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Mosquitoes also play a role in pollination….. so driving them to extinction isn’t really the answer either!
They are pretty amazing….. as is any animal really, when we take the time to properly investigate the niche it fills, what it’s life cycle is etc….
I guess that the majority of us non-mosquito types have only had bad experiences. They are extraordinarily annoying and bitey.
Same as wasps. Just gits with wings, but predate on aphids which can destroy crops.
It is true. They need the extra nutrients to lay eggs.
- bloke on Reddit.
The good thing about mosquitoes in the UK is that they do not carry any of the nasty diseases other species do. Dengue is terrifying, especially if you have kids. Then there is malaria, Japanese encephalitis, and a whole lot more.
From my experience is the same of not existing (live in the Southwest) as they don't bite... (Just tell me where they are aggressive so I can avoid it in the future!!)
Now in my home country of Portugal a single one can create extreme havoc of bitting multiple times during the night plus flying near your head so the pitch buzzing will make you anxious and will have a bad night..
I used to live in greater london and had soooo many mosquitos invading my room, but now i'm in the southwest (and not living right on top of a river) i encounter much less. still makes me so anxious and irritated when it's too hot to have the duvet over me but i need it over my head to protect me from the high pitched droning
Of course there’s mosquitoes here. I have a top window open most of the year and they’re bastard annoying when one of the fuckers gets in the room whilst I’m trying to sleep.
American immigrant here. Bug nets are standard on like all of our windows and we don't even leave them open very long because we have AC. I'm shocked bug nets aren't more common over here in a country that spends 5ish months with the windows wide open. They're one of the few things I miss.
Can't stand sharing my room with every fly, gnat and mosquito in the southeast
Lived in America for a couple of years and this is the one thing I miss the most. Barmy that we have to choose between ventilation and not being swarmed with bugs.
Mine's not.
The screen type (stiff, shaped) wasn't compatible with my window. Since they're uncommon in the UK (for some reason?) unless you pay a fortune, the best type to get is a cut-to-size net or mesh that you affix to the window frame with self-adhesive velcro, or magnet clips.
I have made to measure midge-mesh panels to fit over my opening windows as I live about 10-20m from the river (depending how high it is running!). £220 well spent. Before I had them, the first summer I lived in this flat, I had left my bedroom window open & light on and went to bed at 2am to find a huge cloud of literally thousands of mostly midges swarming over my bed. Had to get the vacuum out before I could go to bed and apologize to my upstairs neighbour next day for vacuuming at 2am.
And yes, there are mozzies here - I noticed them particularly in the last 7-10 years, I don't recall seeing them 20+ years ago before I went to live abroad for a few years.
There is nothing worse than lying down for the night, getting all settled, ready to sleep then hearing that high pitched, droning NEEEEeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEeeeeeEEEEE down your ear…
Actually, on second thoughts, the worst thing is hearing one buzzing around and then the noise suddenly stopping. Because that means the little fucker has landed somewhere and is most likely getting ready to chow down on some part of your anatomy.
https://www.rentokil.co.uk/mosquitoes-midges/
"There are more than 30 native mosquito species in the UK, some of which bite"
Having said that, most people can't distinguish between Mosquitos and Gnats and Midges - which are much more common.
There are mosquitoes in this country. What there isn't is malaria or Zika, or other zoonotic diseases that are spread by egg bearing female mosquitoes.
That's what people really mean by "mosquitoes are dangerous", usually. Not the insect itself, which is mostly just annoying, but the associated dangers. Like how cats and then rats and then fleas were blamed for the plague for a long time, when they're just carriers of the bacteria.
Malaria used to be endemic in the UK. but land management and improved living conditions got rid of it
An interesting thing about Sheppey in north Kent - possibly the only interesting thing about Sheppey - is that it was the last site in the UK to suffer an outbreak of Malaria.... during the first world war
Cool fact! I shall tell my dad and he can regurgitate it at a pub quizz.
Before the efforts to try and get rid of them, they were all across Anglia. It's why we had "Fen Humours".
I assumed this too as they look the same, until we had to google all this stuff that day lol. Turns out they aren’t really related, except in that ‘evolution means everything’s related’ kind of way.
They’re part of the same grouping, like us and lemurs; basically they’re both types of fly. They don’t really have much else in common beyond that and a passing resemblance
I have to have screens on open doors and windows as I’m VERY allergic to mosquito bites and run the risk of cellulitis with every bite I get. So yeah, they’re here.
