Courtney Thomas wrote:

Will citronella repel noseeums ?

Nothing repels no-see-ums except possibly heavy use of DEET. This is
what I wrote about them....

They are very tiny gnats (sand flies or biting midges) but their mouth
must be bigger than they are. British folks call them punkies. Not
only are they so tiny that three fit on the head of a pin, but they
have a wing beat of over 1000 times/sec. The only way you can see them
at a distance is thru the filtered forest sunlight... little specks of
pocket lint floating in the sun

They have a pound-for-pound bite far ahead of their horsefly or
deerfly relatives and they don't whine to warn you that they are
coming like mosquitoes do. They don't suck....they bite.

Actually, they chew up a little place on your skin and, much as the
mosquito regurgitate a little spit to keep everything flowing while
they dine.... The tip off that you have made the acquaintance of Ms.
Ceratopogonidae, AKA, devil insect- fly from the bad place, is that
about a day later, a small intensely itchy bump will rise from your
soft flesh. Later, it may develop a clear blister. Scratching and
digging at the bump, as you will doubtless do, only make it worse. The
itching, along with the bump, will fade after a week or so.
Hydrocortisone cream may work to control the itching.

The insecticides that might work have all been banned, although for
personal protection DEET works. It's best to be covered up at dusk,
but they are so small that the best protection is to go somewhere that
they aren't.

Most places have only one species of these - the ones that operate at
dusk. The Bahamas however has daytime ones too.


On Sat, 06 Aug 2005 03:02:32 +0000, Rosalie B. wrote:

Courtney Thomas wrote:

Recommendations for netting with maximal air flow and minimal cost is
requested.

Depending on where you are, a mosquito net may not be adequate. You
may need something with a finer mesh to keep out no see ums.

grandma Rosalie

grandma Rosalie