Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

They’re an absolute nuisance in summer, especially around the barbeque later in the day!  If you’ve been in Australia during the holidays, you may have been near the coast with ponds and rivers, inlets and wetlands. There you’ll find salt-marsh mosquito – nasty biters (that species was eradicated from NZ some decades ago – just as well, it transmits Ross River Virus).  In New Zealand we don’t have any capable vectors of malaria or dengue or Chikungunya or encephalitis – biosecurity is important!  Our mozzies live in stagnant water. In the garden, a tyre-swing collects water during rain and mozzie larvae will inhabit that tyre. Blocked guttering, ponds, troughs, buckets, stock hoof-prints, etc, as well.  We even have a native species (Salt Pool Mosquito) in saltwater pools near rocky shores: Northland, Goat Island Marine Reserve, Bay of Plenty, Kaikoura. They bite too, especially during the day.  The idea is to use repellent – frequently!  The girls need protein to produce eggs,