seem to have one or two, not hundreds. I did "develop" a unique way to find them, though. Not efficient but it works. That's a different topic.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

@yong321 nice to meet you!

Where in the US are you? The further south, the worse the skeeter problem later and earlier in the year, though they can be bad in MN and ME in season from what I've heard. At least up north you get a cold season vacation. In Southern California we can get them year round, like elsewhere. 

That said the fundamental problem is if you and your family and pets can get into and leave your house, they can too, unless you have an airlock.

I'm not saying that to be rude. Keeping them all out is a daunting task. Is there someone in your family who's unusually vulnerable to mosquito borne problems? 

I'm a long time bug geek, and I've found that skeeters can be amazingly inventive and adaptable about where they can live. The larvae can hatch grow and mature in small amounts of water, including the water in flower vases, or the "cups" in bromeliads, which are common houseplants, or outdoor plants, too. They can also live in fish tanks; the fish don't always get all of them. A buddy who kept small animals had little water dishes which skeeters lived in, till he got in the habit of emptying them regularly.


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## yong321 (6 mo ago)

@DoomsDave I live in Texas. Our house does have some indoor plants. I'm going to regularly check for standing water. Thank you for that tip.Nobody in the family is particularly sensitive to mosquito bites. They're just annoying.


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## PestGuy (Jan 15, 2018)

If you leave any lights on outside the house at night, change the bulbs to sodium vapor.


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## FM3 (Aug 12, 2019)

Air-conditioner vent?


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

carpdad said:


> If you're just annoyed by bites, this really works. It's a dab applicator and it's called AfterBite. Mine smells like ammonia which is known home remedy but some amazon reviews say ammonia was taken out? I still need to wait 15 minutes or so not scratching.


Well, now you made me go look. I have the same as you in my tackle box and find it works great for the few times I use it. It's hard to get an 'ingredient' list for OTC medications. It seems it now, apparently since 2014, has sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) but some sites say it still contains "some ammonia" as we as an antihistamine. Still other sites mention 'tea tree' oil which a lot of people are allergic to. It seems now it it is a gel in a tube rather than the 'dabber' that I have.


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## papereater (Sep 16, 2016)

YaterSpoon said:


> They follow us through the door.
> 
> Put some citronella or lemon eucalyptus stuff by the door.
> 
> Supposedly some sort of garlic spray works, too. (That's one of the secrets at Disney World in FL)


Garlic may repel Vampires from Romania, but hardly works on mosquitos. Old myth. The science is totally lacking. Disney has engineered their parks with such genius including how all pavements/buildings shed water so quickly, never standing water for the bugs to breed. Ditches even have flowing water. Visitors do not notice. Mosquitos cant multiply in moving water.


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## notnew2diy (Sep 1, 2017)

carpdad said:


> It's a dab applicator and it's called AfterBite.


I had shingles. Old farm girl told my wife to have me use unscented Ban roll on antiperspirant. She said it works on all bug bites, poison ivy rash. Helped w/my shingles, dried up blisters/no itching, didn't do anything for pain. I've since used it for all sorts of bug bites including chiggers. Have no desire to find poison ivy(grin).

HTH...Don.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Mrs. Mosquito usually waits silently until i go to bed so she can annoy me with this sound . Mosquito Noises: What Do Mosquitoes Sound Like? | Orkin
have you ever noticed mosquitoes don't care for wind . that's possibly why we notice them in the evening as the wind often diminishes .


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