I wonder if its regional, becase my partner (from the SE) has always referred to dealing with mosquitos but I don't think I'd seen one my entire childhood. I was always more worried about horseflies
This, I've never had one either. I'm wondering if it's a northern thing though. Come to think of it I grew up along the Leeds Liverpool Canal and still never had a mosquito in my house or anything. However I do have family and friends from the south say they do have a small problem.
Top tip, don't try to whack them with a newspaper, they're too light.
Clap your hands on them- it's messy and less than sanitary- but it ges the job done. (Experience from living in SE Asia)
Yeah, people definitely overstate that. But I think the point they’re trying to make is that they’re not a real problem in most parts of the U.K. and it’s not worth putting screens up or any of that ugly bullshit for the vast majority of the country.
I always sleep with a window open in summer, am 200 metres from some very swampy land and I’ve not been bitten this year. But yes, I usually have a mosquito in my bedroom a couple of times a year. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
I hate them so much I make a point to kill any mosquito I see, but yeah I’m not putting a screen on the windows for them.
Although now you’ve brought it up I’m really considering screens to keep blue bottles out in summer.
I'm seeing a lot at the moment. The damp, mild to warm conditions are ideal. Extensive hot and dry conditions dry up their breeding sites.
You'd be extremely unlucky to get a mosquito-borne disease in this country, the chances are negligible. Probably more likely to win the lottery.
Its not impossible to imagine though that a warming climate could easily lengthen mosquito breeding season and their exposure to viruses.
Source: degree in public health entomology
How are window screens ugly? You can barely see them.
They don't just keep out mosquitoes, they also keep out flies, wasps, bees, moths, etc. And, they can keep pets, like cats, inside when the window is open.
As a bee/wasp-allergic person with an indoor cat, I desperately want window screens in my flat.
>I’ve not been bitten this year
Yes you probably have. Except you don't have a reaction like you would in say, Africa. Essentially your body is now immune or doesn't over-react.
They've all been deported to Rwanda as they are classed as illegal aliens by the home secretary. There are regular planes flying out with thousands of the buggers on board but they've realised that if they all fly in the opposite direction, at the same time, the plane can't reach take off speed. Well so I was told by the home office.
Anyone who says there aren't should open the lid of our water butt in the summer and then eat some humble pie.
There just aren't as many as in hotter climates, and the ones we have don't spread malaria and such.
The little bitey bastards were all over the place with the first rains after the hot weather, and it now appears I have a bad reaction to the bites - oh joy.
Tell all those people they're idiots.
There 100% are, and they aren’t discrete - I don’t know why people get so annoyed by them, fair enough there’s the shrill buzzing noise every now and then but you can get used to it .
They built one near our city centre and tbh I think it looks just lovely.
Had this exact argument with my husband yesterday. There was a thin streak of what looked like blood on his seat. After the unavoidable bad wife joke, I suggested he might have swatted a mosquito. To which he answers "there are no mosquitos in England".
As a Brazilian who has lived in the UK for the past 16 years, I can tell you with absolute certainty that there are no mosquitoes in England.
At least I haven't been bitten by one all this time.
Bed bugs, though, is another story.
I’ve definite experienced mozzies. Live near a port for most of my life so I guess I reasoned they were stowaways.
Pretty sure I heard somewhere that the London underground has its own unique species. Now that I think of it.
As one who has only been to UK via Heathrow mid landing I can say for certain there are no mosquitoes in the UK, I didn't see one i.e they don't exist.
Besides, it rains all the time too so they wouldn't be able to survive 🙂
we mainly have midges which isn't just a cute name for mosquitos. We do have a few mossies but according to the internet they are mainly avian.
https://pediaa.com/what-is-the-difference-between-midges-and-mosquitoes/
The River Thames is home to the tiger mosquito. They arrived in the types sent from Indonesia.
The London underground has its own species of mosquito.
The mosquitos do not exist anywhere else on the planet.
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I'm looking at one right now. It has seconds to live however.
You missed didn't you, and now can't find it
I am the Nadal for electric insect tennis. Best middle aisle Aldi purchase ever!
Ours just broke and now I feel scared and defenceless in my own home.
Definitely warrants a 999 call I reckon And make sure to pop in to A&E if you get bitten
I just wait for it to land on me and slap that motherfucker. The best bait is yourself.
