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Mosquitos or spiders...

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 7:17pm
11 replies468 views8 members subscribed
Deborah13

Posts: 81

4 helpful points

Location: Algorfa

Joined: 30 Oct 2017

Hello. I am being 'eaten alive' in my house in Algorfa. I thought it was mosquitos, so I got a mosquito net for the bed, and plug-in mosquito repellent - but I am still waking up w/ bites that look like mosquito bites, but I'm wondering if it's something else. 

If it is mosquitos or some other little thing that bites, does anyone have advice on prevention?

Thanks,

Deborah

Movingon

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 7:41pm

Movingon

Super helpful member

Posts: 1857

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Location: Albatera

Joined: 7 Feb 2018

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 7:41pm

Could be sandflies, sometimes known as 'no-see-ums' as they can be very small - young ones almost small enough to pass through the eye of a needle -and therefore through some mosquito screens or nets.

Detterenence is the same as for mosquitos, i.e. Deet based products etc. 

Pix Elated

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 7:50pm

Pix Elated

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Posts: 1221

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Location: Villamartin

Joined: 13 Apr 2018

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 7:50pm

Deborah13 wrote on Sat May 30, 2020 7:17pm:

Hello. I am being 'eaten alive' in my house in Algorfa. I thought it was mosquitos, so I got a mosquito net for the bed, and plug-in mosquito repellent - but I am still waking up w/ bites that look like mosquito bites, but I'm wondering if it's something else. 

If it is mosquitos or some other little thing that bites, does anyone have advice on prevention?...

...

Thanks,

Deborah

Could it be bed bugs, I believe they can give a nasty nip, which can be mistaken for mosquito bites.

The way to tell is to look at the mattress are there dark or rusty looking spots, these spots could also be on the bedding, is there a musty odour?

If you have any of the above chances are its bed bugs.

Deborah13

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 7:57pm

Deborah13

Original Poster

Posts: 81

4 helpful points

Location: Algorfa

Joined: 30 Oct 2017

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 7:57pm

Pix Elated wrote on Sat May 30, 2020 7:50pm:

Could it be bed bugs, I believe they can give a nasty nip, which can be mistaken for mosquito bites.

The way to tell is to look at the mattress are there dark or rusty looking spots, these spots could also be on the bedding, is there a musty odour?

If you have any of the above chances are its bed bugs.

Yes I thought of that at first and so cleaned the room as if it were bedbugs. There was no evidence of that but I still washed everything and rubbed everything down with disinfectant. I think the no-see-ems are the culprits and I’m going to try some of the recommendations I found on the Internet like citronella candles :-)

Movingon

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 8:18pm

Movingon

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Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 8:18pm

If it's actuslly in bed then probably not no-see-ums as they will not normally get under bedclothes.

The bites even from adults do not come up like mozzies and are normally shorter lived too, frequently there will be little evidence until you start scratching.

Completely impossible to mistake them for bed bug bites, plenty of photos of those on Google. 

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Deborah13

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 8:50pm

Deborah13

Original Poster

Posts: 81

4 helpful points

Location: Algorfa

Joined: 30 Oct 2017

Posted: Sat May 30, 2020 8:50pm

Movingon wrote on Sat May 30, 2020 8:18pm:

If it's actuslly in bed then probably not no-see-ums as they will not normally get under bedclothes.

The bites even from adults do not come up like mozzies and are normally shorter lived too, frequently there will be little evidence until you start scratching.

Completely impossible to mistake them for bed bug bites, plenty of photos of those on Google. 

Ah. So, do you think it is bed bugs? This house was closed up for about 3x months during the lock-down.

I think there may be a few things going on. Some mosquitos. Some sand flies (when I am on the patio, I feel 'itchy').

I just want to solve the problem!

Tomorrow I'm doing another deep cleaning.

I'm on a learning curve living in a new climate.

jimtaylor

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 4:40am

jimtaylor

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Posts: 5612

8739 helpful points

Location: Mudamiento

Joined: 2 Feb 2017

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 4:40am

Having done a lot of camping in the Scottish Highlands, I always carried midge coils and a burner. Start a coil smouldering, stick it in my tent, and that kills all midges. I also used it against mossies when holidaying on Formentera. One coil burns for several hours.

I've seen them here in Spain, but unfortunately can't remember where.

Pix Elated

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 8:02am

Pix Elated

Super helpful member

Posts: 1221

1066 helpful points

Location: Villamartin

Joined: 13 Apr 2018

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 8:02am

jimtaylor wrote on Sun May 31, 2020 4:40am:

Having done a lot of camping in the Scottish Highlands, I always carried midge coils and a burner. Start a coil smouldering, stick it in my tent, and that kills all midges. I also used it against mossies when holidaying on Formentera. One coil burns for several hours.

I've seen them here in Spain, but unfortunately can't remember where....

...

I have seen them recently in a shop near the Siesta group in Cabo Riog, they have them in yellow, orange, navy blue and red, €5.50 each.

It's easy to find the shop they have lots of lovely Spanish pottery, this shop is like cat nip to me, I love it.

Erica

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 11:03am

Posts: 80

36 helpful points

Location: Playa Flamenca

Joined: 12 Sep 2017

Posted: Sun May 31, 2020 11:03am

We also started with a mosquito net over the bed that nearly worked. But they were still in the house so I think every time we got out of bed they landed on us this taking them back inside, we killed a few inside the net. 

Got rid of the net and had all windows & door openings screened off with mosquito net. It's made a great difference to our quality of life.

Deborah13

Posted: Mon Jun 1, 2020 12:54pm

Deborah13

Original Poster

Posts: 81

4 helpful points

Location: Algorfa

Joined: 30 Oct 2017

Posted: Mon Jun 1, 2020 12:54pm

Just saw one of the bugs that is biting me. I think the only choice is getting rid of the mattresses and fumigating!

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