Mosquitos in New Zeland?

[Stelmate]

This may sound like a silly question but how bad are the mosquitos in New Zeland? They can pretty much ruin a summer over here in the mid-west in the U.S. As you get up to 50 bites just being outside for a few minutes.

[ralf-nz]

This may sound like a silly question but how bad are the mosquitos in New Zeland? They can pretty much ruin a summer over here in the mid-west in the U.S. As you get up to 50 bites just being outside for a few minutes.

Check this link out: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/sandflies-and-mosquitoes/2

However I am inclined to say that mosquitoes here are negligible as we do have "our" sandflies! See http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/sandflies-and-mosquitoes/1

[Duncan74]

You'll dream of mozzie bites after you meet the sandflies. However, slight plus is that you can get DEET which does seem to work, at least allows you to choose which bit of you gets eaten.

[Dell]

I'm a NZer living in Arizona. I go back to NZ almost every year during NZ's summer - and always stay north of Auckland in Rodney district. Yes there are mosquitoes in NZ but nothing like the mid-west. But the big difference between the countries is that in NZ you can't keep them outside because most homes don't have window screens. I'm selling up in AZ and returning to NZ and the first thing I'll do when I buy a house is have screens made for the windows. Sandflies can be really nasty - but no worse than no-see-ums in Arizona...and fortunately, not in the part of NZ where I'll be living.

[Addicted to NZ]

If I didn't know better, I would swear they are what we call Blackflies in Canada.

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[sheppy99]

Usually they are a pest after a spell of dry weather turns to rain, and I've been bit 4 times in the last 24 hours because of this despite the mozzy spray. I use a heatpump so no open windows at night keeps most of them out. They like some people more than others and one of my friends seems to be "dish of the day," whenever she's around most people are safe!
I've never been to the mid west so can't compare, but I use citronella torches when I barbeque and it's not been an issue. Of course I may need to change this if / when I buy a wooden house!!! Compared to when I visited Sydney 3 years ago they seem less of a problem.

[Manks]

I used to get bitten to hell in CT, especially walking the dog in wooded areas. Here I have no such problem and we walk in a reserve every day. But that might just be Welly - I don't think the climate suits them. When we camped in Taupo over Xmas, I did get three bites when I stood outside the tent for about 30 seconds one night! I got 40 bites ON EACH LEG one night in CT - but I guess we were stood in a beer garden for several hours - my bad!

[JandM]

We are currently staying in NZ, and invested in a DEET-based repellent after unthinkingly standing around outside for some time around dusk when the family arrived home with their new puppy. I have had just a few bites in a month, but M, who, like me, hardly gets any at home, got a whole lot, including all over his hands so his knuckles swelled up. The local pharmacist was sympathetic, and said the little beasts seem to particularly like people from the UK. But the repellent is good, as long as you remember to apply it in time.

[Duncan74]

SOOVE cream works really welly for after you get bitten. I really reacted to the little blighters on the recce, although didn't seem to be as bad over xmas. Even with Deet then I still got nibbled a bit on my ankles. You really can't cover yourself with the bushman DEET stuff, although on the recce we did get a combined sunblock/weaker DEET that seemed to be pretty effective at both bits.

[Ally Bally Bee]

Can I direct you to the other bugs thread http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30940&page=6

There's a pic of my mozzie attack on Saturday, or should I say, some of the bites I received while changing a flat tyre on my bike.

But that's anomaly, I've rarely been bitten by mosquitoes, it's the sandflies that usually get me (and typpically when I'm down at Blue Lake, Rotorua).

I have used Soove cream, this time around I got Antihisan and used half a tube in two days. It didn't work on my second night and I scratched heaps. Thurd night was awesome, could have been the cooler night or the Dettol antiseptic cream, I don't care, I didn't scratch and I slept all night.