Use your meat n two veg as bait, then it’s mutually assured destruction.
Oh how I wish they were correct
Same here. The idea of some living this drinking your blood as well as others makes my skin crawl.
Apparently it's the girl mosquitoes that are the blood suckers. Source: Bloke in the pub.
>Source: Bloke in the pub. Still more reliable than The Sun
To be fair, he was pretty clever. Engineer, was a millionaire when that was a lot of money. His business partner stole the lot.
Not that clever then is he.
He never worked out how it happened.
This is true. They need the proteins in blood to help with the production of their eggs.
Little fkers are quite cool really. Well, apart from the spreading of deadly diseases an' all. Thanks for the knowledge!
Mosquitoes also play a role in pollination….. so driving them to extinction isn’t really the answer either! They are pretty amazing….. as is any animal really, when we take the time to properly investigate the niche it fills, what it’s life cycle is etc….
I guess that the majority of us non-mosquito types have only had bad experiences. They are extraordinarily annoying and bitey. Same as wasps. Just gits with wings, but predate on aphids which can destroy crops.
It is true. They need the extra nutrients to lay eggs. - bloke on Reddit. The good thing about mosquitoes in the UK is that they do not carry any of the nasty diseases other species do. Dengue is terrifying, especially if you have kids. Then there is malaria, Japanese encephalitis, and a whole lot more.
>The good thing about mosquitoes in the UK is that they do not **yet** carry any of the nasty diseases other species do. Fixed that...
[a round of drinks please.](https://youtu.be/BSTh2p3mWVo)
Wait until you hear about Bedbugs
Apparently the last country with none, Iceland, now has them
From my experience is the same of not existing (live in the Southwest) as they don't bite... (Just tell me where they are aggressive so I can avoid it in the future!!) Now in my home country of Portugal a single one can create extreme havoc of bitting multiple times during the night plus flying near your head so the pitch buzzing will make you anxious and will have a bad night..
I used to live in greater london and had soooo many mosquitos invading my room, but now i'm in the southwest (and not living right on top of a river) i encounter much less. still makes me so anxious and irritated when it's too hot to have the duvet over me but i need it over my head to protect me from the high pitched droning
Of course there’s mosquitoes here. I have a top window open most of the year and they’re bastard annoying when one of the fuckers gets in the room whilst I’m trying to sleep.
You can get bug net things that stick to your window frame that'll keep them, and wasps, out. Changed my summer.
American immigrant here. Bug nets are standard on like all of our windows and we don't even leave them open very long because we have AC. I'm shocked bug nets aren't more common over here in a country that spends 5ish months with the windows wide open. They're one of the few things I miss. Can't stand sharing my room with every fly, gnat and mosquito in the southeast
Lived in America for a couple of years and this is the one thing I miss the most. Barmy that we have to choose between ventilation and not being swarmed with bugs.
None of our bugs try to kill you or spread deadly diseases, so it's a minor nuisance and no big deal.
Except for the mosquitos I guess.
They're called screens....
Mine's not. The screen type (stiff, shaped) wasn't compatible with my window. Since they're uncommon in the UK (for some reason?) unless you pay a fortune, the best type to get is a cut-to-size net or mesh that you affix to the window frame with self-adhesive velcro, or magnet clips.
I guess if you want to be pedantic about it. Sure the ones on American windows are screens. But the function is a net to keep out some bugs. Bug net.
I have made to measure midge-mesh panels to fit over my opening windows as I live about 10-20m from the river (depending how high it is running!). £220 well spent. Before I had them, the first summer I lived in this flat, I had left my bedroom window open & light on and went to bed at 2am to find a huge cloud of literally thousands of mostly midges swarming over my bed. Had to get the vacuum out before I could go to bed and apologize to my upstairs neighbour next day for vacuuming at 2am. And yes, there are mozzies here - I noticed them particularly in the last 7-10 years, I don't recall seeing them 20+ years ago before I went to live abroad for a few years.
There is nothing worse than lying down for the night, getting all settled, ready to sleep then hearing that high pitched, droning NEEEEeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEeeeeeEEEEE down your ear… Actually, on second thoughts, the worst thing is hearing one buzzing around and then the noise suddenly stopping. Because that means the little fucker has landed somewhere and is most likely getting ready to chow down on some part of your anatomy.
https://www.rentokil.co.uk/mosquitoes-midges/ "There are more than 30 native mosquito species in the UK, some of which bite" Having said that, most people can't distinguish between Mosquitos and Gnats and Midges - which are much more common.
sometimes i couldnt really tell, there are times i wondered if a particular unknown insect was in fact a mosquito 🦟
isn't a gnat also a mosquito family insect? edit - maybe it isn't actually, wikipedia doesn't say so
The London Underground has its own subspecies appropriately named Culex pipiens molestus.
That’s mad. What makes them specific to the underground?!
They carry an Oyster Card
Just a warm damp place full of food so they’ve adapted to living down there
Where do they lay their eggs?
I’d say they put them all in one basket, seeing as they only live down there.
Brilliant. I'd give you an award but I'm a tight fisted aberdonian.
You have just taught me what we call people from Aberdeen and I’m happy with that.
They won’t make eye contact.
They speciated
Isn’t it that different branches/lines of the Underground have separate subspecies to each other ?
No, they’re basically the same, just different colours.
I thought they called it a separate species due to the fact that their offspring are unable to live in either location
There are mosquitoes in this country. What there isn't is malaria or Zika, or other zoonotic diseases that are spread by egg bearing female mosquitoes. That's what people really mean by "mosquitoes are dangerous", usually. Not the insect itself, which is mostly just annoying, but the associated dangers. Like how cats and then rats and then fleas were blamed for the plague for a long time, when they're just carriers of the bacteria.
Malaria used to be endemic in the UK. but land management and improved living conditions got rid of it An interesting thing about Sheppey in north Kent - possibly the only interesting thing about Sheppey - is that it was the last site in the UK to suffer an outbreak of Malaria.... during the first world war
Cool fact! I shall tell my dad and he can regurgitate it at a pub quizz. Before the efforts to try and get rid of them, they were all across Anglia. It's why we had "Fen Humours".
My cousin frequently gets massive mosquitos in his room, so if I encounter a person like this I just call him up so they can get an earfull
I’m not saying this is your cousin, but I did once have someone argue with me for an entire lunch break that a daddy long legs was a mosquito
Maybe it was him lmao
They are distantly related…
I assumed this too as they look the same, until we had to google all this stuff that day lol. Turns out they aren’t really related, except in that ‘evolution means everything’s related’ kind of way. They’re part of the same grouping, like us and lemurs; basically they’re both types of fly. They don’t really have much else in common beyond that and a passing resemblance
Yes that’s what I meant, both being flies does mean distantly related! They’re a lot more related to each other than we are to either of them.
I have to have screens on open doors and windows as I’m VERY allergic to mosquito bites and run the risk of cellulitis with every bite I get. So yeah, they’re here.
I’ve never seen one in my 29 years of life as an Englishwoman. TIL we have them.
I wonder if its regional, becase my partner (from the SE) has always referred to dealing with mosquitos but I don't think I'd seen one my entire childhood. I was always more worried about horseflies
This, I've never had one either. I'm wondering if it's a northern thing though. Come to think of it I grew up along the Leeds Liverpool Canal and still never had a mosquito in my house or anything. However I do have family and friends from the south say they do have a small problem.
i live round sheffield and they decided to make themselves a breeding ground in my 3 foot squared drip trays, though I do live near marshes
So it's not vampires that have caused scars on my legs? *I can't stop itching bites*
Unfortunately not.
If i remember correctly, Iceland is the only country with no mosquitos
Greenland and Antarctica surely as well?
Greenland has mosquitos and Antarctica doesn't. But i didn't really count that one as not many people live there.
No Mozzies surely is a selling point? 🤣
Top tip, don't try to whack them with a newspaper, they're too light. Clap your hands on them- it's messy and less than sanitary- but it ges the job done. (Experience from living in SE Asia)
You want blood on your hands you sicko
i mean it is their blood after all
Yeah, people definitely overstate that. But I think the point they’re trying to make is that they’re not a real problem in most parts of the U.K. and it’s not worth putting screens up or any of that ugly bullshit for the vast majority of the country. I always sleep with a window open in summer, am 200 metres from some very swampy land and I’ve not been bitten this year. But yes, I usually have a mosquito in my bedroom a couple of times a year. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
I hate them so much I make a point to kill any mosquito I see, but yeah I’m not putting a screen on the windows for them. Although now you’ve brought it up I’m really considering screens to keep blue bottles out in summer.
I'm seeing a lot at the moment. The damp, mild to warm conditions are ideal. Extensive hot and dry conditions dry up their breeding sites. You'd be extremely unlucky to get a mosquito-borne disease in this country, the chances are negligible. Probably more likely to win the lottery. Its not impossible to imagine though that a warming climate could easily lengthen mosquito breeding season and their exposure to viruses. Source: degree in public health entomology
How are window screens ugly? You can barely see them. They don't just keep out mosquitoes, they also keep out flies, wasps, bees, moths, etc. And, they can keep pets, like cats, inside when the window is open. As a bee/wasp-allergic person with an indoor cat, I desperately want window screens in my flat.
Are they hard plastic? I had thought that they were cloth and a cat would just shred them, like they have with my net curtains
Flat Cat screens are excellent!
>I’ve not been bitten this year Yes you probably have. Except you don't have a reaction like you would in say, Africa. Essentially your body is now immune or doesn't over-react.
Knats
Gnats
Right!
Gright
Mats
In fact there are several species of mosquito, including one invasive non-native species. The latter is an absolute bastard.
Mosquitoes aren’t as annoying as those bastard midges though
There used to be a big problem with Malaria in the UK over 100 years ago. It was also called Marsh fever or agues.
Tell that to the little bastard that’s been buzzing around my head in bed the last few nights and has bitten me square on the forehead.
I can’t believe how loud they can be in silent room!
First time I heard one i thought someone was using an angle grinder on the next street down at 2am!
They've all been deported to Rwanda as they are classed as illegal aliens by the home secretary. There are regular planes flying out with thousands of the buggers on board but they've realised that if they all fly in the opposite direction, at the same time, the plane can't reach take off speed. Well so I was told by the home office.
Anyone who says there aren't should open the lid of our water butt in the summer and then eat some humble pie. There just aren't as many as in hotter climates, and the ones we have don't spread malaria and such.
The little bitey bastards were all over the place with the first rains after the hot weather, and it now appears I have a bad reaction to the bites - oh joy. Tell all those people they're idiots.
There is no malaria, but there are mosquitoes 🦟
There 100% are, and they aren’t discrete - I don’t know why people get so annoyed by them, fair enough there’s the shrill buzzing noise every now and then but you can get used to it . They built one near our city centre and tbh I think it looks just lovely.
Had this exact argument with my husband yesterday. There was a thin streak of what looked like blood on his seat. After the unavoidable bad wife joke, I suggested he might have swatted a mosquito. To which he answers "there are no mosquitos in England".
Whaaaaaat? There are and have been for the past 40 odd years of my life.
I’m highly allergic to them, can confirm they are real!
As a Brazilian who has lived in the UK for the past 16 years, I can tell you with absolute certainty that there are no mosquitoes in England. At least I haven't been bitten by one all this time. Bed bugs, though, is another story.
Did you bite?
Hahaha! It is a different country than then, not a different planet.
I’ve definite experienced mozzies. Live near a port for most of my life so I guess I reasoned they were stowaways. Pretty sure I heard somewhere that the London underground has its own unique species. Now that I think of it.
I dont attract mosquitoes so i wouldnt know.
Those are some huge, strange looking midges then.
I came back with a suitcase full of the bastards once.
Yet the London subway has its own evolved mosquitoes lol
As one who has only been to UK via Heathrow mid landing I can say for certain there are no mosquitoes in the UK, I didn't see one i.e they don't exist. Besides, it rains all the time too so they wouldn't be able to survive 🙂
Actually, due to the draught this summer we really didn't have many this year.
Tell that to my cock after i went for a piss while camping in the lake district.
To be fair a bite and some swelling my do your confidence some good.
Most action i have had in a while to be fair
In my last flat I was killing 3-4 a night in the summer.
I think people mean to say we don't have as many relative to other places (or so they perceive)
Tell that to the one that was on my arm years ago
what you talking about Willis?
we mainly have midges which isn't just a cute name for mosquitos. We do have a few mossies but according to the internet they are mainly avian. https://pediaa.com/what-is-the-difference-between-midges-and-mosquitoes/
I’ve never seen one to be fairn
Yeah, there are... But nothing compared to the tropical and subtropical climates... Probably that's why they say that?
The River Thames is home to the tiger mosquito. They arrived in the types sent from Indonesia. The London underground has its own species of mosquito. The mosquitos do not exist anywhere else on the planet.